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“It is part of our mission as a symphony orchestra to bring to bring new pieces to life,” said CSO Music Director Paavo Järvi. “I’m extremely happy to finally have the chance to play some music by Robert Johnson… He’s a wonderful composer.”

Mr. Johnson’s Prairyerth, which opens this concert program, is a musical work inspired by the writings of author William Least Heat-Moon. It paints a vivid musical landscape of the Kansas prairie. Mr. Johnson is a sought-after composer who retired from heading the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music library in 2000.

Next on the program is Mozart’s exquisite Piano Concert No. 20 in D Minor featuring Mr. Vogt on the piano. This acclaimed artist performed with the CSO during the orchestra’s most recent appearance at Carnegie Hall.

“Lars Vogt was one of the premier players of Mozart and Beethoven,” said Mr. Järvi. “We recently performed together and I don’t remember a musical experience that satisfying – that wonderful.”

The concert closes with Igor Stravinsky’s riveting “Rite of Spring,” a popular work chock full of driving rhythms that revolutionized music and even caused a riot at its world premiere one warm spring night in May of 1913.

The CSO thanks Towers Perrin for its generous sponsorship of these concerts.

Audiences are invited to learn more about the music at Classical Conversations with composer Robert Johnson and hosted by Assistant Conductor Eric Dudley, one hour before each performance.

Lars Vogt, piano
Lars Vogt has rapidly established himself as one of the leading pianists of his generation. Born in the German town of Düren in 1970, he first came to public attention when he won second prize at the 1990 Leeds International Piano Competition, and has since gone on to give major concerto and recital performances throughout Europe, Asia, and North America.

An exclusive EMI recording artist, Lars Vogt has made fifteen discs for the label. These include the Schumann and Grieg concertos and the first two Beethoven Concertos with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle, who has described him as “one of the most extraordinary musicians of any age group that I have had the fortune to be associated with.” Vogt has also made solo recordings of Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, and Mussorgsky. Last season EMI released a disc of French Violin Sonatas with Sarah Chang and a three disc set of the complete Brahms Duo Sonatas. His most recent concerto release is Hindemith’s Kammermusik No. 2 with the Berlin Philharmonic and Claudio Abbado.

Lars Vogt enjoys a high-profile career as a recitalist and chamber musician, having appeared over the past two seasons in New York, Tokyo, London, Paris, Vienna, Rome, and Amsterdam. In summer 2005, he was featured at the BBC Proms and the festivals of Salzburg, Lucerne, Edinburgh, the Schubertiade, and La Roque d’Antheron. In June 1998, Lars Vogt founded his own festival in Heimbach, Germany. Known as “Spannungen,” its huge success has been marked by the release of ten live recordings on EMI. He enjoys regular partnerships with colleagues such as Christian Tetzlaff and collaborates with actor Klaus-Maria Brandauer and comedian Konrad Beikircher. In 2007, he performed Die Winterreise with Thomas Quasthoff at the Salzburg Easter Festival.

Lars Vogt studied with Ruth Weiss (Aachen) and Prof. Karl-Heinz Kämmerling (Hanover). He lives near Cologne with his wife, the Russian composer Tatjana Komarova and their young daughter, Isabelle.

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are $12-$79.25 and are available by phone at (513) 381-3300, on the Internet at www.cincinnatisymphony.org, and in person at:

CSO Box Office at Music Hall, 1241 Elm Street, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
CSO Box Office at Music Hall 2 hours prior to the performance.
Student Tickets for CSO and Pops concerts are $10 and are available the week of the concert in person at the CSO Sales Office, over the phone at 513-381-3300, or online at www.cincinnatisymphony.org (limit two tickets per valid student ID).
Half-price ZIPTIX for “A” to “D” seating are available for CSO concerts only in person from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the day of the concert at the Music Hall Box Office. For Friday morning concerts, ZIPTIX are available on Thursday, and for Sunday concerts they may be purchased on Saturday.
Extreme Seats, orchestra sections one and four closest to the stage, are $12 and are available for CSO concerts only at the CSO Box Office or by phone.
Senior Tickets for CSO evening concerts only are 50% off and are available the week of the concert in person at the CSO Sales Office, over the phone at (513) 381-3300, or online at www.cincinnatisymphony.org.