MacArthur Fellow Alisa Weilerstein Premieres Matthias Pintscher’s New Cello Concerto with Boston Symphony (March 23–25), Crowning Full Winter Lineup

Last spring, when Alisa Weilerstein premiered Pascal Dusapin’s Outscape with the Chicago Symphony, her performance proved “the kind of debut most composers can only dream of achieving” (Chicago Tribune). Now the MacArthur fellow is once again poised to give the first performances of a major cello concerto that was co-commissioned by a top American orchestra, written by a leading European composer, and created expressly for her. She joins the Boston Symphony under François-Xavier Roth for the world premiere of Un despertar by Matthias Pintscher, the most sought-after German composer of his generation, on March 23–25. This crowns a full winter season for the cellist – a new mother – who also returns to Carnegie Hall to perform Schumann with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (March 18) and embarks on a nine-city U.S. recital tour with clarinetist Anthony McGill and pianist Inon Barnatan (Jan 18–29). The tour kicks off in Princeton, where the trio presents the world premiere of short stories by 2014 Grammy nominee Joseph Hallman (Jan 18), and includes dates at Washington’s Kennedy Center (Jan 19) and New York’s Alice Tully Hall (Jan 24).

“A champion of contemporary music” (San Francisco Chronicle) who has been recognized as one of the foremost interpreters of new composition for her instrument, Weilerstein previously collaborated with Matthias Pintscher (b.1971) on the composer-conductor’s Reflections on Narcissus for cello and orchestra. Their New York premiere at the New York Philharmonic’s inaugural Biennial was heralded as a “rhapsodic, compelling performance” (New York Times), and when they reprised the work with the BBC Scottish Symphony at London’s BBC Proms, the Chicago Tribune marveled at the cellist’s “white heat of virtuosic intensity.” As the UK’s Arts Desk observed, “Advocacy from the likes of Alisa Weilerstein has set the concerto beyond the merely intriguing on the path towards a hold on the repertoire.”

Another of the composers whose work the cellist has most consistently championed is Philadelphia’s Joseph Hallman (1979). It was Weilerstein who premiered Hallman’s cello concerto with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic in 2008, and she has subsequently premiered many of his solo and chamber works. Indeed, the centerpiece of her upcoming trio recital tour is the world premiere of his short stories, which was commissioned by Music Accord, a national consortium of top classical music presenters that include the Kennedy Center and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The work’s New York premiere at the latter venue will be preceded by a preconcert discussion with the composer (Jan 24).

Bookended by Beethoven’s bracing Piano Trio in B-flat, the “Gassenhauer,” and Brahms’s autumnal masterpiece, the Clarinet Trio in A minor, Hallman’s new trio highlights a tour program for which the cellist will be joined by two leading lights of the New York Philharmonic: principal clarinet Anthony McGill, and inaugural Artist-in-Association Inon Barnatan, her longtime recital partner. Her recent Decca recording with the pianist, Rachmaninov & Chopin: Cello Sonatas, drew comparisons with Rostropovich and Argerich and was named Album of the Week by Sinfini Music. The disc prompted Voix des Arts to admire their “level of musical symbiosis that transcends casual partnership,” and the New York Times to praise their “poise and their passion.” Weilerstein and Barnatan also look forward to reuniting for a pair of duo recital tours at the Mozarteum Salzburg (Feb 28) and London’s Wigmore Hall (March 7), and undertaking U.S. engagements in California, Connecticut, and New Jersey with a program showcasing another recent Hallman composition, Dreamlog, and their own new transcription of Schubert’s Fantasia in C (April 16–30).

Having first appeared with the ensemble six years ago, on March 18 Weilerstein rejoins the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at New York’s Carnegie Hall for Schumann’s sole Cello Concerto, of which her “thrillingly realised” interpretation recently wowed The Guardian. Other upcoming concerto collaborations find her playing Dvořák on tour with Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra (Jan 8–14), Tchaikovsky with Jaap van Zweden and the Dallas Symphony (Feb 2 & 3), Shostakovich with the National Symphony under Christoph Eschenbach (March 9 & 10), and Prokofiev with Giancarlo Guerrero leading Lisbon’s Gulbenkian Orchestra (Feb 16). To round out the winter season, the versatile cellist performs a complete cycle of Bach’s suites for unaccompanied cello in the International Chamber Music Series at London’s St. John’s Smith Square (Feb 8). Click here to see Weilerstein’s impassioned account of the Sarabande from Bach’s C-major suite, played as an encore with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony.

High-resolution photos may be downloaded here.

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Alisa Weilerstein: upcoming engagements

Jan 8–14
Tour with Minnesota Orchestra / Osmo Vänskä 
Dvořák: Cello Concerto
Jan 8: Naples, FL
Jan 9: Sarasota, FL
Jan 13 & 14: Minneapolis, MN

Jan 18–29
Trio tour with Anthony McGill, clarinet, and Inon Barnatan, piano
Beethoven: Clarinet Trio in B-Flat, Op. 11
Joseph Hallman: short stories (world premiere)
Brahms: Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114
 Jan 18: Princeton, NJ (McCarter Theatre Center)
Jan 19: Washington, D.C. (Kennedy Center)
Jan 21: Durham, NC (Duke Performances)
Jan 22: Baltimore, MD (Shriver Hall)
Jan 23: University Park, PA (Pennsylvania State University; Schwab Auditorium)
Jan 24: New York, NY (Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; Alice Tully Hall)
Jan 26: Urbana, IL (Krannert Center for the Performing Arts)
Jan 27: Kalamazoo, MI (Fontana Chamber Arts)
Jan 29: Ann Arbor, MI (University Musical Society)

Feb 2 & 3
Dallas, TX
Dallas Symphony Orchestra / Jaap van Zweden
Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme

Feb 8
London, UK
St. John’s Smith Sqaure
Solo recital: Bach Cello Suites

Feb 16
Lisbon, Portugal
Gulbenkian Orchestra / Giancarlo Guerrero
Prokofiev: Sinfonia Concertante

Feb 28
Salzburg, Austria
Mozarteum Salzburg
Recital with Inon Barnatan, piano
Beethoven: Sonata in C for piano and cello, Op. 102, No. 1
Barber: Sonata for cello and piano, Op. 6
Beethoven: Sonata in D for piano and cello, Op. 102, No. 2
Chopin: Sonata in G minor for cello and piano, Op. 65

March 7
Wigmore Hall
London, UK
Recital with Inon Barnatan, piano
Beethoven: Sonata in C for piano and cello, Op. 102, No. 1
Barber: Sonata for cello and piano, Op. 6
Beethoven: Sonata in D for piano and cello, Op. 102, No. 2
Britten: Sonata in C minor for cello and piano, Op. 65

March 9 & 10
Washington, DC
National Symphony Orchestra / Christoph Eschenbach
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat, Op. 107

March 12
Newport News, VA
National Symphony Orchestra / Christoph Eschenbach
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat, Op. 107

March 18
Carnegie Hall
New York, NY
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Schumann: Cello Concerto

March 23-25
Boston, MA
Boston Symphony Orchestra / François-Xavier Roth
Matthias Pintscher: Un despertar, Cello Concerto (world premiere)

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© 21C Media Group, December 2016