衛武營國家藝術文化中心 National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)

The concert starts with Sergei RACHMANINOFF's Vocalise. The weeping and cantabile melody is played expressively among the various instrument sections. Next, RACHMANINOFF's Piano Concerto No. 4 in g minor will be played by pianist Stephen HOUGH, who has performed in Taiwan many times and impressed Taiwanese fans. RACHMANINOFF spent more than a decade revising this work, and it is rarely performed. You shouldn't miss this great opportunity to hear it. In the second half, Shao-c hia LÜ, the Conductor Emeritus of the National Symphony Orchestra, will lead the orchestra, presenting Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH's Symphony No. 8. This epic masterpiece was completed during World War II. It is tragic and full of dramatic tension, leading the audience through the dark valley, gradually revealing the dawn, and later turning sublime. Through these two great Russian giants, we will hear the different sounds of Russian classics.

  Pre-talk  

2023/6/10(Sat)19:00 Concert Hall 3F Lobby

  Program  

S. RACHMANINOFF: Vocalise, Op. 34

S. RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto No. 4 in g minor, Op. 40

D. SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 8 in c minor, Op. 65

  Creative and Production Team  

Conductor｜Shao-chia LÜ

Piano｜Stephen HOUGH

National Symphony Orchestra

  Artists Introduction  

Conductor｜Shao-chia LÜ

Taiwan-born conductor LÜ studied music in Taipei, later at the Indiana University in Bloomington, USA, and also at Vienna's College of Music. His training resulted in important first prizes at three renowned international conductor competitions: Besancon (France), Pedrotti (Italy) and Kondrashin (the Netherlands).

LÜ accepted positions as General Music Director of the Koblenz Theatre (1998-2001),the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz (1998-2004), and the Staatsoper Hannover (2001- 2006). He has also been Chief Conductor of the South Denmark Philharmonic from 2014 to 2017.

LÜ appears regularly as guest conductor at several world-renowned opera houses, including Deutsche Oper Berlin, English National Opera, Opera Australia and More. Alongside his opera activities, LÜ is equally at home on concert podiums. LÜ has worked repeatedly with many leading European orchestras, such as the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Münchner Philharmoniker, the Oslo Philharmonic and more. In Asia, LÜ has worked with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, NHK, Seoul Philharmonic and more.

LÜ was Music Director of the Taiwan Philharmonic (the National Symphony Orchestra) from 2010 to 2020, and has been honored with the title Conductor Emeritus in 2021. He has also held the Distinguished Chair Professor at Taipei National University of the Arts since September 2020.

Piano｜Stephen HOUGH

Named by The Economist as one of Twenty Living Polymaths, Sir Stephen HOUGH combines a distin-guished career as a pianist with those of composer and writer. He was the first classical performer to be awarded a MACARTHUR Fellowship, was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the New Year Honours 2014, and was awarded a Knighthood for Services to Music in the Queen's Birth-day Honours 2022.

In the 2022/23 season HOUGH performs over 90 concerts across five continents. Concerto highlights include returns to the Concertgebouworkest, Detroit, Cincinnati and Washington's National symphony orchestras, BBC Symphony and Philharmonia orchestras, and the National Symphony Orchestra, Taiwan.

HOUGH's extensive discography of around 70 CDs has garnered international awards including the Diapason d'Or de l'Année, several Grammy nominations, and eight Gramophone Awards including Record of the Year and the Gold Disc. As a composer, HOUGH's song cycle Songs of Love and Loss, co-commissioned by Wigmore Hall, The 92nd Street Y, New York, and Tippet Rise in Montana, receives its world premiere in January 2023.

HOUGH is an Honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple, an Honorary Member of the Royal Philharmonic Society, a Visiting Fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University, a Visiting Professor at the Royal Academy of Music, the International Chair of Piano Studies at the Royal Northern College of Music (of which he was made a Companion in 2019), and is on the faculty of The Juilliard School in New York.

Taiwan Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra

Founded in 1986, the Taiwan Philharmonic, also known as the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) at home, has been hailed as one of the best orchestras in Asia. Under the leadership of music director Jun MÄRKL since January 2022, the NSO aspires to resonate throughout the world as the cultural ambassador of Taiwan. As the orchestra affiliated with the National Performing Arts Center, the NSO performs throughout Taiwan, but also tours regularly overseas, having performed in such musical centers as Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Tokyo, and Los Angeles. The NSO works regularly with internationally acclaimed conductors and soloists like Lorin MAAZEL, Luciano PAVAROTTI, Mirella FREN, and Mstislav ROSTROPOVICH. The orchestra's extensive and varied activities include chamber music, work with dance companies, opera productions, and events at nursing homes, mountain villages, and underprivileged communities.