Inon Barnatan Debuts at BBC Proms; Plays Wigmore Hall Recital, World Premiere in Aspen & Four More Festivals This Summer
After a season of major debuts, including one upcoming with the Chicago Symphony this month, Inon Barnatan – “one of the most admired pianists of his generation” (New York Times) – makes his BBC Proms debut in August, playing Ravel’s jazz-influenced G major Piano Concerto. At the Aspen Music Festival this summer he plays the world premiere of Festival President and CEO Alan Fletcher’s new Piano Concerto, and at Bravo! Vail he makes the final appearance of his three-year tenure as the New York Philharmonic’s inaugural Artist-in-Association, joining the orchestra and Music Director Alan Gilbert for Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto. Rounding out his orchestral appearances, Barnatan plays two performances of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, led by David Stern. He also plays several high-profile solo recitals this summer, at London’s Wigmore Hall, in Aspen, and at the Seattle and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festivals. A committed chamber musician, he plays two chamber concerts in Seattle, and joins the Dover Quartet in Santa Fe for a performance of Shostakovich’s superlative Piano Quintet in G minor. Finally, he participates in three chamber concerts at La Jolla’s Summerfest, including one with his frequent recital partner, cellist Alisa Weilerstein.
Barnatan debuted this past season with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under the baton of Alan Gilbert; at the Baltimore Symphony under Vasily Petrenko, where he “surpassed all expectations … in a brilliant debut” with Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, of which the “poignant solos brought tears to the eyes because they were so tenderly wrought” (Washington Post); and at the Seattle Symphony led by Ludovic Morlot, where another account of the Beethoven “brimmed with rhapsodic poetry” (Seattle Times). The pianist is also set to debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra led by Jesús López-Cobos later this month, with three performances of Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F. Capping this string of firsts is Barnatan’s debut at the BBC Proms this summer, when he performs Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Royal Albert Hall under the baton of Kazushi Ono.
Three years ago Barnatan was named the inaugural Artist-in-Association with the New York Philharmonic, a position that was created for him by Alan Gilbert, who considers him “the complete artist: a wonderful pianist, a probing intellect, passionately committed, and a capable contemporary-music pianist as well.” His most recent appearance in that role was this past February, when he joined the orchestra for Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto conducted by Manfred Honeck. As New York Classical Review declared of the performance:
“Barnatan played with a sense of velocity that was all the more exciting for his ease of control, and his steadiness brought out the structural invention in the music. Then his judicious modulations of tempo brought out the improvisational flair and depths that sounded as if they were coming straight out of Beethoven’s own hands.”
At Bravo! Vail this summer he reunites with the Philharmonic, this time led by Gilbert, for a performance of Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto that will mark the final concert of his three-year engagement. Gilbert himself is near the end of his tenure with the orchestra, so the Vail concert marks one of his final appearances as well. As the same New York Classical Review article summed up Barnatan’s time with the Philharmonic: “for the past three seasons, the pianist has done nothing but impress.”
Two days after his Bravo! Vail performance, Barnatan moves a few mountain ranges southwest to Aspen, to perform the world premiere of a new Piano Concerto by Alan Fletcher, President and CEO of the Aspen Music Festival and School. Written for the pianist and commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the premiere in Aspen will be with the Aspen Festival Orchestra conducted by Robert Spano; Barnatan will reprise the piece in the fall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, led by Ken-David Masur.
Equally celebrated as an inventive recitalist and peerless chamber musician, Barnatan will have ample opportunities for both kinds of showcases this summer. He performs centuries-spanning recital programs, with repertoire from Bach and Handel to Ligeti and Thomas Adès, at London’s Wigmore Hall, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Seattle and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festivals. In Santa Fe he also joins the Dover Quartet – praised as “string quartet nirvana” by the Santa Fe New Mexican – for Shostakovich’s String Quintet in G minor. When Barnatan performed the same piece last spring with string players from the New World Symphony, the South Florida Classical Review found his performance “riveting throughout.”
At the Seattle Chamber Music Festival in July, Barnatan’s solo recital is immediately followed, the same evening, with a performance of the Dvořák Piano Quartet in D. Joining him for the Dvořák are 2017 Lincoln Center Emerging Artists Award-winner, violinist Paul Huang; violist Michael Klotz from Florida’s Amernet String Quartet; and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra principal cellist Ronald Thomas. The following night Barnatan plays two four-hand pieces with pianist Paige Roberts Molloy: Debussy’s Petite Suite and Bizet’s Jeux d’enfants, and participates in a performance of Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals in its original arrangement for two pianos, two violins, viola, cello, double bass, flute, clarinet, and percussion. He also performs in a variety of chamber settings in three concerts at California’s La Jolla Music Society Summerfest. The final concert in La Jolla is a collaboration with his regular recital partner, MacArthur Award-winning cellist Alisa Weilerstein, as well as New York Philharmonic principal clarinetist Anthony McGill; the three toured together to nine U.S. cities this past season with a program that included Brahms’s Clarinet Trio in A minor. They revisit that piece in La Jolla, after which Weilerstein and Barnatan perform the composer’s F minor Piano Quintet, joined by violinist Michelle Kim, assistant concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic; violinist Eugene Drucker from the Emerson Quartet; and former New York Philharmonic principal violist Paul Neubauer.
High-resolution photos can be downloaded here.
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Inon Barnatan: spring engagements
May 25, 27, 30
Chicago, IL
Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Jesús López-Cobos
GERSHWIN: Piano Concerto in F
June 23-24
Hong Kong, China
Hong Kong Philharmonic/ David Stern
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 23
June 27
London, UK
Wigmore Hall
Solo Recital
HANDEL: Chaconne in G
- S. BACH: Allemande from Partita No. 4
RAMEAU: Courante from Suite in A minor
COUPERIN: L’Atalante
RAVEL: “Rigaudon” from Le tombeau de Couperin
LIGETI: Musica Ricercata Nos. 10 & 11
BARBER: Fugue from Piano Sonata, Op. 26
ADÈS: Variations for Blanca (UK premiere)
BRAHMS: Variations & Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24
July 12
Seattle, WA
Seattle Chamber Music Festival
7:00 pm Solo Recital
- S. BACH: Toccata in E minor
HANDEL: Allemande from Suite in E
RAMEAU: Courante from Suite in A minor
COUPERIN: L’Atalante
RAVEL: “Rigaudon” from Le tombeau de Couperin
ADÈS: Variations for Blanca
LIGETI: Musica Ricercata No. 10
BARBER: Fugue from Piano Sonata, Op. 26
July 12
Seattle, WA
Seattle Chamber Music Festival
8:00 pm Concert
DVOŘÁK: Quartet for Piano and Strings in D, Op. 23
With Paul Huang, violin; Michael Klotz, viola; Ronald Thomas, cello
July 14
Seattle, WA
Seattle Chamber Music Festival
DEBUSSY: Petite Suite for Piano, Four Hands (with Paige Roberts Molloy)
BIZET: Jeux d’enfants for Piano, Four Hands, Op. 22 (with Paige Roberts Molloy)
SAINT-SAËNS: Carnival of the Animals (with Tessa Lark, Paul Huang, violin; Cynthia Phelps, viola; Ronald Thomas, cello; Joseph Kaufman, double bass; Lorna McGhee, flute; Anthony McGill, clarinet; Robert Tucker, percussion; Paige Roberts Molloy, piano)
July 28
Vail, CO
Vail Music Festival
New York Philharmonic/ Alan Gilbert
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 2
July 30
Aspen, CO
Aspen Music Festival
Aspen Festival Orchestra / Robert Spano
ALAN FLETCHER: Piano Concerto (world premiere)
Aug 2
Aspen, CO
Aspen Music Festival
Solo Recital
HANDEL: Chaconne in G Major
- S. BACH: Allemande from Partita No. 4
RAMEAU: Courante from Suite in A minor
COUPERIN: L’Atalante
RAVEL: “Rigaudon” from Le tombeau de Couperin
LIGETI: Musica Ricercata Nos. 10 & 11
BARBER: Fugue from Piano Sonata, Op. 26
ADÈS: Variations for Blanca
BRAHMS: Variations & Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24
Aug 4
La Jolla, CA
La Jolla Music Society Summerfest
Conrad Prebys Hall at UC San Diego
Opening Night “Fiddles vs. Pianos”
Aug 5
La Jolla, CA
La Jolla Music Society Summerfest
Conrad Prebys Hall at UC San Diego
“From Prague With Love”
Aug 14
London, UK
BBC Proms (debut)
BBC Symphony Orchestra/ Kazushi Ono
RAVEL: Piano Concerto in G major
Aug 17
Santa Fe, NM
Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
Solo Recital
J.S BACH: Toccata in E minor
HANDEL: Allemande from Suite No. 5 in E
RAMEAU: Courante from Suite in A minor
COUPERIN: L’Atalante
RAVEL: “Rigaudon” from Le tombeau de Couperin
ADÈS: Variations for Blanca
BARBER: Fugue from Piano Sonata, Op. 26
BRAHMS: Variation and Fugue on a theme by Handel, Op. 24
Aug 21
Santa Fe, NM
Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
Chamber concert with Dover Quartet
SHOSTAKOVICH: Quintet in G minor for Piano & Strings, Op. 57
Aug 23
La Jolla, CA
La Jolla Music Society Summerfest
Conrad Prebys Hall at UC San Diego
BRAHMS: Clarinet Trio in A Minor, Op. 114
BRAHMS: Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34
With Eugene Drucker, Michelle Kim, violin; Paul Neubauer, viola; Alisa Weilerstein, cello; Anthony McGill, clarinet
Sep 5
Los Angeles, CA
Hollywood Bowl
Los Angeles Philharmonic/ Ken-David Masur
FLETCHER: Piano Concerto (LA Phil commission)
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