ALISA WEILERSTEIN PLAYS DVOŘÁK’S CELLO CONCERTO WITH THE MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA, JAN 13 and 14

Osmo Vänskä conducts music by Sibelius, Aho and Dvořák at Orchestra Hall, following a January tour to three cities in Florida

Cellist Alisa Weilerstein performs Dvořák’s Cello Concerto

On January 13 and 14 at Orchestra Hall, Music Director Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra reprise music performed on their January tour to Florida, with virtuosic cellist Alisa Weilerstein as soloist. The concerts open with contemporary Finnish composer Kalevi Aho’s Gejia, Chinese Images for Orchestra, a work influenced by the music and culture of two Chinese provinces. Then, American cellist Alisa Weilerstein plays Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, a masterpiece among the cello’s solo repertoire. Finally, Osmo Vänskä conducts the Orchestra in Sibelius’ majestic and beloved Fifth Symphony.

These concerts follow the Orchestra’s three-city tour to Florida, which takes place January 8 through 10. Led by Osmo Vänskä, cellist Alisa Weilerstein (joining the Orchestra on January 8 and 9) and the Minnesota Orchestra perform in Naples, Sarasota and Miami, presenting the same repertoire as is programmed for the Minneapolis concert, with Beethoven’s First Symphony replacing the Dvořák work on January 10. For more information about the tour, visit minnesotaorchestra.org.

The Minneapolis concerts are performed at the Orchestra’s home venue, Orchestra Hall, on Friday, January 13, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, January 14, at 8 p.m., with ticket prices ranging from $29 to $96. Tickets are available online at minnesotaorchestra.org and by phone at 612-371-5656. For further purchasing details, refer to the section at the conclusion of this press release.

Alisa Weilerstein, cello

A 2011 winner of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, Alisa Weilerstein is in the midst of an eventful 2016-17 season that includes performances of Bach’s complete suites for unaccompanied cello at Caramoor, in Washington, D.C., and in London. Her national and international concert schedule features performances with the Dallas Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony, New World Symphony, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic. She also returns to Carnegie Hall in the company of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, with which she then tours to Italy and Spain. She will premiere Matthias Pintscher’s Cello Concerto, a piece commissioned for her, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. As an exclusive Decca Classics recording artist, she released her fifth album in September, featuring both Shostakovich cello concertos with the Bavarian Radio Symphony. More: opus3artists.com, alisaweilerstein.com.

Osmo Vänskä, conductor

Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä, the Minnesota Orchestra’s tenth music director, is renowned internationally for his compelling interpretations of the standard, contemporary and Nordic repertoires. In addition to the Orchestra’s May 2015 tour to Cuba, he has led the Orchestra on five major European tours, the most recent of which took place in August 2016, as well as regular tours to communities across Minnesota. His recording projects with the Minnesota Orchestra have also met with great success, including the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance for their recording of Sibelius’ First and Fourth Symphonies on the BIS Records label. The final disc in the series was released in the United States in September 2016. As a guest conductor Vänskä has led all the major American and European orchestras. Following the January 13 and 14 concerts, Vänskä will sign CDs in the Orchestra Hall lobby, including a brand-new disc featuring Sibelius’ Kullervo. For more information, visit minnesotaorchestra.org.

Aho, Dvořák and Sibelius

Inspired by two very distant and different Chinese provinces which the composer visited in 2011. Aho’s Gejia begins with an unusually dramatic cadenza for three percussionists, influenced by the colorful sounds produced by an orchestra in Beijing. Then, pensive folk melodies pay tribute to the somber folk tunes sung by young women in the province of Guizhou.

The Dvořák Cello Concerto, achingly romantic, is often considered the greatest work ever written for the instrument. A quiet section near the close recalls the composer’s lost love, who died as the work was composed.

Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony begins with horn calls answered by woodwinds. The first two movements connect seamlessly and are whipped to a dizzying close. A simple rhythm is repeated and varied in the Andante; in the finale, strings play impassioned melodies and a thicket of dissonance builds over a tolling bass.

MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA ON TOUR: FLORIDA

Sunday, January 8, 2017, 7 p.m. / Artis—Naples / Naples, Fla.
Monday, January 9, 2017, 7:30 p.m. / Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall / Sarasota, Fla.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017, 8 p.m. / Adrienne Arscht Center / Miami, Fla.

Minnesota Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä, conductor
Alisa Weilerstein, cello (January 8 and 9 only)

AHO Gejia, Chinese Images for Orchestra
DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto (January 8 and 9)
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 1 (January 10)
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5

Complete concert information available at minnesotaorchestra.org.

For their generous support of the Florida Tour and the work of Osmo Vänskä, the Minnesota Orchestra gratefully acknowledges Doug and Louise Leatherdale.

Minnesota Orchestra Classical Concerts
OSMO VÄNSKÄ AND ALISA WEILERSTEIN

Friday, January 13, 2017, 8 p.m./ Orchestra Hall
Saturday, January 14, 2017, 8 p.m./ Orchestra Hall

Minnesota Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä, conductor
Alisa Weilerstein, cello

AHO Gejia, Chinese Images for Orchestra
DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5

Tickets: $29 to $96

TICKET PURCHASING INFORMATION

Subscription packages and individual tickets can be purchased online at minnesotaorchestra.org, or by calling 612-371-5656 (612-371-5642 for subscriptions) or 800-292-4141. Tickets can be purchased in person at the Orchestra Hall Box Office, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis (open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and beginning two hours before all ticketed performances); and at the Minnesota Orchestra Administrative Office, International Centre, 5th floor, 920 Second Avenue South, Minneapolis (open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). For more information, call 612-371-5656, or visit minnesotaorchestra.org. For subscriptions, call 612-371-5642 or visit minnesotaorchestra.org/subscribe. For groups of 10 or more, call 612-371-5662.

All programs, artists, dates, times and prices subject to change.

The Star Tribune is the Minnesota Orchestra’s media partner for the 2016-17 season.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.