Italian Dream – March 17, 2024 LiveEvents March 10, 2024 519 Orchestre Métropolitain presents Italian Dream The concert starts off with a bang as Don Juan bursts onto the stage and dives head first into his romantic—and musical—adventures! From one symphonic poem to the next, Strauss takes us through Italy with Aus Italien, visiting four sunny destinations: the Roman countryside, the nostalgic Roman ruins, the beach at Sorrento and a Neapolitan celebration. The audience will then take flight with flutist Juliette Hurel’s performance of Aile du songe, a concerto by composer Kaika Saariaho who draws crowds and has worked with an impressive roster of artists such as writer Amin Maalouf and theatre director Peter Sellars. Artists Ariane Matiakh, conductor The 2023/24 season sees Ariane embarking on her second season as Principal Conductor of the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen. Symphonic highlights include works by Ligeti, Mozart, Debussy and Prokofiev. The season also sees Ariane debut with Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and she will return to Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, and Orchestre Metropolitain, among others. Previous guest conductor engagements have included regular appearances with leading ensembles such as Bamberger Symphoniker, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Wiener Symphoniker, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, WDR, Frankfurt Radio and MDR Symphony Orchestras, Sinfonieorchester Basel, and Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg. On the opera stage, the 2023/24 season will see Ariane make her debut at Stuttgart Staatsoper and Hamburg Staatsoper conducting Bizet’s Carmen. Opera engagements in recent years included a production of Puccini’s La bohème at the Royal Opera House; a re-invitation brought her to the Opéra du Rhin in Strasbourg for a new production of Samson et Dalila and in the summer of 2022 she conducted Bizet’s Carmen in a production by Calixto Bieito at the Norwegian Opera and Ballet. Today, Ariane’s repertoire covers numerous operas to a wide spectrum of symphonic works and ballets, from the music of the Baroque period to contemporary compositions. Ariane’s discography includes a Grammy nomination for her Capriccio recording of both piano concertos by Zara Levina with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. For the Capriccio label, she has also recorded the works of Johanna Doderer as well as a CD with music by Francis Poulenc and Jean Françaix. In recognition of her achievements in French musical life and representing French culture abroad, Ariane Matiakh was awarded “Officier de l’Ordre des Arts des Lettres” in 2022. Juliette Hurel, flute Juliette Hurel is well known in both the French and International music world as a highly renowned flautist. She was unanimously awarded the first prizes for flute and chamber music at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris and has won prizes in several major international competitions. In 2004, she was nominated for the “Discoveries of the Year” award in the “Victoires de la Musique Classique”. Juliette Hurel has performed at prestigious concert venues such as the Cité de la Musique and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, the Grand Théâtre de Provence, Wigmore Hall in London and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. She receives invitations to play at important festivals such as the Festival International de la Roque d’Anthéron, « La Folle Journée » in Nantes, the Festival International de Colmar, Holland Festival, the Cartagena Music Festival and festivals in Tokyo and Bilbao. As a highly sought soloist, Juliette Hurel has played with orchestras from around the world, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Colombia, Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Hong-Kong Sinfonietta. She also performs regularly with various orchestras in France. In 1993, seeking to form a flute and piano duo that could achieve a musical partnership at the highest level, Juliette Hurel began a collaboration with pianist Hélène Couvert. They enjoy discovering and performing (unjustifiably) forgotten works from the repertoire, as well as tackling the great classics. This friendship and successful musical collaboration has resulted in several acclaimed album recordings. In 2019, Juliette Hurel, Hélène Couvert and actress Julie Depardieu created a musical tribute to the artistic muse and patron Misia Sert, in the form of a show entitled “Misia, Reine de Paris”. It is with enormous pleasure that they continue to perform this work today, and to bring the story of this fascinating woman to life. Juliette Hurel is very interested in contemporary music and working alongside the composers to fully understand and realise their intentions. She is the inspiration and dedicatee for several commissions, notably the flute concerto “Love songs” by Bruno Mantovani, premiered in 2016 with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and “Chant de Résurrection” for flute and piano by Philippe Hersant, premiered in 2021 with Hélène Couvert. Juliette Hurel has been solo flautist with Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra since 1998, and from 2010 has also taught at the Rotterdam Conservatoire “Codarts”. She is Artistic Director of the “Rencontres Musicales de Noyers sur Serein” and the “Musicales du Golfe”. Program STRAUSS, Don Juan Kaija SAARIAHO, Aile du songe, Concerto for flute STRAUSS, Aus Italien Maison symphonique Sunday, March 17, 2024 at 3:00pm To purchase your tickets visit: www.placedesarts.com
