Kirill Gerstein headlines Houston Symphony’s January “RachFest”
Gilmore Artist Kirill Gerstein will give multiple performances of all four Rachmaninoff piano concertos as artist-in-residence of the Houston Symphony’s “RachFest”, a special three-week celebration of the composer’s music. From January 5 to 22, the pianist will offer three accounts of each concerto: the third with British conductor Edward Gardner, and Nos. 1, 2 and 4 under Houston Symphony Music Director Hans Graf. Rachmaninoff has long been a signature composer for Gerstein, with the Chicago Tribune praising his “rhapsodic intensity and big-hearted Russian lyricism” in Rachmaninoff’s music.
The January 5, 7 and 8 RachFest concerts in Houston will present Gerstein in Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto. The RachFest concerts on January 13-15 will see Gerstein playing the first and fourth concertos, while the January 19, 21 and 22 programs feature him in the ever-popular Piano Concerto No. 2.
Kirill Gerstein: 2012 engagements
Jan 5, 7, & 8, 2012
Houston Symphony / Edward Gardner
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3
Jan 13–15
Houston Symphony / Hans Graf
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 4
Jan 19, 21, & 22
Houston Symphony / Hans Graf
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2
Feb 2 & 3
Stavanger Symphony Orchestra / Alexander Shelley
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
Feb 12
Cal Performances, UC Berkeley
Recital
Feb 16
Sarasota Concert Association
Van Wezel Hall, Sarasota
Recital
Feb 23
Milan
Recital, with Steven Isserlis, cello
March 6
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra / Zoltan Kocsis
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3
March 9 & 10
Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra / David Lockington
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2
March 18
Newmark Theatre
Recital
March 20
Rochester, NY
Eastman School of Music
Recital
March 23
Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall, Iowa State University
Ames Town and Gown Chamber Music Association
Recital
March 25
Sunday Afternoons of Music
Gusman Hall, University of Miami
Recital
March 27
Princeton, NJ
Recital
March 30
Boston, MA
Berklee Performance Center
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (original 1924 arrangement)
Mehldau: Variations (premiere, commissioned by Gilmore)
April 7 & 8
Dresden Philharmonic
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 1
April 19
Vancouver Recital Society
Chan Centre
Recital
April 21
92nd Street Y
New York, NY
Recital
BACH: English Suite No. 6 in D minor, BWV 811
BUSONI: Giga, bolero e variazione: Studie nach Mozart from An die Jugend
KNUSSEN: Ophelia’s Last Dance, Op. 32
WEBER: Aufforderung zum Tanze, Op. 65
SCHUMANN: Carnaval, Op. 9
LISZT: Selections from Soirées de Vienne; Valses caprices d’après Schubert
April 29
Gilmore Festival Activities
Recital
May 3–12
Gilmore Festival Activities
May 9: two-piano recital with Brad Meldau
May 12: Kalamazoo Symphony / Raymond Harvey
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2; Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5
May 17, 19, & 20
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra / Vassily Petrenko
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2; Liszt: Totentanz
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© 21C Media Group, January 2012