The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra kicks off their 2016-2017 season in Athens with performances of Tchaikovsky, Schubert, Schumann and Richard Strauss under the baton of the great maestro Zubin Mehta.
Saturday 17th September
Opening night will be dedicated to the rich European romanticist repertoire of Tchaikovsky, Schubert and Schumann with well-known and lesser-known pieces, led by Mehta, one of the world’s most acclaimed conductors.
Tchaikovsky’s sensual “Andante cantabile in B flat major” for cello and orchestra, the second movement of his String Quartet No. 1, is first on the program, performed by the Soviet-born, internationally renowned cellist Marcel Bergman.
The evening will close with Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 in C major, D 944 , also referred to as “The Great”, which was written near the end of the composer’s life in 1828, capturing the romantic life of 19th century Vienna.
Sunday 18th September
Soprano Kristin Lewis. Photograph: Lena Kern
Sunday will be dedicated to Richard Strauss (1864-1949), opening withTill Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, Opus 28, a whimsical tone poem that follows the antics of the legendary German trickster, Till.
Multi-award winning young American soprano, Kristin Lewis will close the performance with Strauss’s “Last Songs” for soprano and orchestra, written around 1948 to exemplify the female voice.
The performances are supported by Greece’s Ministry of Culture and Greeks living abroad who requested anonymity.
