Tchaikovsky's Fiery "Little Russian"
Tchaikovsky's Fiery "Little Russian"
- Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
- Heinz Hall
-
Ticket Pricesstarting at $20
The Program
STRAVINSKY: Suite from Pulcinella
HAYDN: Trumpet Concerto
PLOG: Scherzo for Trumpet
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 2, "Little Russian"
About this Performance
For his blazing “Little Russian” Symphony, Tchaikovsky infused Ukrainian folk melodies with his colorful orchestration to create his first masterpiece in the form and is a specialty of Ukrainian maestro Kirill Karabits. Stravinsky’s delightful “Pulcinella” glances back to Baroque giant Giovanni Pergolesi. And the Orchestra's Micah Wilkinson plays Haydn’s sparkling Trumpet Concerto.
Music and Art
with the Carnegie Museum of Art
Pulcinella was my discovery of the past, the epiphany through which the whole of my late work became possible.
―Igor Stravinsky, from Expositions and Developments, published by University of California Press, 1959
The Ballets Russes had an extensive and revolutionary history of collaborating with artists and composers including Salvador Dalí and Igor Stravinsky. Dalí created backdrops, costumes, and curtains, for his spell-binding production of Labyrinth—the mythical adventure of Theseus and Ariadne staged at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House. Twenty years earlier, Stravinsky composed Pulcinella at the request of Ballets Russes ground-breaking founder, Sergei Diaghilev. Read more about Dalí’s curtain and other important works in Carnegie Museum of Art’s new collection handbook available now at the museum store.
Visit Carnegie Museum of Art this season to connect with artworks like this and more → Learn more
Carnegie Museum of Art is delighted to bring you this artwork from our collection that connects to the sounds of the Pittsburgh Symphony that you will hear on the Heinz Hall stage – a partnership born from our shared 125th anniversaries in 2020.
The Artists
Featuring
Kirill Karabits
conductor
Kirill Karabits has been Chief Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for 12 years and their relationship has been celebrated worldwide. Together they have made many critically acclaimed recordings, performed regularly at the BBC Proms and last season appeared together at London’s Barbican Centre as part of the Beethoven celebrations.
Karabits has worked with many of the leading ensembles of Europe, Asia and North America, including the Cleveland, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Chicago Symphony orchestras, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Philharmonia Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Filarmonica del Teatro La Fenice and the BBC Symphony Orchestra – including a concertante version of Bluebeard’s Castle at the Barbican Centre. Kirill enjoys a special relationship with the Russian National Orchestra with whom he returned to the Edinburgh Festival in the 2018- 19 season, and more recently embarked on extensive European and North American tours with Mikhail Pletnev which included his New York debut at the Lincoln Center. The 19-20 season saw Kirill debut with the Dallas Symphony as well as return visits to the Minnesota Orchestra and Bamberger Symphoniker.
Highlights of the 2020-21 include his debut with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in London and on tour in Asia and return visits to the Orchestre National Capitole de Toulouse, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and Antwerp Symphony Orchestra at the Bozar in Brussels.
A prolific opera conductor, Karabits will conduct a new production of Boris Godunov to open Zurich Opera’s 20-21 season and will return later in the season to conduct Onegin. He has also worked with the Deutsche Oper (Boris Godunov) and Oper Stuttgart (Death in Venice), Glyndebourne Festival Opera (La bohème and Eugene Onegin), Staatsoper Hamburg (Madama Butterfly), English National Opera (Don Giovanni), Bolshoi Theatre and he conducted a performance of Der fliegende Holländer at the Wagner Geneva Festival in celebration of the composer’s anniversary. Music Director of the Deutsches Nationaltheatre Weimar from 2016-19, Karabits conducted acclaimed productions of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Tannhäuser as well as Mozart's DaPonte Cycle (Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte). Working with the next generation of bright musicians is of great importance to Karabits and as Artistic Director of I, CULTURE Orchestra he conducted them on their European tour in August 2015 with Lisa Batiashvili as soloist and a summer festivals tour in 2018, including concerts at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Montpellier Festival. In 2012 and 2014 he conducted the televised finals of the BBC Young Musician of the Year Award (working with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra), and has recently debuted with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain on a UK tour including a sold out and critically acclaimed performance at the Barbican.
He was named Conductor of the Year at the 2013 Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards.
Micah Wilkinson
trumpet
Micah Wilkinson was appointed principal trumpet of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra by Music Director Manfred Honeck in September 2017 and holds the Martha Brooks Robinson Principal Trumpet Chair. He has enjoyed a varied career as an orchestral musician, soloist, chamber artist, and teacher. Wilkinson came to the Pittsburgh Symphony from the San Diego Symphony, where he served as principal trumpet for three years. He previously held positions with the Houston Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the Oregon Symphony and the Tucson Symphony. He performed recently in subscription programs as Guest Principal Trumpet with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Seoul Philharmonic.
As a featured soloist, Micah Wilkinson has been praised for "taming the brilliance he employs so well in many massive orchestrations to that gentle, liquid line." (San Diego Story) In the 2021-2022 season, he made his Pittsburgh Symphony concerto debut, performing Haydn's Trumpet Concerto and premiering Anthony Plog’s Scherzo for Trumpet and Orchestra. “The character of his playing was delightful, with sublimely lyrical phrases and a bright, nimble approach to the quicker bits.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
As a chamber musician, Micah Wilkinson has been recognized for his "complete confidence and refreshing catalogue of contrasting colors" (San Diego Story) and has been frequently featured on NPR's Performance Today. Professional summer festival appearances have included the Aspen Music Festival, Chautauqua Institute, Sun Valley Festival, Cabrillo Festival, Brevard Music Center, Round Top Institute, Bellingham Festival of Music and Astoria Music Festival.
As an educator, Micah Wilkinson strives to help the next generation of brass players to find their own unique voices as musical artists. He is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after instructors for trumpet in the United States and enjoys working privately with students at his home studio in Pittsburgh and online through virtual platforms. He recently edited and released two solo collections for trumpet, the "Book of Solos" and the “Book of Arias,” which include his commentary on performance practice and historical context.
In the summers, Micah Wilkinson has taught at the Aspen Music Festival, Chautauqua Institution School of Music, Round Top Festival Hill Institute and the Brevard Music Center. He has also served on the faculties of the University of Houston and Portland State University, and has presented master classes and clinics for colleges and universities all over the United States, Europe and Asia.
Micah Wilkinson grew up in Norcross, Georgia. A proud graduate of St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, he pursued additional studies at Arizona State University and the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany. His primary teachers include Martin Hodel, David Hickman, Larry Black and Anthony Plog. He lives in the South Hills of Pittsburgh with his wife Stefani and daughters Eleanor and Amelia.
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- Heinz Hall
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600 Penn Avenue
Pittsburgh PA 15222 -
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