May 26, 2005 -

Ottawa (Canada) -- The final recital of this season’s Bombardier Great Performer Series will feature the National Arts Centre Orchestra’s Music Director, also one of the world’s great violinists, together with his recital partner the composer and pianist Marc Neikrug (pronounced NYKE-roog) on Wednesday, June 2 at 20:00 in the NAC’s Southam Hall. This Bombardier Great Performers recital – the first for Zukerman and Neikrug in Ottawa in over two years – features music spanning two centuries from Mozart, to Brahms and Franck, to the legendary Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu and Neikrug himself.

This season alone, the recital schedule of Pinchas Zukerman and Marc Neikrug has taken the pair to the United States, Canada, Spain, France, Ireland and Denmark. The Los Angeles Times wrote “With his longtime musical collaborator, pianist-composer Marc Neikrug… Zukerman again seemed the forever-young virtuoso: expressively resourceful, infectiously musical, technically impeccable, effortless. As usual, it was a joy to be in his musical company.”

The programme opens with Mozart’s Violin Sonata in B-flat major, one of the composer’s finest works for violin and piano, and continues with Brahms’ tenderly lyrical and amiable Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major. Then the duo will give the Canadian premiere of Neikrug’s Petrus, the name of which, according to Neikrug “refers to the great wine from Pomerol, which is very drinkable young but is capable of aging greatly.” It was originally written for cello and piano, premiering in Manchester, England, in 2001. Neikrug and Zukerman gave the world premiere of the violin/piano version in 2002 at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, one of the most prestigious of its kind in the United States, of which Neikrug has been Artistic Director since 1998.

Over the years, Zukerman developed a close relationship with the legendary Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu, who died in 1996 at age 65 – a relationship based on great admiration and respect.  Pinchas Zukerman was introduced to From Far Beyond Chrysanthemums and November Fog by Neikrug. Zukerman describes the seven-minute piece as a work of great depth of meaning, as well as of extraordinary sounds and colours. “Knowing Takemitsu,” he says, “was one of the great personal experiences of my life.”

The recital closes with Franck’s Violin Sonata in A major, one of the pillars of every violinist's repertoire, is almost certainly his most frequently performed work.

Tickets for this Bombardier Great Performers recital featuring Pinchas Zukerman and Marc Neikrug on June 2 are on sale now at $25.00, $40.00, 42.00, $50.00 and 52.00, with box seats at $63.00 (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.  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.

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