May 08, 2006 -

Ottawa, Canada -- National Arts Centre Orchestra Music Director Pinchas Zukerman will return to the Southam Hall stage to lead the luminous Armenian-Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian in concerts that also feature the young Israel pianist Benjamin Hochman and French-Israeli pianist Jonathan Gilad on Thursday, May 11 and Friday, May 12 at 20:00. These Bostonian Bravo concerts feature gorgeous arias and piano music by Mozart and close with a Brahms Serenade.

There will be free Pre-Concert Talks both evenings given in English by music critic Jean-Jacques Van Vlasselaer. These are entitled “Mozart’s Melody” and will take place in the Fountain Room.

Isabel Bayrakdarian will open with “Alma grande e nobil core” (Great soul and noble heart) which Mozart composed for one of the most popular sopranos of the day. Mozart also wrote the concert aria “Ch'io mi scordi di te?” with a specific soprano in mind – his first Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro. Mozart, considerably smitten by the young singer, wrote a piano accompaniment of equal importance to the vocal portion of this tender love song, so that he could perform himself at the premiere. Benjamin Hochman will accompany Isabel Bayrakdarian in this performance. Hochman then teams up with pianist Jonathan Gilad for Mozart’s only Concerto for Two Pianos, a playful piece which the composer wrote for himself and his sister Nannerl.

Isabel Bayrakdarian opens the second half with two arias from Mozart operas. She sings of the simple life in “Alla selva, al prato, al fonte” from Il Rè pastore (The Shepherd King). Then, from The Marriage of Figaro, Bayrakdarian will sing the complex and passionate “Giunse alfin il momento ... Al desio, di chi t’adora” that Mozart added as an alternative aria for a later production. The concert closes with Zukerman conducting the NAC Orchestra in Brahms’ Serenade No. 2.

Isabel Bayrakdarian began the current season singing Susanna to Bryn Terfel's Figaro in Act I of The Marriage of Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera’s opening night gala. In the year 2000, she burst onto the international opera scene after winning first prize in the Operalia competition, and has now performed in virtually all the world’s major opera houses. Isabel Bayrakdarian sings on the Grammy Award-winning soundtrack of the blockbuster film The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers, as well as in the multiple award-winning Canadian film Ararat. Other highlights of the current season include Eurydice to David Daniels’s Orpheus in Orfeo at Lyric Opera of Chicago; Le Nozze di Figaro at the Houston Grand Opera; and her debut at the Royal Opera House in London, also in Figaro. She will participate in the 2006 Salzburg Festival’s presentation of all of Mozart’s operas, singing Zerlina in Don Giovanni, conducted by Daniel Harding. She has also triumphed in recital, accompanied by her husband, pianist Serouj Kradjian, at New York’s Carnegie Hall and on stages across North America. Ms. Bayrakdarian’s newest recording is a widely-praised collection of songs by singer/composer Pauline Viardot-Garcia. Her first CD, Joyous Light, is a disc of Armenian songs. Born in Lebanon of proud Armenian heritage, Bayrakdarian became a loyal citizen of Canada after moving here with her family as a teenager. She is the subject of a CBC-TV film entitled A Long Journey Home that documents her emotional and musical first trip to Armenia, where she recently recorded a disc of works by Gomidas. She holds an honors degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Toronto.

Pianist Benjamin Hochman is achieving widespread acclaim for his performances as orchestral soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. Though still in his early twenties, he is an imaginatively mature artist with an innate ability to combine beauty of line within the overall shape of a piece. After hearing Mr. Hochman at the Marlboro Festival, pianist Mitsuko Uchida recommended him to conductor Zubin Mehta, resulting in the pianist’s first orchestral engagement with the Israel Philharmonic in spring 2004 and an immediate re-engagement with the orchestra in December for his Carnegie Hall debut. Pinchas Zukerman has also invited the pianist to perform and record with the Zukerman ChamberPlayers.

French-Israeli pianist Jonathan Gilad was “discovered” by Daniel Barenboim in 1996 – making his American recital debut in Chicago at Orchestra Hall as a last-minute replacement. Following this success, Gilad was quickly engaged by major orchestras world-wide and has since performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra.
Born in Marseilles in 1981, Jonathan Gilad began playing the piano at the age of 4 and by the age of 11 won his first gold medal. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1996 with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic under Yuri Termirkanov.

Tickets for these Bostonian Bravo Series concerts on May 11 and 12 are on sale now at $27.00, $47.50, $58.00 and $60.00, with box seats at $79.00 (GST and Facility Fee included) at the NAC Box Office (Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00), and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at 613-755-1111. Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC’s web-site at www.nac-cna.ca.

Groups of 10 and more save 15% to 20% off the regular price of tickets to NAC Music, Theatre and Dance performances. To reserve your seats call 947-7000 ext. 384 or email grp@nac-cna.ca. Half-price tickets for students in all sections of the hall are on sale in person at the NAC Box Office upon presentation of a valid student ID card.

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For more information please contact:
Jane Morris, Communications Officer,
National Arts Centre Orchestra
(613) 947-7000, ext. 335
jmorris@nac-cna.ca