Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra to begin its new season with some of the
best performers in Western classical music. By Anand Holla
After a long break, when the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO) resumes its concerts starting September, some of the top contemporary talents in the world of Western classical music will join the shows to enthral Doha.
The programme for the coming months will kick off with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto at 7.30pm on September 5 at the Katara Opera House. Conductor Dmitrij Kitajenko and pianist Boris Berezovsky will present Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B Flat Minor, Op. 23, and, Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64.
Berezovsky has come to be known as one of the most accomplished virtuoso pianists in recent years and is hailed as an artiste blessed with a rare insight and terrific sensitivity. The Moscow-born Berezovsky has been described by The Times as ‘an artist of exceptional promise, a player of dazzling virtuosity and formidable power.’ A regular collaborator with the finest orchestras, Berezovsky has won scores of awards and boasts of a rich discography.
Next up is Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Variations on September 10 at 7.30pm, at the Katara Opera House, where conductor Dmitrij Kitajenko and pianist Lilya Zilberstein will put together a show featuring Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25 (Classical); Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43; and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36.
Zilberstein, another Moscow-born super talent, too, has performed at top tours abroad in the West and has toured almost all of the European countries, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Canada and Brazil. The virtuoso pianist is a regular guest at large international music festivals.
On October 17 at 7.30 at the Katara Opera House, Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony will be headed by conductor Tung-Chieh Chuang, who is the winner of the 2015 Malko Conducting Competition, while Peter Davida will be on the horn.
Some of the pieces that will be performed are Rahbani Brothers’ Jibal As-Sawan Suite (The Sylex Mountains); Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Concerto No. 4 in E Flat Major for horn and orchestra, K. 495; and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551 (Jupiter). Priced at QR75-200, the tickets for these upcoming concerts are on sale.
On October 24 at 7.30pm, get set for Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. Conducted by Dmitrij Kitajenko and featuring Sergei Krylov on the violin, the concert features pieces such as Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Op. 35; Tchaikovsky’s Concerto in D Major for violin and orchestra, Op. 35; and Maurice Ravel’s La Valse, Poème Chorégraphique.
Over the years, Krylov has established himself as one of the most talented violinists of his generation and is regularly invited to perform in major concert halls. Some of the most esteemed orchestras in the world that he performs with are Staatskapelle Dresden, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala, DSO Berlin, Russian National Symphony, London Philharmonic, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, English Chamber Orchestra, Hessischer Rundfunk Frankfurt, Budapest Festival Orchestra, NHK Symphony Tokyo, Atlanta Symphony, and Copenhagen Philharmonic.
As for those awaiting QPO’s free-for-all chamber music concerts that are held on the first Thursday of every month in the Museum of Islamic Art, it will be a long wait as the series will resume only in the first week of November.
STAGE SET: Pianist Lilya Zilberstein, left, and Sergei Krylov.
