Happy 50th, Orchestra Hall. You don’t look a day over … OK, we know you’ve had some work done. In fact, you had a pretty complete makeover during last decade’s unfortunate lockout. But not until you opened in 1974 did the Minnesota Orchestra get the venue it deserved, one with excellent acoustics and sightlines. We try not to take you for granted.
Minnesota Orchestra’s 2024-25 season includes mandolinist Avi Avital, jazz master Wynton Marsalis
Soprano Julia Bullock, violinist Isabelle Faust and soprano Christine Goerke are also among the world-class musicians slated to perform with the orchestra next season.
For the Minnesota Star Tribune
April 9, 2024 at 11:30AM
We’re looking forward to celebrating the hall’s 50th anniversary during the Minnesota Orchestra’s 2024-25 season, announced Tuesday. But which concerts to choose among the many? We’re here for you. If you have the opportunity to catch only one concert a month, here’s what we’d recommend.
July: This year’s Summer at Orchestra Hall entices with the idea of pianist Jon Kimura Parker soloing on Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G (July 26). But if you’ve never caught the free, marvelously eclectic, multi-genre, 12-hour Day of Music in and around Orchestra Hall (July 27, featuring two concerts by the orchestra), you really should.
August: The orchestra is playing along with several cinematic offerings next season, but none is likely to sound better than George Gershwin’s sumptuous score for “An American in Paris,” arguably the quintessential MGM musical (Aug. 9-10).
September: Opening weekend finds music director Thomas Søndergård on the podium and Yunchan Lim — the youngest winner of America’s foremost piano competition, the Van Cliburn — at the ivories for Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto (Sept. 20-21).
October: Among piano competitions, an even bigger deal than the Cliburn is Poland’s Chopin Competition. Yulianna Avdeeva won that in 2010, and she’ll handle the demanding piano part in Leonard Bernstein’s Second Symphony, known as “The Age of Anxiety” (Oct. 18-19).
November: If you’ve been waiting for Søndergård to lead the Minnesota Orchestra, Minnesota Chorale and vocal soloists in some massive work for voices and orchestra, he’ll conduct Mozart’s “Requiem,” with two former Minnesotans among the vocal soloists (Nov. 22-23).
December: The music of J.S. Bach is reimagined by Gustav Mahler, Arvo Pärt and others in the company of master mandolinist Avi Avital, who makes his Minnesota Orchestra debut, as does conductor Jordan de Souza (Dec. 6-7).
January: A fortnight of “Nordic Soundscapes” finds Søndergård conducting music of the national composer of his native Denmark, Carl Nielsen, among others, culminating with Nielsen’s Violin Concerto performed by Swedish violinist Johan Dalene (Jan. 16-18).
February: If you like what Søndergård did with Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” last season, consider catching him conducting both that composer’s “Symphony of Psalms” and his Violin Concerto, with the excellent Isabelle Faust as soloist (Feb. 28-March 1).
March: Recent Grammy winner Julia Bullock is one of classical music’s most celebrated singers right now. She’ll perform Benjamin Britten’s hypnotic “Les Illuminations” on a program that features Søndergård conducting Mahler’s First Symphony.
April 2025: Uzbekistani pianist Behzod Abduraimov solos on Frédéric Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto with conductor Marta Gardolińska and the orchestra (April 3-4) before joining orchestra musicians for chamber music (April 5), which moves from the atrium to the main hall this season.
May 2025: In Europe, Søndergård is known as much for his work with opera as orchestral music. He’ll show off that expertise in a concert presentation of Giacomo Puccini’s “Turandot,” with renowned soprano Christine Goerke in the title role (May 1 and 3).
June 2025: Søndergård seems to have a soft spot for early-20th-century Russian music. He’ll say farewell to the season with Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances” and Chopin Competition winner Bruce Liu soloing on Sergei Prokofiev’s First Concerto (June 12-14).
There also are several inviting Live at Orchestra Hall presentations (such as Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra on Jan. 28) and holiday concerts, too.
Ticket packages of three or more concerts are on sale now at 612-371-5642 or minnesotaorchestra.org. Next season’s individual tickets go on sale July 29.
Rob Hubbard is a Twin Cities classical music writer. Reach him at wordhub@yahoo.com.
Critics’ picks for entertainment in the week ahead.
