OTTAWA (Canada) – Audiences across Canada and worldwide will be able to revel in the beauty of Brahms’ grandest concerto as Pinchas Zukerman, a phenomenon on the music scene for over forty years, Amanda Forsyth, one of North America’s most dynamic cellists, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, present their magnificent new album, Brahms: Double Concerto, Symphony No. 4 released by Analekta. 

Long-time National Arts Centre Foundation donors Harvey and Louise Glatt made a generous gift to enable the recording of this album, and an upcoming recording of Telemann’s Viola Concerto.

Inspired by Pinchas Zukerman’s masterful sound, the Glatts wanted to give audiences everywhere the chance to experience this. As Harvey Glatt explains, “These recordings capture something special which audiences can listen to in perpetuity.”

Written in 1887, the Double Concerto was Johannes Brahms’ last orchestral composition, and was completed 10 years prior to his death. Although the work remains the least played of Brahms’s four concertos it is regarded as one of his greatest achievements, due in part to its soaring melodies and sublime phrasing.

Compositions for this combination of solo instruments, violin and cello, are few and far between, but Brahms succeeds in integrating them into a concerto that showcases the tonal beauties of each.

Brahms’ Double Concerto is also particularly significant to Zukerman and Forsyth who have come to regard this piece as a theme song of their romance. 

In the early days of their relationship Forsyth wrote out the first two bars of the Double Concerto slow movement, where the soloists engage in a dialogue with each other. She wrote this out in a fax to Zukerman, with the hope that they would one day play the piece together. Zukerman was moved by this gesture and their relationship blossomed.

“I've played the Double Concerto with other violinists, but I was not in love with them,” said Forsyth. “We have love through the music. Whenever we play together we have musical telepathy, it’s so comforting,” she said. “When we recorded it for the CD, the recording producer said ‘you can really tell that you're married’,” she added.

The Brahms: Double Concerto / Symphony No.4 album is released by Analekta and available for purchase on the Analekta website, at the National Arts Centre (at Friends of NAC Orchestra CD sales during concerts) and record stores, and will be available on iTunes, Spotify and other digital platforms soon.

“I am certain anyone who is passionate about beautiful symphonic music, brilliantly played, will love this recording,” said Christopher Deacon, Managing Director of the NAC Orchestra. “We are delighted to be partnering with a world renowned classical record label, Montreal’s Analekta. We have a two album licensing arrangement, part of the NAC Orchestra’s drive to expand its digital horizons.”

PINCHAS ZUKERMAN BIOGRAPHY

Pinchas Zukerman has remained a phenomenon in the world of music for over four decades. His musical genius, prodigious technique and unwavering artistic standards are a marvel to audiences and critics. Devoted to the next generation of musicians, he has inspired younger artists with his magnetism and passion. His enthusiasm for teaching has resulted in innovative programs in London, New York, China, Israel and Ottawa. The name Pinchas Zukerman is equally respected as violinist, violist, conductor, pedagogue and chamber musician.

Pinchas Zukerman spent 16 seasons as Music Director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra. A devoted and innovative pedagogue, Mr. Zukerman chairs the Pinchas Zukerman Performance Program at the Manhattan School of Music, where he has pioneered the use of distance-learning technology. In Canada, he has established the NAC Institute for Orchestra Studies and the Summer Music Institute encompassing the Young Artists, Conductors and Composers Programs.

Born in Tel Aviv in 1948, Pinchas Zukerman came to America in 1962 where he studied at The Juilliard School with Ivan Galamian. Pinchas Zukerman's discography contains over 100 titles, and has earned him 2 GRAMMY Awards and 21 nominations.

AMANDA FORSYTH BIOGRAPHY

Canadian JUNO Award-winning Amanda Forsyth is considered one of North America’s most dynamic cellists. Her intense richness of tone, remarkable technique and exceptional musicality combine to enthrall audiences and critics alike.

Ms. Forsyth has achieved an international reputation as soloist and chamber musician. Her 2015-2016 season began with concerts in Australia followed by a South American tour to Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. Orchestral highlights include the Royal, Israel and Gyonggi Philharmonic Orchestras, Calgary Civic and Greensboro Symphonies as well as the San Carlo Orchestra. A founding member of the Zukerman ChamberPlayers, she tours with the Zukerman Trio to Korea, Italy and Japan, as well as to the 92nd Street Y’s Distinguished Artist Series.

Ms. Forsyth’s recordings appear on the Sony Classics, Naxos, Altara, Fanfare, Marquis, Pro Arte and CBC labels. A recording of Brahms’s Double Concerto with Pinchas Zukerman and the NAC Orchestra is to be released this fall by Analekta Records. She performs on a rare 1699 Italian cello by Carlo Giuseppe Testore.

ABOUT THE NAC ORCHESTRA

The NAC Orchestra was formed at the creation of Canada's National Arts Centre in 1969 and gives over 100 performances a year with world-renowned artists. It is noted for the passion and clarity of its performances and recordings, its groundbreaking teaching and outreach programs, and nurturing of Canadian creativity.

In 2015 Alexander Shelley began his tenure as NAC Orchestra Music Director, following Pinchas Zukerman’s 16 seasons at the helm; other Music Directors have included Mario Bernardi and Trevor Pinnock. In addition to a full series of subscription concerts at the National Arts Centre each season, the Orchestra tours throughout Canada and around the world including Northern Canada (2012), China (2013) and UK (2014).

The NAC Orchestra has made over 40 commercial recordings, including Angela Hewitt’s 2014 Juno Award-winning album of Mozart Piano Concertos.

Many more concerts are freely available through NACmusicbox.ca on the NAC's performing arts education website ArtsAlive.ca. These include many of the 80+ new works commissioned by the NAC Orchestra since its inception, most from Canadian composers. In 2001 it inaugurated the National Arts Centre Awards for Canadian Composers.

In 1999 Pinchas Zukerman founded the NAC Young Artists Program, part of the wider NAC Summer Music Institute, which provides elite training to talented young musicians. Students all over the world are also taught via videoconferencing in the NAC's cutting-edge Hexagon Studio. The Orchestra also created and continues to pioneer education work locally and in indigenous communities across Canada.

-30-

 

TO BOOK AN INTERVIEW, PLEASE CONTACT:

Andrea Ruttan

Communications Officer, NAC Orchestra
National Arts Centre
(613) 947-7000, ext. 335
Andrea.Ruttan@nac-cna.ca