The programme with pieces by Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky will also mark the debut of the cellist Kian Soltani as the guest soloist.

 

Hugh Wolff is making his debut in charge of the Sinfónica de Tenerife to conduct the closing concert of the season 2022-23, which includes a programme with pieces by Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky. It will also mark the debut of the cellist Kian Soltani as the guest soloist of the orchestra. This musical evening takes place in the Auditorio de Tenerife this Friday [23rd] at 7:30 p.m.

The event will begin with the Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, Op. 107, by Dmitri Shostakovich, premiered by Rostropovich in 1959, critics consider it to be the archetype concerto of the 20th century, in which he presents the soloist instrument distanced from the concept of nineteenth-century beauty. Four catchy notes are used to create the entire concerto, this formula shows the sarcastic side of the composer, who thus caricatures the political views of his country.

After the interlude, there will be a performance of Symphony No. 6 in B minor, the “Pathétique Symphony” by Tchaikovsky. This piece was devised as a kind of musical autobiography which reflects everything from the composer’s happiest days, expressed in the frenetic Allegro molto vivace of the second movement; to his particular farewell letter with the Adagio lamentoso of the fourth movement.

Hugh Wolff began his professional career as an assistant conductor to Rostropovich in the National Symphony Orchestra in 1979. He has also been the lead conductor of different groups such as the Belgian National Orchestra, the HR-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, of which he was also musical director. He also carried out this latter professional role at the Grant Park Music Festival Chicago and at the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.

Wolff has conducted the main American orchestras, such as the Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony. He has also had a presence at different summer festivals such as those of Aspen, Ravinia, and Tanglewood. In Europe, he regularly conducts the Czech Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the London Symphony, the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.

His recognitions notably include the “Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood Director of Orchestras” of the Boston New England Conservatory, which enabled him to lead four orchestras and teach the art of orchestra conducting to postgraduate students.

Kian Soltani began playing the cello at the age of four. Aged 12 he began his studies at the Basel Music Academy, and in 2014 he obtained a scholarship from the Anne Sophie Mutter Foundation. Soltani made his debut with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Czech Philharmonic, the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in the 2021/22 season. In addition to participating with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, he offers concerts with the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, as well as with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra Vienna Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

His most recent recognitions notably include first place at the 2013 International Cello Competition in Helsinki and the Leonard Bernstein Award in Germany in 2017. He also received the Credit Suisse Young Artist Award.

As a chamber musician, Kian Soltani has played at the Carnegie Hall in New York, and at the Salzburg and Lucerne Festivals, as well as at the Wigmore Hall in London and the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin.

ATADEM, the Tenerife Association for Friends of Music, is once again offering a free talk beforehand for members and the general public on the characteristics of the two pieces that make up this musical programme. On this occasion, Tania Marrero will be in charge of this event at 6:30 p.m. in the Sala Avenida, located in the hall of the Auditorio de Tenerife "Adán Martín".

The tickets for this last concert of the season can be purchased until the day of the event on the website www.sinfonicadetenerife.es, at the auditorium's box office, and by dialling the phone number 902 317 327 from Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.