Thursday, October 30, 2008

Get to know Nikolaj Znaider


Our conductor for the tour will be world-renowned violinist Nikolaj Znaider. Perhaps you remember him from our September 18-28 concerts.

Here's a little information about him:
Celebrated as one of the foremost violinists of today, Nikolaj Znaider is regularly invited to work with the world’s leading orchestras including, Vienna, Berlin and London Philharmonics, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and London Symphony Orchestra, and enjoys artistic collaborations with acclaimed conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Sir Colin Davis, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Gustavo Dudamel, Valery Gergiev, Mariss Jansons, Vladimir Jurowski, Christian Thielemann and many others. A conductor as well as violinist, he was recently named principal guest conductor of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra.

Born in Denmark to Polish-Israeli parents, Znaider studied with the eminent Russian pedagogue Boris Kushnir and drawing on this eclectic background his playing has been heralded in the Strad Magazine as “extraordinarily intelligent, soulful and impassioned, yet without a hint of indulgence.”

A keen recitalist and chamber musician, Znaider has shared the stage with the foremost artists of today such as Daniel Barenboim, Leif Ove Andsnes, Yuri Bashmet, Yefim Bronfman, Lynn Harrell, Lang Lang and Pinchas Zukerman. His next recording on the Sony/BMG Masterworks label will be Korngold and Brahms Concertos with the Vienna Philharmonic led by Valery Gergiev.

Znaider plays the “Kreisler” Guarnerius “del Gesu” 1741 on extended loan by The Royal Danish Theater through the generosity of the VELUX FOUNDATIONS and the Knud Højgaard Foundation.

Click here to see his web site.

To read the reviews from his concerts with us,
Click here for the Star Tribune's review
Click here for the Pioneer Press' review

Monday, October 13, 2008

And away we go!

Welcome to the blog site for The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's 2008 Scandinavian tour! We hope you'll check in often for updates as we get closer to the tour. While we're abroad, we hope you'll look here each day for news, photos, and dispatches from the road!


Here's where we'll be going:

Dec. 1, 2008: Musikkonservatoriets Koncertsal in Copenhagen, Denmark
Dec. 2, 2008: Oslo Konserthus, in Oslo, Norway
Dec. 3, 2008: the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, Germany
Dec. 4, 2008: Gothenburg Konserthuset in Gothenburg, Sweden
Dec. 5, 2008: Stockholm Konserthus in Stockholm, Sweden



And here's what we'll be performing:


Copenhagen and Oslo:
Stravinsky, Concerto in D
Mozart, Violin Concerto No. 5
*** Intermission ***
Beethoven, Symphony No. 7


Hamburg, Gothenburg, and Stockholm:
Stravinsky, Concerto in D
Mozart, Violin Concerto No. 5
*** Intermission ***
Beethoven, Coriolan Overture
Beethoven, Symphony No. 4



The conductor and soloist for these programs will be violinist Nikolaj Znaider. If you came to our Spetember 18-28 concerts, you got a sneak peak at Nikolaj and some of what we'll be performing with him on the tour.

Here's what the local press had to say about the SPCO's concerts with Nikolaj:

Click here for the Star Tribune's review

and click here for the Pioneer Press review

More to come, so check back soon!