Friday / 21 October / 8 pm
HAKAN HARDENBERGER, trumpet
ALEKSANDAR MADZAR, piano
CHICAGO DEBUT

“A trumpeter who can drop jaws at a hundred paces.”
The London Times

A trumpet fanfare heralds the beginning of a new chamber music season when this Swedish trumpet sensation makes his Chicago recital debut in Mandel Hall. Hardenberger has redefined the limits of the trumpet, reintroducing it as a solo instrument, as capable of poetry as the solo violin or human voice. In a town graced (and spoiled) by one of the world’s greatest trumpet players, Adolph Herseth, the young Swede makes a convincing contender for the title.

“The virtuosity of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra is unassailable. ”The London Times

The second concert of the Chamber Music Series celebrates the beginning of a 3-year residency between the “SPCO” and the University of Chicago. Pianist/conductor Jeffrey Kahane will play-conduct an array of works classical to modern. Not the least will be Mozart’s beloved Concerto No. 23, a work he loved too much to sell, and a fitting beginning to a season-long celebration of the composer’s 250th birthday.

“This new Tokyo Quartet has rediscovered the remarkable finesse, vivacity and elegance which had originally raised it to the highest rank.” The Toronto Star

The Tokyo Quartet returns to Mandel Hall after a 4-year absence with a new first violinist, Canadian Martin Beaver. The new alignment has been heralded as a true rebirth of the group that “breathed fire” into the chamber music world when it began at Juilliard in 1969. The rekindled “fire-breathers” will be joined by young Russian oboe prodigy, Alexei Ogrintchouk, and perhaps the greatest living clarinetist, Germany’s Sabine Meyer, as Mozart’s birthday bash continues with with two exquisite pieces of his chamber music.

“The gentle weight and quick wit of cherished long-time friendships . . . they are a quartet to cherish.” Chicago Sun-Times

The Chicago Tribune called them ?four of the best string alchemists on the planet.? The formidable foursome from Colorado return to Mandel Hall with a brand new violist, Geraldine Walther, former principal violist of the San Francisco Symphony, and special guest, violist, James Dunham, former member of the Cleveland Quartet. Mr. Dunham will play the part Mozart liked to perform himself in the Quintet for Strings in C Major, as Amadeus? birthday celebration continues.

“You could see the soul forming on the walls of the room as the phrases soared.” Winnipeg Free Press

Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman shines like a supernova in a galaxy of bright young vocal stars. Her radiant voice and charismatic presence encourage comparisons to the young Leontyne Price. Measha started life as a pianist and church singer, listening to operas on the Canadian radio station where her father worked. But she favors the concert stage and the vocal recital because of its intimacy, freedom and variety, and strives to make every performance “life-changing. “ Not yet 30 years-old, Brueggergosman has already sung for Nelson Mandela and Queen Elizabeth.

Shostakovich Preludes
Brahms Sonata for Viola and Piano in F minor, Op 120, No 1
Chausson Poème
Franck Sonata for Violin and Piano

“…Young, fiery and animated by the inflections of Romanticism through and through.” WAZ

The Lithuanian born, Austrian prodigy won the coveted “Young Musician of the Year” Award in 1988 at the age of 14 and went on the be the youngest soloist ever to debut with the Vienna Philharmonic. Mr. Rachlin studied with master-teacher and violinist Boris Kuschnir, of the Kopelman Quartet, and with his artistic hero, violinist-violist Pinchas Zukerman in New York City. At home with both the violin and the viola, his “high octane” virtuosity and sensitivity mark him as a latter day Romantic.