Beethoven’s Poetic Fourth Piano Concerto
Renowned for her exquisite artistry and refined technique, pianist Maria João Pires is back with the OSM to perform Beethoven’s Concerto no. 4, that decidedly singular masterpiece of the piano repertoire. This program also celebrates the 150th anniversary of Schoenberg’s birth with two of the composer’s post-Romantic works: the eminently lyrical tone poem Transfigured Night, and Pelleas und Melisande, with its impressive aural density amplified by powerful dramatic tension.
Renowned for her exquisite artistry and refined technique, pianist Maria João Pires is back with the OSM to perform Beethoven’s Concerto no. 4, that decidedly singular masterpiece of the piano repertoire. This program also celebrates the 150th anniversary of Schoenberg’s birth with two of the composer’s post-Romantic works: the eminently lyrical tone poem Transfigured Night, and Pelleas und Melisande, with its impressive aural density amplified by powerful dramatic tension.
Artists
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal
Rafael Payare, conductor
Maria João Pires, piano
Works
Schoenberg, Verklärte Nacht [Transfigured Night], op. 4
Beethoven, Piano Concerto no. 4 in G major, op. 58
Intermission (20 min.)
Schoenberg, Pelleas und Melisande, symphonic poem, op. 5 (41 min.)
Rafael Payare
Music and Artistic Director of the OSMWith his innate musicianship, gift for communication, and irresistibly joyous spirit, conductor Rafael Payare is Music and Artistic Director of both Canada’s Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) and California’s San Diego Symphony (SDSO), as well as Principal Conductor of Virginia’s Castleton Festival and Conductor Laureate of Northern Ireland’s Ulster Orchestra. Payare is celebrated for his expertise in late Romantic repertoire while also cultivating the next generation of composers with regular commissions and performances of new works. A veteran of Venezuela’s El Sistema program – in which he began playing horn at the age of 14 – and 2012 first prize winner at Denmark’s Malko Competition for Young Conductors, Payare remains dedicated to inspiring younger musicians, regularly working with youth orchestras and establishing mentorship programs like El Sistema OSM and the SDSO Conducting Fellowship. Payare resides in San Diego and Montreal with his wife, acclaimed cellist Alisa Weilerstein, and their two young children.
Maria João Pires
PianoLisbon-born Maria João Pires gave her first public performance at the age of four and began formal studies with Campos Coelho and Francine Benoît, continuing in Germany with Rosl Schmid and Karl Engel. In addition to concerts, she has recorded for Erato and Deutsche Grammophon for 35 years.
Since the 1970s, Pires has devoted herself to the influence of art in life, community and education, and to finding new ways of socially implementing this influence.
In 1999, she created the Belgais Centre for the Study of the Arts (Portugal), where she offers interdisciplinary workshops to both professional musicians and amateurs. Belgais concerts and recordings will be shared with the international digital community.
In 2012, she initiated two the Partitura Choirs, to develop choirs for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and the Partitura Workshops. Taking place in Belgium, they aim to create positive dynamics between artists of different generations outside of competitions, a notion gaining worldwide attention.
