Program (The concert lasts approximately 100 minutes without intermission.)

Rossini  Overture to Guillaume Tell

Ravel   Piano Concerto in G Major Op.83(Piano : Wan Jieni)

I.Allegramente  II.Adagio assai  III.Presto

(The work comprises three movements. Please don’t clap between the movements.)

Intermission

Beethoven  Symphony No. 5 in c Minor

I.                   Allegro con brio

II.                Andante con moto

III.             Scherzo: Allegro

IV.             Allegro

(The work comprises four movements. Please don’t clap between the movements.)

Please check program updates at the concert.

Philharmonie Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg, hometown of the famous philosopher Hegel and the poet Schiller, and the birthplace of the world-famous brand Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, is the richest state in the Federal Republic of Germany. Baden-Württemberg has been taking a leading position in the fields of art, culture, economy and technology in Germany. In Baden-Württemberg, there are the largest number of national music universities as well as the internationally renowned symphony orchestras and corps de ballet in the country.

In 1983, the Youth Philharmonie Baden-Württemberg was established by international award winners from many national music universities in Baden-Württemberg. In 1993, proposed by the state government, a lot of music university professors and outstanding musicians joined to form the Philharmonie Baden-Württemberg, which gives musical performance and undertakes the mission of external cultural exchange together with the State Symphony Orchestra Baden-Württemberg.

The Philharmonie is regularly dispatched by the Baden-Württemberg State Government every year to give performances in Europe and around the world. Since its establishment, it has offered more than 1,200 concerts of various types, which cover the works from the Baroque period to the classical romantic period, including some modern neoclassical music works. Its performances have been recorded by Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft, and the symphony records of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and others have been issued and well received. In 1991, the Philharmonie was awarded the Classical Music Award by the German Music Association. The Stuttgart Morning News commented: “The Philharmonie’s thorough and accurate interpretation of the works is convincing.”

In the 1990s, the Philharmonie developed into a new era. Wolfram Christ, who had been the chief violist and famous conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for more than 20 years in the Karajan era, was invited to be the music director and permanent conductor of the Philharmonie. His participation not only injected strong vitality, but also introduced a series of precise management concepts and performer evaluation system of top-level European orchestra, maximizing the potential of every artist. The performing skill of the Philharmonie has been rapidly improved, and the repertoires have been greatly expanded, which lead the orchestra to an important position in German classical music. Bernard Haitink, a famous conductor and pianist, called the Philharmonie a “miracle” after conducting the orchestra as the guest conductor, while Daniel Harding said that he is willing to cooperate with the Philharmonie for a long time.

Since its founding, the Philharmonie has successively held concerts in Stuttgart Concert Hall, Munich Municipal Concert Hall, Baden-Baden Opera House Concert Hall, Leipzig Concert Hall, Laeiszhalle Concert Hall Hamburg, Barcelona Opera House Concert Hall, Rome Radio Symphony Hall, Freiburg Theatre, and Karlsruhe Theatre, etc. Famous conductors that have worked with the Philharmonie include Tabea Zimmermann, R. Frydrich, Ulrich Anima Matt, Christopher Axikenagi, Daniel Harding, and others.

In 2013, the Philharmonie Baden-Württemberg won the European Culture Award. The Vatican Pope sent a warm invitation of performance to the Philharmonie, and the Pope attended the concert and delivered a speech.

Conductor

Bernhard Epstein 

Bernhard Epstein studied the programs of piano, ensemble and conducting at the music colleges in Stuttgart, Hannover and Berlin in his early age and graduated with distinction. He won awards in various music competitions, including the First Prize at the Steinway International Piano Competition. He has been awarded scholarships by the German Music Foundation, the Helixor Foundation, the Baden-Württemberg State Art Foundation, and the European Piano Education Association. In 2004, he won the First Prize of the Bad Homburg International Conducting Competition.

From 2001 to 2004, he was the artistic director and conductor of the Koblenz Opera House. He was the conductor of the Hannover National Opera House from 2004 to 2006, and he has been the conductor and artistic director of the Stuttgart National Opera House since 2006.

Since 2009, Bernhard Epstein has been the artistic director of the Opera Academy of the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart. In addition, he has been a professor of piano accompaniment of the University since 2007.

The symphony orchestras in which he has conducted include the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Saarland National Symphony Orchestra, Schleswig-Holstein Symphony Orchestra, North Rhine Philharmonic Orchestra, Brandenburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Oldenburg National Orchestra, Münster Symphony Orchestra, Württemberg Chamber Orchestra, Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, Regensburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Stuttgart State Opera House Symphony Orchestra, and Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra.

During the 2010 Berlin Music Festival, Bernhard Epstein collaborated with SWR Radio Choir, NDR Radio Choir, and RIAS Radio Chamber Choir in the rehearsal of “Le Visage Nuptial”, “Le Soleil des Eaux” and “Berios Stanze” of Pierre Brez. In addition, he took charge of the rehearsal for other concerts of NDR Radio, RIAS Radio and MDR Radio in 2011 and 2012.

In addition to a variety of repertoires such as Alcina, Bohemia, Carmen and Magic Flute in Stuttgart National Opera House and Hannover National Opera House, Bernhard Epstein has conducted a large number of modern musical operas and premiere repertoires including Swabian Garage, Hunting, Courage, Dreamers, As Time Goes By, and Un bel di vedremo. Bernhard Epstein also worked on the Baroque opera. He collaborated with the Bordeaux L’Orfeo Baroque Choir in the Didon et Enée. In 2008, he collaborated with Opéra Compagnie Baroque and United Continuo Service and acted as conductor at the Bayreuth Baroque Rameaus Les Fêtes d’Hébébeim Music Festival. Under his leadership, the staging plan of the opera Sardanapalus of Christian Ludwig Boxberg (1698) was restarted in 2011 and 2012, with joint efforts of these orchestras (chorus). In 2009, he directed Die Lustige Witwe and Country Knight/Harlequin I at Saarland National Opera House, and Fidelio at Oldenburg National Opera House. 

Piano: Jieni Wan

Jieni Wan was born in Germany on February, 1995. At the age of four, she received her first piano lessons and moved with her parents back to China three years later. At the age of eleven, she was admitted to the Shanghai Music  Conservatory and began her professional training in piano under the guidance of the famous Chinese Professor Li Minduo. Two years later, she continued her studies at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing with Professor Dan Shao. In June, 2010, Jieni passed the entrance examination at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich and continued her piano studies with Professor Gitti Pirner. Currently she is enrolled in Yale School of Music, under the tutelage of Professor Robert Blocker.

Over the years, Jieni has received many prizes: she obtained her first award at the age of five in Ingolstadt, Germany, and won the First Prize at Munich’s Youth and Children’s Competition at Steinwayhaus in the following year. She also won several first prizes at Jugend Musiziert (Germany’s Most Prestigious Music Competition for Youths) and at the 7th Munich International Piano Panel in 2007. In July, 2010, she won the First Prize at the Third Kawai Asia Piano Competition and obtained the First Prize at the National Competition Jugend Musiziert on June, 2011.

Recently, Jieni has performed as a soloist with many Chinese and Western well-known Orchestras. She has given piano recitals and played piano concertos with leading Orchestras both in China and abroad, especially in Austria, Germany, Israel, Great Britain, New Zealand and Mainland, China. She performs in many famous venues, including Wiener Konzerthaus, Salzburg Großes Festpielhaus, Munich Herkulessaal in Europe, and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Concert Hall, Shanghai Concert Hall, Beijing Concert Hall, National Centre for the Performing Arts, Shenzhen Concert Hall, Guangzhou Xinghai Concert Hall and many other concert halls and grand theatres in mainland, China.

Jieni has appeared with major orchestras under the direction of such eminent conductors such as Maestro Christoph Eschenbach(2016 China Tour), Bernhard Koch (2013 in Munich with Camerata Muenchen Orchestra), Fuad Ibrahimov (2015 China Tour with Neue Philharmonie Muenchen), Long Yu (2017 in Guangzhou with Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra), Lv Jia (2016 in Beijing with the NCPA Orchestra, 2017 in Shenzhen with Macao Orchestra), Xu Zhong(2016 in Shanghai with Orchestra del Maggio Musicale, 2016 in Israel Haifa with Haifa Symphony Orchestra).

The 2017/18 Season, Jieni has debuted with Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Maestro Gilbert Varga in Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland in September, 2017. In the meanwhile, she debuted with Auckland Philharmonia and Chinese conductor Li Xincao which in New Zealand. This year, Jieni just finished a China tour with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin as the soloist.