October 24, 2008

CSO Featured Nationally on Public Radio’s SymphonyCast

CINCINNATI—The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra will be featured nationally on SymphonyCast, a public radio program showcasing the world’s great orchestras. This national program airs locally each Tuesday evening at 8 p.m. on 90.9 WGUC, and is produced by American Public Media.  This particular episode will air Tuesday, November 11 on Cincinnati’s WGUC.

The concert was recorded in March, and featured violin sensation Janine Jansen, who Der Spiegel calls “the most exciting violinist of her generation – an artist for the iPod era.”  She joined Paavo Järvi and the CSO at historic Music Hall for a fantastic program that was also presented on the CSO’s hugely successful European tour last April.  The concert included Britten’s Violin Concerto No. 1, Schubert’s deeply moving Symphony No. 9, and opened with Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten.

“Arvo Pärt has become extremely popular - he’s one of the composers whose music is used in films and mainstream media,” said CSO Music Director Paavo Järvi.  “Pärt’s Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten is an homage that we decided to pair with the Britten Violin Concerto – I thought it was a nice connection that allows us to explore a variety of music.”

Widely regarded as an underrated masterpiece, Britten’s Violin Concerto No. 1 showcased Ms. Jansen’s tremendous talent.  She made her U.S. debut with the CSO in 2005. 

“Janine Jansen is literally one of the hottest stars in the classical music world now,” said Mr. Järvi.  “She is constantly on the best selling list of iTunes, and plays with the top orchestras in the world.  She has blossomed into one of the most important young musicians on the scene.”

The concert program closed with Schubert’s magnificent Symphony No. 9, an audience favorite known simply as “The Great.”

This will be the third time the CSO has been featured nationally on SymphonyCast in 2008. The program is currently heard on more than 90 public radio stations across the country each week, with a weekly audience of over 227,000 listeners.