Richard Egarr joins Handel and Haydn Society for "Mozart and Beethoven"

Music Director of the Academy of Ancient Music Joins Society for a Program of Beethoven and Mozart

Richard Egarr conducts symphonies and leads a Mozart piano concerto from the fortepiano

WHEN: Friday, November 7, 2008, at 8pm

Sunday, November 9, 2008, at 3pm

WHERE: Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston

WHAT: Richard Egarr, Music Director of the UK’Äôs Academy of Ancient Music, joins the Handel and Haydn Society in the second program of its ’ÄúCelebration 2009’Äù Season, which commemorates the legacies of its two namesake composers. Hailed as ’ÄúThe Bernstein of Early Music’Äù by National Public Radio, Egarr will lead Mozart’Äôs virtuosic Piano Concert No. 23 from the fortepiano. Egarr will also conduct the Handel and Haydn Period-Instrument Orchestra in symphonies by Mozart and Beethoven, as well as the dramatic overture to Beethoven’Äôs only full ballet score, Creatures of Prometheus.

This repertoire highlights the historical relationship of Mozart and Beethoven to the earlier works of Handel and to their Classical contemporary Haydn: Haydn and Mozart had a close personal relationship, Beethoven studied with Haydn for a brief time, and Handel’Äôs works were quite popular in Vienna. Beethoven and Mozart built upon the musical ideas of the Society’Äôs namesake composers to further develop the sound of the Classical orchestra.

PROGRAM:

Mozart: Symphony No. 1

Piano Concerto No. 23

Beethoven: Overture to Creatures of Prometheus

Symphony No. 8

WHO: Richard Egarr, conductor/fortepiano

Handel and Haydn Society Period-Instrument Orchestra

HOW: Tickets range from $20-$75, and may be purchased online at www.handelandhaydn.org, by phone at 617 266 3605, or in person at the Handel and Haydn office, Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston (M-F 10am-6pm).

BIOGRAPHIES:

Richard Egarr

Richard Egarr has performed keyboard music from fifteenth-century organ intabulations to Dussek and Chopin on early pianos, to Berg and Maxwell Davies on modern piano. He is in great demand as a soloist; as orchestral soloist he has worked with the Academy of Ancient Music, English Concert, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Orchestra of the 18^th Century and the Dutch Radio Chamber Orchestra. With violinist Andrew Manze he has toured extensively throughout Europe, North-America, Korea and Japan.

As a conductor Richard has worked with specialised ensembles and modern orchestras alike, in repertoire from Bach’Äôs St. Matthew Passion to Taverner’Äôs Ikon of Light. In 2006, he was appointed Music Director of the Academy of Ancient Music. Richard has directed many oratorios and operas, notably from Handel. He has conducted the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Flemish Radio Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Portland Baroque and Tafelmusik. Next year Richard will conduct the Residentie Orchestra, the Brabant Orchestra, the Flemish Radio Orchestra and Choir and Collegium Vocale Ghent.

Richard Egarr records exclusively for Harmonia Mundi USA. Recent additions to his vast discography are Bach’Äôs Goldberg Variations, his Well-Tempered Clavier and Sonatas by Mozart and Schubert with Andrew Manze. With the AAM he has recorded the Bach harpsichord concertos and an entire set of Handel discs including the Concerti grossi Op. 3, the Organ Concertos Op. 4 and 7 and his Sonatas Op. 1 and 5.

The Handel and Haydn Society is a professional chorus and period-instrument orchestra and an internationally recognize¬‚d leader in the field of historically-informed performance. Founded in Boston in 1815, the Society is the oldest continuously performing arts organization in the United States, with a long history of innovation: it gave the American premieres of Handel’Äôs Messiah (1818), Haydn’Äôs The Creation (1819), Verdi’Äôs Requiem (1878), Bach’Äôs Mass in B Minor (1887), and Bach’Äôs St. Matthew Passion (1889). The Society today, under the leadership of Artistic Director Designate Harry Christophers, Artistic Advisor Sir Roger Norrington, Principal Conductor Grant Llewellyn, and Conductor Laureate Christopher Hogwood, is committed to its mission ’Äúto perform Baroque and Classical music at the highest levels of artistic excellence and to share that music with as large and diverse an audience as possible.’Äù The Massachusetts Cultural Council has lauded the organization for its ’Äúwillingness to take risks and explore new musical horizons.’Äù