Symphony's season takes multicultural approach

• Honolulu Symphony Orchestra's season lineup for MasterWorks

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

•	Honolulu Symphony's 2003–2004 Halekulani MasterWorks Season Sept. 5, 2003, to May 30, 2004 Blaisdell Concert Hall Full-season subscriptions: $252i$714 (14 concerts) Half-season Great Composer and Platinum Series subscriptions: $126i$378 (seven concerts) Make-your-own season: $126 and up (six, eight, or 10 concerts) Single tickets: Not available till August Box office phone: 792-2000.

The musical plate is sprinkled with international stardust, including the artistry of a top violinist, a top flutist and one of the ace cards at the Metropolitan Opera.

Piano will loom big, too, showcased in five of the 14 concerts, one with a "dueling piano" format.

"We've got a couple more bigger names than usual," said Stephen Bloom, president of the Honolulu Symphony Society.

"It's the first year that I've been here where I've been able to use my relationships (from the past) to get some talent we ordinarily would not have been able to get, like (soprano) Deborah Voigt, who's worked with Sam (Wong, music director and maestro) and me. (Violinist) Midori is another."

Bloom described the upcoming season as "fun, with a little bit of everything for everyone, dealing with our focus on music and less mixed media."

Experimental mixed media will factor in as add-ons rather than as part of the classical season, he said.

The Halekulani MasterWorks season will be launched Sept. 5, with Midori performing the Brahms Violin Concerto. It will end in May 2004 with a bill dub bed Dueling Dichters, featuring a glamorous keyboard couple, Misha and Cipa Dichter.

In between, the season will showcase the esteemed artistry of Sir James Galway, the major-domo of the flute, and soprano Voigt, a Met star just named Musical America's Vocalist of the Year (2003).

Of course, there will be some extras, like the annual Beethoven's Ninth Symphony tradition in December, assembling the 100-voice Honolulu Symphony Chorus in a year-end burst of brotherhood and peace.

The budget remains at $6.5 million. The orchestra is trying to curb expenses to accommodate a salary increase for musicians in the first year of a five-year contract."We're basically using the same dollars to do more," said Bloom.

Season subscribers will get first dibs at renewals starting this week at the Honolulu Symphony box office at Dole Cannery, 650 Iwilei Road, Suite 202. Season renewal brochures will be in the mail this week.

Honolulu Symphony Orchestra's season lineup for MasterWorks

Here's the complete schedule for the Halekulani MasterWorks classical season:

Curtain times: 8 p.m. Fridays, 4 p.m. Sundays.

Place: Blaisdell Concert Hall.

The concerts

Midori, in the season-launching concerts, Sept. 5 and 7. Midori will perform the Brahms Violin Concerto; Samuel Wong conducts. Program includes Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 in F major.

"Russian Romance," Sept. 12 and 14. Vladimir Feltsman, pianist; Tadaaka Otaka, guest maestro; program features Mussorgsky's Introduction to "Khovantchina," Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, and Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2.

"East/West Synthesis," Sept. 19 and 21. Wong conducts a program of Eastern music and instruments with Western symphonics, featuring two works for pipa (artist to be named) and dizi (Tang Jun Qiao); program includes Stravinsky's "Song of a Nightingale," Miki's Concerto for Pipa and Orchestra, and Hindemith's "Symphonic Metamorphosis."

"Tsutsumi Plays Tchaikovsky," Oct. 10 and 12. Wong conducts; Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi performs Tchaikovsky's "Variations on a Rococo Theme (for cello)" and Bruch's

"Kol Nidrei." Program also includes Strauss' "Don Juan" and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 9 in E-Flat major.

"Brahms' Majestic Requiem," Oct. 17 and 19. Wong conducts; featuring the Honolulu Symphony Chorus, conducted by Karen Kennedy; clarinet soloist Scott Anderson performs Busoni's Concertino for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra and Debussy's Rhapsody for Clarinet and Orchestra; program also includes Sisler's "Cosmic Divide" and Brahms' "Ein Deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem)."

"Symphony's Own Stars," Oct. 24 and 26. Naoto Otomo conducts, with soloists Mike Szabo, bass trombone, and Darel Stark, violin; program features Ewazen's Concerto for Bass Trombone, W. Schuman's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 ("Pathétique").

"Exotic Nights," Nov 7 and 9. Chris Wilkins conducts an evening of Eastern exotica, climaxed by Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade" (Op. 35) featuring concertmaster Ignance "Iggy" Jang.

"Van Cliburn Winner Ioudenitch," Nov. 14 and 16. Scott Yoo guest-conducts; pianist Stanislav Ioudenitch, gold medal winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, performs Saint Sa‘ns' Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor; program also includes Ravel's "Alborada del Gracioso" and Schubert's Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944 ("The Great").

"Deborah Voigt," Jan. 2 and 4. Featuring Voigt, the pre-eminent dramatic soprano of her generation, who has performed at the Metropolitan Opera and recently was named Musical America's "Vocalist of the Year" for 2003. Wong conducts; program includes "Vier Letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs)."

"Sir James Galway," March 19 and 21. Wong conducts Sir James Galway and Lady Jeanne Galway, who will share their classical flute repertoire on Cimarosa's Concerto in G major for Two Flutes and Mercadante's Concerto for Flute and Strings; program also includes Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 in A major.

"Kawakubo Returns," March 26 and 28. Violinist Tamaki Kawakubo, winner of the 2001 Pablo Sarasate International Violin Competition, will perform Dvorak's Violin Concerto in A minor; program includes Jan‡cek's "Taras Bulba" and Smetana's "Ma Vlast Nos. 2, 3 & 6 (My Fatherland)."

"Carmina Burana," April 2 and 4. Featuring the Honolulu Symphony Chorus, conducted by Karen Kennedy, on Orff's "Carmina Burana," the theatrical piece blending music, words and movement. Program also includes Haydn's Symphony No. 101 in D major ("The Clock").

"Brahms, Beethoven & Berlioz," May 14 and 16. Wong conducts; Canadian pianist Jane Coop performs Beethoven's Piano Concert No. 1 in C major, and Honolulu violist Mark Butin performs Berlioz's "Harold in Italy." Program also includes Brahms' "Haydn Variations."

"Dueling Dichters," May 28 and 30. Pianists Micha Dichter and Cipa Dictor, a glamorous keyboard couple in the biz, bring their dual and duel talents to Honolulu, performing Mendelssohn's Concerto for Two Pianos in E major; Wong conducts. Program also includes Mahler's Symphony No. 7.

Special events — a season "extra"

"Beethoven's Ninth: The Tradition Continues," at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 30. Featuring the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, in an end-of-the-year tradition, featuring 100 voices, celebrating peace and brotherhood. Tickets: $73, $63, $53, $38, $28.