The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County proudly announces a historic concert by the ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA conducted by its Music Director for Life ZUBIN MEHTA, marking the first performance by Maestro Mehta at the Arsht Center. The evening’s unique program is entirely given to Anton Bruckner’s monumental Symphony No. 8 in C minor. The concert concludes the stellar 2013-2014 JOHN S. AND JAMES L. KNIGHTMASTERWORKS SEASON – SANFORD AND BEATRICE ZIFF CLASSICAL MUSIC SERIES at the Arsht Center.
Tickets range from $50 to $170* and may be purchased through the Adrienne ArshtCenter box office by calling (305) 949-6722, or online at www.arshtcenter.org.
This performance is presented by The Meidar and Alfi Family Foundation, in partnership with Knight Foundation, and American Friends of the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra.
Recognized as one of the world’s great orchestras, the ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA was founded by Bronislaw Huberman in 1936 as a haven for the oppressed Jewish virtuosi of Europe, and its inaugural concert was conducted that year by Arturo Toscanini. An “orchestra of soloists” from its founding to this day, the orchestra continues to absorb new immigrants and serves as a gathering point for great musicians from all over the globe. The ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA is recognized both nationally and internationally as an eminent musical institution and as Israel’s musical ambassador to the world. With remarkable leadership from Maestros Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Masur, Yoel Levi, Gianandrea Noseda, and now under the leadership of its Music Director for Life, ZUBIN MEHTA, the ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA continues to play a vital role in Israel’s musical and cultural development seventy-seven years after its founding,
Maestro ZUBIN MEHTA was born in 1936 in Bombay and received his first musical education under his father, the founding conductor of the Bombay Symphony Orchestra. He left for Vienna in 1954, where he eventually entered the conducting program under Hans Swarowsky at the Akademie für Musik. By 1961 he had already conducted the Vienna, Berlin and Israel Philharmonic Orchestras. In 1969 he was appointed Music Advisor to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and was made their Music Director in 1977. In 1981 the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra awarded him the title of Music Director for life.ZUBIN MEHTA has conducted over three thousand concerts with this extraordinary ensemble including tours spanning five continents.
Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 in C minor, which will be played here by the ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA in its definitive 1890 version, was controversial in its day and is glorious by any standards. Bruckner’s last completed score, it was hailed by his fellow composer Hugo Wolff at its 1892 world premiere as “the work of a giant, a complete victory of the powers of light over darkness.”
“Zubin Mehta’s Miami premiere at the Arsht Center will certainly be a memorable moment in the South Florida classical music scene. To welcome an artist of his stature and an orchestra as magnificent as the Israel Philharmonic as the grand finale of our 2013-2014 Knight Masterworks Season truly exemplifies our mission to celebrate the richness and diversity of the world’s most widely acclaimed classical musical treasures,” said John Richard, President and CEO of the Adrienne Arsht Center.
FREE KNIGHT MASTERWORKS PRE-CONCERT TALKS presented by Steinway & Sons Miami
A free pre-concert lecture led by Octavio Roca will be held in the Arsht Center’s Peacock Foundation Education Center (inside the Knight Concert Hall) at 7:00 p.m. prior to every concert in the series.
This performance also receives generous support from the Robert Russell Memorial Foundation.
The John S. and James L. Knight Masterworks Season – Sanford and Beatrice Ziff Classical Music Series is sponsored by Knight Foundation and Sanford and Beatrice Ziff with support from Classical Encore Circle members and Steinway Piano Gallery of Miami.