Paganini + Pines of Rome

ABOUT THIS CONCERT

He was the original showman—and Paganini’s bag of musical tricks knows no limit in his Violin Concerto No. 1, a work of mind-blowing virtuosity that pushes the instrument to its very limits. Performing it is not for the faint of heart, but when it comes to daredevil violin feats, Grammy Award winner Augustin Hadelich has a knack for making it look easy. Visions of the Eternal City are brushed with a palette of infinite color in Respighi’s glittering tone poems.

Pre-Concert Activities: Attend the Prelude pre-concert discussion, held 45 minutes prior to each Classical concert. Prelude is led by our Musical Ambassador Carlos Andrés Botero, and sometimes features guest artists or orchestra members.

Salute to Educators: On January 12, we honor Houston-area educators for the outstanding impact they make in our community! Educators can use the promo code TEACH20 to be eligible for $19 tickets to the 2:30 p.m. concert, which includes a special Salute to Educators sponsored by the Spec’s Charitable Foundation. Educator ID required to claim discounted tickets.

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PROGRAM

ROSSINI Overture to William Tell
PAGANINI Violin Concerto No. 1
RESPIGHI Fountains of Rome
RESPIGHI Pines of Rome

ARTISTS

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Jader Bignamini is Resident Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica la Verdi, following his appointment as Assistant Conductor in 2010 by Riccardo Chailly.

Highlights of the 18–19 season include debuts at the Vienna State Opera and Dutch National Opera conducting Madama Butterfly and a debut with the Milwaukee Symphony; return engagements with Oper Frankfurt conducting La forza del destino and Santa Fe Opera conducting La Bohème; La Traviata in Tokyo directed by Sofia Coppola; and return engagements with the Slovenian and Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestras. He continues to tour extensively with soprano Anna Netrebko and tenor Yusif Eyvazov.

Bignamini’s 17–18 season included his Metropolitan Opera debut conducting Madama Butterfly, Ópera de Tenerife conducting Don Carlo, and the San Diego Symphony, as well as a return engagement with Teatro Massimo. He made his debut stepping in for Leonard Slatkin with the Detroit Symphony that resulted in an immediate reinvitation.

Recent engagements include Manon Lescaut at the Bolshoi, Turandot at the Teatro Filarmonica, Il Trovatore at Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera, the opening concert of the Orchestra Filarmonica del Teatro Comunale di Bologna conducting Carmina Burana; La Bohème at the Municipal de São Paulo and La Fenice; L’Elisir d’Amore in Ancona; Tosca at the Comunale di Bologna; La Forza del Destino at the Verdi Festival in Parma; La Bohème, Cavalleria Rusticana, and L’Amor Brujo at Teatro Filarmonico di Verona; Aida at Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera; Madama Butterfly at La Fenice; engagements with Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca, and the MITO Festival conducting Berlioz’ Messe Solennelle. In 2013, Bignamini assisted Riccardo Chailly on concerts of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony in Milan. He made his concert debut at La Scala in 2015.

Bignamini was born in Crema and studied at the Piacenza Music Conservatory.

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Augustin Hadelich has firmly established himself as one of the great violinists of today. Showcasing a wide-ranging and adventurous repertoire, he is consistently cited for his phenomenal technique, soulful approach, and beauty of tone. He has performed with every major orchestra in the U.S., as well as an ever-growing number of orchestras around the world, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Danish National Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, NHK Symphony (Tokyo), Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, and the radio orchestras of Frankfurt, Saarbrücken, Stuttgart and Cologne.

Mr. Hadelich is the winner of a 2016 Grammy Award for his recording of Dutilleux’s Violin Concerto with the Seattle Symphony and Ludovic Morlot. Other releases include Paganini’s 24 Caprices for Warner Classics, Tchaikovsky and Lalo Concertos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO Live), Sibelius and Adès Concertos with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Hannu Lintu (AVIE), which was nominated for a Gramophone Award, and Mendelssohn and Bartók Concertos with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and Miguel Harth-Bedoya (AVIE).

Augustin Hadelich’s career took off when he won the Gold Medal at the 2006 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Since then, he has garnered an impressive list of honors, including a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship in the UK (2011), the inaugural Warner Music Prize (2015) and Musical America’s “2018 Instrumentalist of the Year.”

Mr. Hadelich plays the 1723 “Ex-Kiesewetter” Stradivari violin, on loan from Clement and Karen Arrison through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.