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

As a pianist, composer, and conductor, LISZT poured musical insights into his Piano Concerto No. 2, blending cyclic form with deep life reflections. The sagely hermitic RANKI brings profound insight and brilliance to this work. In recent decades, NIELSEN's six symphonies have earned growing recognition. The Second was inspired by the four temperaments from Greek humoral theory, each represented in one of the four movements, and has become one of NIELSEN's most celebrated works, known for its unique sound and vibrant colors. American contemporary composer THOMAS, inspired by the Muse of dance, wrote Terpsichore's Dream for orchestra. The program blends nostalgic sentiment with modern sounds, showcasing the orchestra and soloist in a virtuosic performance—don't miss this musical feast!

  Pre-talk  

2025/4/20(Sun)14:00 Concert Hall 3F Lobby

  Program  

Augusta Read THOMAS: Terpsichore Dream for orchestra (Taiwanese premiere)

F. LISZT: Piano Concerto No.2 in A Major, S. 125

Carl NIELSEN: Symphony No.2 ‚ Op. 16, The Four Temperaments (Taiwanese premiere)

  Creative and Production Team  

Conductor｜CHIEN Wen-pin

Piano｜Dezsö RANKI

Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra

  Artists Introduction  

Conductor｜CHIEN Wen-pin

CHIEN Wen-pin was born in 1967 in Taipei. He received an undergraduate degree from the National Taiwan Academy of Arts and a Master's degree from the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna. From 1998 to 2004, he was Resident Conductor at Japan's Pacific Music Festival, founded by Leonard BERNSTEIN, and he became Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Taiwan in 2001, where he remained until 2007.  In 1996, he began his 22-year career as Kapellmeister of Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf Duisburg, Germany). From 2014 to 2016, CHIEN served as artistic advisor to the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra. In 2014, he was honored with the National Award for Arts. Currently CHIEN is the Executive and Artistic Director of National Performing Arts Center - National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying).

Piano｜Dezsö RANKI

Dezsö RANKI is considered today one of the best Hungarian pianists. He is acknowledged in the classical (MOZART, BEETHOVEN), the romantic (SCHUBERT, SCHUMANN) and the modern (BARTOK, KURTAG) repertoire as well. He has played in the most important centres in Europe, Japan and America, such as London (Queen Elisabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall), Paris (Châtelet, Théâtre de la Ville), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Berlin, Vienna (Wiener Festwochen), Milan, San Francisco and Toronto. Dezsö RANKI is guest at the most famous festivals as Lucerne, Ascona, Prague Spring, Weimar, Montpellier, Grange de Meslay, Roque d'Anthéron, Folle Journée de Nantes and Tokyo, Fêtes romantiques de Nohant, Lockenhaus, etc.

Dezsö RANKI studied at the Franz-LISZT Academy with Pal Kadosa. He began his international career after he won the Robert SCHUMANN Competition in Germany in 1969. Since then, he has been giving regularly concerts in most of the European countries, North and South America as well as Japan. Beside the recitals, he has played with orchestras such as Berlin Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Orchestre National de France, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Stuttgart Kammerochester, Budapest Festival Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Warsaw Philharmonic, N.H.K. Tokyo under Zubin Mehta, Kurt Sanderling, Jeffrey Tate, Frans Brüggen, Ivan Fischer, Lorin Maazel, Daniele Gatti, Zoltan Kocsis, Antoni Wit, Douglas Boyd, Nikolaj Znaider, etc.

Recently he has played with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken under Michel TABACHNIK, Orchestre national Montpellier under Michael SCHONWANDT and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra under Markus STENZ.

Future engagements include among other the New Japan Philharmonic under Toshiyuki Kamioka, the Radio Filharmonisch Orchest under Karel Mark CHICHON, the Konzerthaus Orchester under Gilbert VARGA, recitals in Paris and at the Schwetinger Festspiele and a tour in Japan.

Dezsö RANKI recordings are issued by Teldec, Quint Records and Denon. For his interpretation of the CHOPIN' Etudes, Op. 10 he was awarded the "Grand Prix de l'Académie Charles-Cros". The Bartok' Mikrokosmos for Teldec gained a great acclaim.

Dezsö RANKI also plays regularly two pianos and piano-four-hands recital with Edit KLUKON. Their last CD-recording contains works by SATIE and LISZT.

Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra (KSO)

Wherever there is music, there is you.

- A young orchestra which advances with determination

It is an asset for a city to have an orchestra of its own. Young and energetic, the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra (KSO) invites world-class conductors and masters for collaboration, and challenges itself by staging performances of diversified styles. The development of the orchestra focuses on both classical and crossover genres; it has not only created increasingly more high quality musical miscellanies for music enthusiasts but also planted numerous seeds for music appreciation and performance, contributing to the innovation of classical music.

The Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1981. It was merged with the Kaohsiung Chinese Orchestra in 2009 as "Kaohsiung Philharmonic Culture and Arts Foundation". Since 2009, the KSO has made considerable contribution in the Kaohsiung Spring Arts Festival, successfully promoting its grassland concerts. In the last decade, the KSO has collaborated with renowned local and international artists and music groups and staged numerous concert series. The end of 2018 marked the grand opening of the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying), where the KSO participated in the center's inauguration. KSO wishes to continue playing an important role in the center's concert hall.

The KSO has been invited to perform on international stages regularly. Reaching beyond city and country borders, the KSO advances steadily with the self-development goal of becoming an internationally acclaimed orchestra.