Berkeley, CA (Top40 Charts / Cal Performances) Cal Performances is pleased to present the legendary Vienna Philharmonic with conductor Semyon Bychkov in an historic three-performance concert residency at Zellerbach Hall on Friday, February 25 at 8:00 p.m., Saturday, February 26, at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, February 27, at 3:00 p.m. This is the first time since 1987 that the ensemble has performed in the Bay Area. On February 25, Maestro Bychkov will lead the orchestra in Schubert'sSymphony No. 2 in B-flat major, D. 125, on a program with the Prelude & Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and the Suite from Bartok's The Miraculous Mandarin. The following evening, the orchestra returns with Schumann's Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61, and Brahms's Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73, a work that was premiered by the Vienna Philharmonic in 1877. The final concert features Mahler's Symphony No. 6 in A minor ("Tragic"). In his recent appearance as guest conductor of the San Francisco Symphony, Bychkov was applauded for mixing "raw energy with finesse, yielding potent and often eloquent readings of the orchestral repertoire" (Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle). This engagement marks the inauguration of a new annual program of orchestral residencies at Cal Performances. "With my experience at the Chicago Symphony and the New York Philharmonic, I have lived firsthand the fundamental positive role orchestras play in our society," said Cal Performances Director Matias Tarnopolsky. "It is my hope that we can regularly bring the world's leading orchestras to Berkeley with the idea that our experience will include not only their musicianship in the concert hall, but their interaction with young musicians and audiences here. To begin the Cal Performances' Orchestra Residency with the Vienna Philharmonic is a dream come true." Considered one of the finest orchestras in the world, the Vienna Philharmonic has a rich 160-year musical history that can be traced back to 1842 and has made it its mission to communicate the humanitarian message of music into the daily lives and consciousness of its listeners. Maestro Bychkov has enjoyed many long-term relationships with the world's most renowned opera houses, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera House, La Scala, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Semperoper and Palais Garnier (Paris).
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