The German State Philharmonic Orchestra, with Philippe Entremont, Conductor & Pianist, with Sebastian Knauer, Pianist

Overview

From Mannheim and Ludwigshafen in Germany, The German State Philharmonic is the musical voice of the Rheinland region.  Touring the U.S. for the first time this year, the orchestra's performance will feature Philippe Entremont, world-renowned piano soloist and conductor, and Germany's acclaimed pianist Sebastian Knauer, together performing Mozart's Concerto for 2 Pianos. 

Philippe Entremont has directed the greatest symphony orchestras of the world and, as a pianist, is one of the most recorded artists of all time.

Tickets:  $46, $43, students $20 - $15 at door

Related Sites

• Sebastian Knauer Web Site

Program

• Weber:          Oberon Overture
• Mozart:         Concerto for 2 Pianos, No.10, K.365, in E-flat Major
• Mahler:          Symphony No.4 in G Major                                       

About the Artists

PHILIPPE ENTREMONT

The exceptional career of Philippe Entremont began at the age of eighteen when he came to international attention with his great 

success at New York’s Carnegie Hall playing Jolivet’s piano concerto and Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Since then, he has pursued a top international career as a pianist, and for the last 30 years, on the podium as well. 

The 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons will take Philippe Entremont all over the world, with many orchestral tours including the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Festival Orchestra, the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie, and the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra.  He will also guest conduct European and American orchestras as well as perform numerous piano and chamber music concerts. His is renown as an orchestral conductor and his dedication to developing orchestras’ artistic potential have led to numerous international tours, playing before full houses: ten tours in the US and seven in Japan with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, a tour of eleven concerts with the Orquestra de Cadaqués in capitals  of countries in Asia, and a tour in Switzerland and Germany conducting the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra. As Principal Guest Conductor of the Munich Symphony Orchestra, he has led tours internationally, including the US in 2005 and 2006, conducting from the piano as well as the podium. He returned in both capacities for the Munich Symphony’s highly successful 15-concert US tour in February of 2009.  In 1997, Philippe Entremont founded the biennial Santo Domingo Music Festival, of which he is Artistic Director and Conductor of the Festival Orchestra. The Festival celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2007 with a special concert series featuring the premieres of two Festival-commissioned symphonies by Dominican composers, and performances by internationally renowned guest artists such as André Watts, Dan Zhu, Arturo Sandoval and Vitalij Kowaljow. He is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquestra de Cadaqués. In 2006, in connection with the “Mozart Year,” he conducted the Tokyo-based Super World Orchestra. Philippe Entremont was also among the 10 world-class pianists chosen to perform in the “Piano Extravaganza  of the Century” at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Mr. Entremont was Music Director of the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra between 1981 and 1986, after which he became Music Director of the Denver Symphony. He was also Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra until 2002. After having served as Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra for almost thirty years, he is now Conductor Laureate for Life. He was also Music Director of the Israel Chamber Orchestra and is now their Conductor Laureate.

Philippe Entremont has directed the greatest symphony orchestras of Europe, Asia and America: Philadelphia, San Francisco, Detroit, Minnesota, Seattle, St. Louis, Houston, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Montreal, The Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orquestra Nacional de España, the Academy of Santa Cecilia of Rome, l’Orchestre National de France, the orchestras of Göteberg, Stockholm, Oslo and Warsaw, the NHK of Tokyo, the KBS Orchestra of Seoul, the Vienna Symphony and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bergen, to name a

few. He has worked with the worlds greatest soloists, both instrumental and vocal.  One of the most recorded artists of all time, Philippe Entremont has appeared on many labels, including CBS Sony, Teldec and Harmonia Mundi, and he has garnered all of the leading prizes and awards in the industry. His 2008 releases include Mozart’s Concertone; Concerto for Violin and Piano with the Wiener Kammerorchester; Strauss’ lieder with Sophie Koch (mezzo-soprano); and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 with the Orquesta del Festival Musical de Santa Domingo. Officer of the French Legion of Honor, Commander of the Order of Merit, Commander of the Order of Arts et Lettres, Philippe Entremont has also been awarded the Arts and Sciences Cross of Honor of Austria. He is President of the International Certificate for Piano Artists, President of the Bel’Arte Foundation of Brussels and is Director of the famed American Conservatory of Fountainebleau, a post formerly held by the legendary Nadia Boulanger.

Sebastian Knauer was born in 1971 in Hamburg, Germany, and began playing the piano at the age of four. His teachers included Gernot Kahl, Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Philippe Entremont, Andràs Schiff, Christoph Eschenbach and Alexis Weissenberg.  A prize-winner at numerous competitions, he gave his concerto debut at the age of 13, performing Haydn’s DMajor Piano Concerto in the Hamburg Musikhalle. Shortly afterwards followed his international debut as part of the “European Concert” series for RAI in Venice. Subsequent tours have taken him all over Europe, the USA, South America and Asia. He has performed in major concert halls such as the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Berlin, Cologne and Munich Philharmonie, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Musikvereinssaal and Konzerthaus, Barbican and Wigmore Hall London, Opéra Comique and Théatre Champs Elysées Paris, KKL Luzern, Tonhalle Zurich, Auditori Barcelona, Sala Verdi Milan, La Fenice Venice, Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, Lincoln Center and Metropolitan Museum of Arts New York, Herbst Theatre San Francisco, Kravis Center Palm Beach, Téatro Municipal in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Toppan Hall Tokyo, Oriental Concert Hall Shanghai, Performing Arts Center Hong Kong and Forbidden Concert Hall Beijing.

The conductors with whom Sebastian Knauer has worked include Gerd Albrecht, Vladimir Fedosseyew, Fabio Luisi, Neeme Järvi, Sir Roger Norrington, Philippe Entremont, Eiji Oue, Jaap van Zweden, Thomas Hengelbrock, Pablo Gonzales, Francois Xavier Roth, John Axelrod and Ingo Metzmacher. Together with Entremont, he regularly performs repertoire for two pianos, as was the case in Tel Aviv, where they played the Double Concertos of Mozart and Mendelssohn with the Israel Chamber Orchestra. Other major orchestras with whom Knauer has played are the Staatskapelle Dresden, Bamberg Symphony, NDR – Symphony and Radio Philharmonic, Hamburg Philharmonic and Symphony, SWF Baden Baden, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Concerto Cologne, the Vienna, Netherlands, Basel, Milan and Cologne Chamber, Radio Kamer Filharmonie Holland, Camerata Salzburg, Luzern Symphony, Sinfonia Varsovia, Warsaw Philharmonic, Orchèstre Les Siècles, Real Filharmonia de Galicia, London Mozart Players, New York City Opera, Palm Beach Symphony, Qatar Philharmonic and Shanghai Philharmonic. Between 1999 and 2002 he was performing and directing all 27 Mozart Piano Concertos with the Hamburg Philharmonic.  Sebastian Knauer is a regular guest at such Festivals as Rheingau, Schleswig Holstein, Klavierfestival Ruhr, Mecklenburg, Baden Baden, Bonn Beethovenfest, Bremen Musikfest, Bad Kissingen, Vienna, John Adams Festival of the BBC Symphony London, Bath, Colmar, Festival Berlioz, Dubrovnik, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Vevey/Montreux, Byblos Festival Lebanon, Emilia Romagna Festival Italy, Lincoln Center Festival NY (USA), Ravinia (USA), Interlochen (USA), Savannah (USA), El Paso Pro Musica (USA), Santo Domingo (Dom.Rep.) and at the Shanghai Arts Festival. In the summer of 2004, he gave his debut at the Salzburger Festspiele and in October of 2002, he performed for the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton in Berlin.  A dedicated chamber-musician, Sebastian Knauer now tours extensively with his Duo Partner Daniel Hope. Other artists with whom he has worked with include Sol Gabetta, Hermann Prey, Olaf Bär, Alban Gerhardt, Aron Quartet Vienna, Philharmonia Quartet Berlin (Berlin Philharmonic), John Neumeier and the Hamburg Ballet and the actor Klaus Maria Brandauer.

He has recorded for Berlin Classics, Deutsche Grammophon, Glissando, Naxos and Warner Classics with works of Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn,

Schubert, Chopin, Barber, Bernstein, Copland and Gershwin. The CD “East meets West,” which he recorded together with Daniel Hope won the German “ECHO” and was nominated for a Grammy in 2005.  His CD with Sir Roger Norrington and the Camerata Salzburg was celebrated as one of the best Mozart recordings ever and for his CD with works of Franz Schubert, Gramophone Magazine titled their review with the words: “Poise and discipline from a pianist we must hear more from.” His new CD “Pure Mendelssohn” was the Gramophone Editor’s choice in March 2009.  

The German Philharmonic Orchestra Rhineland-Palatinate looks back on an 87-year history. Founded in Landau on 14th September 1919, it is now seated in Ludwigshafen/Rhine, where the orchestra’s 86 musicians are provided with a modern building with various rehearsal facilities and a small concert hall.

In 1974 the orchestra became a public institution under the Federal State of Rhineland-Palatinate in order to endorse the musical life especially in the southern part of the state and to improve the level of cultural orchestras all over Rhineland-Palatinate. However, the orchestra no longer solely operates in Rhineland-Palatinate. Tours in Germany and abroad, participating in international music festivals as well as recording for radio, television and CD publications have earned the orchestra a reputation of international renown.

For a number of years the orchestra has been organising symphonic events on their own accord in the Pfalzbau in Ludwigshafen and in the Rosengarten in Mannheim. The concert cycle in Mainz is almost the sole responsibility of the German Philharmonic Orchestra Rhineland-Palatinate.

The German Philharmonic Orchestra Rhineland-Palatinate gives 90 public performances per season. During their numerous concert tours, the orchestra has played all major German cities. Prolonged tours abroad have led to many western and eastern European countries. Festivals such as those in Flanders, Verona, Savonlinna, Montreux, Dresden, Sion, Interlaken and Rheingau are also on the orchestra’s busy schedule. In November 2000 the GPO went on a first tour in South America; 2005 the orchestra played in China and Finland. In February 2006 they went on a tour through Spain; and in summer 2006 the orchestra went to a second South-America tour, giving concerts with the Bachchor Mainz in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.

The names of the soloists who have performed with the German Philharmonic Orchestra Rhineland-Palatinate also reflect its illustrious history: Mstislaw Rostropowitsch, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Claudio Arrau, Gidon Kremer, Edita Gruberova, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Martha Argerich, Thomas Zehetmair, Julian Rachlin, Sabine Meyer, Sharon Kam, Heinrich Schiff, Rolando Villazón, Evelyn Glennie, Barbara Hendricks, Kim Kashkashian, Hilary Hahn, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Juha Uusitalo, Tamás Vásáry, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Midori, and Thomas Hampson.

The performance of contemporary music is an important part of the orchestra’s work. Its premieres have included works by Giselher Klebe, Wolfgang Rihm, Harald Genzmer, Jan Müller-Wieland, Dieter Schnebel, Róbert Wittinger, Theo Loevendie and Alexander Raskatov. The first Composer-in-Residence of the German Philharmonic Orchestra Rhineland-Palatinate was Christian Jost (Season 2004/05). Currently is the Finnish Composer Aulis Sallinen Composer-in-Residence of the German Philharmonic Orchestra Rhineland-Palatinate.  Cooperation with the Theater im Pfalzbau Ludwigshafen, the orchestra also regularly takes place in the orchestra pit for several ballet productions per season with international companies. In November 2006 the German Philharmonic Orchestra (Rhineland-Palatinate) successfully accompanied the premiere of John Neumeiers Ballett “Parzival – Episoden und Echos” in Festspielhaus Baden-Baden.