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“A recital is a very human experience. People have come literally to spend time with you. I want to share the highs and lows and deliver something that’s precious to me.” Who better to describe the recital experience than the great Canadian baritone himself? He reduces his audiences to spellbound silence.

“Mr. Finley has long been recognized as a recitalist of rare versatility, a concert artist of the first rank, and an opera singer of distinction.” – The New York Times

Program

Schubert’s Winterreise 

Links

Learn more about Gerald Finley.

Biography

Grammy-award wining Canadian baritone Gerald Finley has become one of the leading singers and dramatic interpreters of his generation, with award-winning performances and recordings on CD and DVD and performing at the world’s major opera and concert venues in a wide variety of repertoire.

In opera, Mr Finley has sung all the major baritone roles of Mozart. His Don Giovanni has been seen in New York, London, Paris, Salzburg, Munich, Rome, Vienna, Prague, Tel Aviv, Budapest and Glyndebourne, recently released on DVD. As the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro, his appearances include the Royal Opera Covent Garden (Opus Arte DVD), Salzburg Festival (2007, 2009), Paris, Vienna and Amsterdam. At the New York Met his roles have included Don Giovanni, Golaud and Marcello.

Critical successes also include Eugene Onegin and Golaud at Covent Garden, Iago in Otello with Sir Colin Davis and the LSO (LSO Live), the title role in Guillaume Tell with Accademia di Santa Cecilia and Antonio Pappano (EMI) and his debut performances as Hans Sachs at the Glyndebourne Festival (Opus Arte DVD). In contemporary opera, Mr Finley has excelled in creating leading roles, most notably Howard K. Stern in Turnage’s Anna Nicole at Covent Garden (Opus Arte) and J. Robert Oppenheimer in John Adam’s Doctor Atomic (New York Met, ENO London, San Francisco, Chicago and Amsterdam) (DVD available on Opus Arte and Sony), as Harry Heegan in Mark Anthony Turnage’s The Silver Tassie
at ENO, and Jaufré Rudel in Kaija Saariaho’s L’amour de loin for the much-acclaimed premieres in Santa Fe, Paris and Helsinki (DVD).

Most recent concert appearances included works by Sibelius and Walton with the BBC Symphony, Janacek with the Berlin Philharmonic, Harbison’s 5th Symphony with the Boston Symphony, Mozart Requiem and Missa Solemnis with the Concertgebouw Orchestra and Elgar’s Coronation Ode at the First Night of the 2012 BBC Proms. He concluded the 2011/12 season with appearances at the Festivals of Toronto, Tanglewood, Ottawa Chamber, Ravinia and Grafenegg.

As a recitalist, he works regularly with Julius Drake. They recently performed at the Wigmore Hall, the Schwarzenberg Schubertiade, New York’s Alice Tully Hall, and Madrid’s Teatro della Zarzuela. Mr Finley’s CD releases are devoted to songs of Barber and Ives, “Dichterliebe” by Schumann, “Songs by Ravel”, and Britten’s “Songs and Proverbs” all in partnership with Julius Drake on the Hyperion label, and have been critically acclaimed, including the 2008. 2009 and 2011 Gramophone Award in the ‘Solo Vocal’ category. In 2012 the DVD release of John Adam’s Doctor Atomic in which Gerald Finley appeared as J. Robert Oppenheimer was awarded the Grammy for ‘Best Opera Recording’. His latest CD “Liederkreis” was released in October 2012.

2012/13 started with a return to the BBC Proms as Chou en Lai in Nixon in China with the BBC Symphony, followed by Brahms’ Requiem with the Concertgebouw, which he will also perform with the Toronto and London Symphony Orchestras later in the season. Further highlights include recitals across Europe, Le nozze di Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera New York, Haydn’s Nelson Mass and Schönberg’s A survivor from Warsaw with Andris Nelsons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich, Frankfurt and Luxembourg, concerts in Australia, Mahler’s Wunderhorn Lieder with the Czech Philharmonic, Alexander’s Feast by Handel under the baton of Nikolaus Harnoncourt at Vienna’s Musikverein, Les espaces du sommeil with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, Don Giovanni at the Bavarian State Opera and Il Prigioniero with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr Finley concludes the season with Cosi fan tutte at the Salzburg Festival.

Gerald Finley, born in Montreal, began singing as a chorister in Ottawa, Canada, and completed his musical studies in the UK at the Royal College of Music, King’s College, Cambridge, and the National Opera Studio.

The performance is sponsored by Robert Lemon in memory of Robert Ledingham.

Peak Performances at the Playhouse Series is sponsored by

“Subtle, clever, imaginative pianism of the very highest quality.” – The Independent

The ultimate musical pairing. Daniel Müller-Schott has made his mark by delighting audiences with energetic performances, perfectly combining technical brilliance with great intellectual and emotional acuity. Simon Trpčeski’s playing embodies impeccable technique with delicate expression. This union, a coup for the VRS, is sure to be nothing short of extraordinary.

“Daniel Müller-Schott is the ultimate refined cellist.” – The Guardian

Program

Beethoven
Sonata for piano and cello no. 4 in C major, Op. 102, no. 1

Brahms
Sonata no.2 F major, Op. 99

Chopin
Cello sonata in G minor, Op. 65

Links

Learn more about Daniel Müller-Schott.
Learn more about Simon Trpčeski.

Biography

Daniel Müller-Schott

One of the finest cellists in the world today, Daniel Müller-Schott electrifies audiences everywhere with his perfectly integrated technical brilliance, intellect and exhilarating passion.  Often cited for his imaginative interpretations of the standard repertoire, he is also deeply committed to and fluent in the music of our time.  Sir André Previn and Peter Ruzicka have both dedicated cello concertos to him.

In addition to his recent sensational debut with the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom, Mr. Müller-Schott will make return appearances with both the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the autumn of 2013.  Other engagements include the symphonies of Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Fort Worth, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, National (Washington, D.C.), North Carolina, Oregon, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, Utah and Vancouver, as well as the Los Angeles Philharmonic (at the Hollywood Bowl), Minnesota Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Along with his recent highly successful debut with the BBC Symphony at the London Proms, Mr. Müller-Schott has also appeared with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the BBC Philharmonic/London, RSO/Berlin, Birmingham Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Czech Philharmonic, Danish Radio Symphony, Gewandhausorchester/Leipzig, Göteborg Symphony, NDR/Hamburg, London Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, NHK/Japan, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, Orquestra Sinfônica do São Paolo, Oslo Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra/ London, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, Spanish National Orchestra, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony and the Vienna Symphony.

Daniel Müller-Schott’s upcoming highlights include a return engagement with the New York Philharmonic, his debut with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Minas Gerais/Brazil, and concerts with the Bilbao Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester, Hamburg Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, NHK Symphony/Japan, Orchestre National de France, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and the Tchaikovsky Symphony.

Mr. Müller-Schott has long been a favorite at worldwide festivals. Appearances include Aspen, Blossom, Chamber Music Vancouver, Ravinia, Sarasota, Tanglewood, Bravo! Vail Valley, as well as City of London, Lucerne, Rheingau, Salzburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Schwetzingen, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.  Among the renowned conductors with whom he has collaborated are Vladimir Ashkenazy, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Michael Gielen, Alan Gilbert, Bernard Haitink, Dmitrij Kitajenko, Christoph König, Sir Neville Marriner, Jun Märkl, Kurt Masur, Gianandrea Noseda, Sakari Oramo, Vasily Petrenko, Sir André Previn, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Krzysztof Urbanski.

An enthusiastic recitalist, Daniel Müller-Schott appears regularly in many of the world’s great venues, among them the Munich Philharmonie, Salzburg Mozarteum, Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vancouver Recital Society and the Zurich Tonhalle.  Also an avid chamber musician, Mr. Müller-Schott has collaborated with Nicolas Angelich, Renaud Capuçon, Julia Fischer, Jonathan Gilad, Viviane Hagner, Steven Isserlis, Robert Kulek, Olli Mustonen, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Sir André Previn, Christian Tetzlaff, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Lars Vogt, and the Ebène and Vogler quartets.  He has also appeared and recorded extensively with Canadian pianist, Angela Hewitt.

Because of Mr. Müller-Schott’s life-long devotion to the music of J.S. Bach, he chose the six solo cello suites for his first recording (Glissando Records).  Since then, he has built up a sizeable discography under the ORFEO, Deutsche Grammophon, Pentatone and EMI Classics labels.  His recordings have been enthusiastically received by both the public and the press and have also received numerous awards, including the Gramophone Editor’s Choice, Strad Selection, and the BBC Music Magazine’s “CD of the Month”.  Mr. Müller-Schott has been awarded the Quarterly Prize of German Record Critics for his recordings of the Elgar and Walton cello concertos and for his CD of the Shostakovich cello concertos recorded with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra under Yakov Kreizberg.  His recording of the entire Beethoven cycle with Angela Hewitt has been awarded five stars by the London Daily Telegraph.  He has also recorded another CD of works by Dvořák with the NDR Symphony Orchestra under Michael Sanderling.  Mr. Müller-Schott recently received a Diapson d’Or for his CD of Britten’s solo suites on the ORFEO label.  Also in celebration of the 2013 Britten centennial, a new disc of Britten’s Cello Symphony and Prokofiev’s Cello Symphony with the WDR Symphony Orchestra under Jukka-Pekka Saraste has just been released.

Daniel Müller-Schott was born in Munich in November 1976.  He studied under Walter Nothas, Heinrich Schiff and Steven Isserlis and has early benefited from the personal support of Anne-Sophie Mutter as the holder of a scholarship from her foundation.  Through this promotion, Mr. Müller-Schott received private instruction from Mstislaw Rostropovich for one year.  In 1992, at the age of fifteen, he caused an international sensation by winning the First Prize at the Moscow International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians. His own deep interest in awakening young people’s enthusiasm for music is demonstrated by his support  for the “Rhapsody in School” project and his frequent master classes both in Europe and the United States.

Daniel Müller-Schott currently lives in his home town of Munich.  Under a commission from the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, a portrait of him was painted by the Dresden artist Ekkehard Tischendorf.

Simon Trpčeski

Macedonian pianist Simon Trpčeski has established himself as one of the most remarkable musicians to have emerged in recent years, performing with many of the world’s greatest orchestras and captivating audiences worldwide. Mr. Trpčeski is praised not only for his impeccable technique and delicate expression, but also for his warm personality and commitment to strengthening Macedonia’s cultural image.

Mr. Trpčeski has appeared with many of the world’s finest orchestras. He is a frequent soloist with the London Symphony and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, the Philharmonia and Halle Orchestras and the London Philharmonic. Other engagements with major European ensembles include the Royal Concertgebouw, Russian National and Bolshoi Theatre Orchestras, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the Rotterdam, Strasbourg, Royal Stockholm, Royal Flanders and St. Petersburg Philharmonics. In North America, he has performed with the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras, The
Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras and the Symphony Orchestras of Boston, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Toronto and Baltimore, among others. Elsewhere he has performed with the New Japan, Seoul and Hong Kong Philharmonic, Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, and has toured with the New Zealand Symphony. Mr. Trpčeski has worked with a prominent list of conductors, including Marin Alsop, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Lionel Bringuier, Andrew Davis, Gustavo Dudamel, Charles Dutoit, Vladimir Jurowski, Lorin Maazel, Antonio Pappano, Vasily Petrenko, Robin Ticciati, Yan Pascal Tortelier, David Zinman and Gianandrea Noseda.

In 2012-2013 season Mr. Trpceski continues to perform with some of the most prestigious orchestras around the world. He will play Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra, Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto under Robin Ticciati with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as with the Minnesota Orchestra under Andrew Litton and Danish National Symphony Orchestra under Gianandrea Noseda. Mr. Trpceski will also perform with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, Hallé Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Monte Carlo Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic. Additionally at the beginning of 2013 Mr. Trpceski will perform Chopin’s E Minor concerto with Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as well as the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Orchestra Sinfónica do Porto. Mr. Trpceski will appear in recital at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, as well as in Berkeley, Vancouver and the UK.

March 2010 saw Mr. Trpčeski’s concerto recording debut on the Avie label, showcasing Rachmaninov’s notoriously challenging Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3 with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. The album was awarded the Diapason d’Or de l’année and Classic FM’s “Editor’s Choice”. In June 2011, the Avie label released the second concerto album from Trpčeski, Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; the completion of Rachmaninov piano concerti, Nos. 1 and 4 alongside Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The second disc has been recognized with Classic FM, Gramophone “Editor’s Choice” and Diapason d’Or distinctions.

A superb recitalist, Simon Trpčeski has given solo performances in such cultural capitals as New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Milan, Munich, Prague, Hamburg, Bilbao, Dublin and Tokyo. Simon has received widespread acclaim for his recital recordings on the EMI label. His first recording, released in 2002, featured works by Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Stravinsky and Prokofiev, and received both the “Editor’s Choice” and “Debut Album” awards at the Gramophone Awards. His 2005 Rachmaninoff and 2007 Chopin discs both received extensive praise from critics. In 2008, he released an all-Debussy disc entitled Debussy: Images, which was equally applauded.

Simon also performs chamber music as often as he can, having performed at such festivals as Aspen, Verbier and Risor, and in Summer 2011, Simon Trpčeski and cellist Nina Kotova preformed works by Chopin for a theatrical event based on the life of Frédéric Chopin featuring renowned actors Jeremy Irons and Sinead Cusack at the Tuscan Sun Festival in Cortona, Italy. With the special support of KulturOp—Macedonia’s leading cultural and arts organization—and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Trpčeski works regularly with young musicians in Macedonia in order to cultivate the talent of the country’s next generation of artists.

Born in the Republic of Macedonia in 1979, Simon Trpčeski has won prizes in international piano competitions in the United Kingdom, Italy and the Czech Republic. From 2001 to 2003, he was a member of the BBC New Generation Scheme, and in May 2003, he was honored with the Young Artist Award by the Royal Philharmonic Society. In December 2009, the President of Macedonia H.E. Gjorge Ivanov honored him with the Presidential Order of Merit for Macedonia, a decoration given to foreign and domestic dignitaries responsible for the affirmation of Macedonia abroad and most recently in September 2011 Mr. Trpčeski was awarded the first-ever title “National Artist of the Republic of
Macedonia”.

Mr. Trpčeski is a graduate of the School of Music at the University of St. Cyril and St. Methodius in Skopje, where he studied with Professor Boris Romanov. In addition to his international engagements, he currently teaches as a faculty member at his alma mater. Simon Trpčeski makes his home in Skopje with his family.

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