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Even in "piano town" the fiendishly difficult "Burleske" by Richard Strauss is rarely performed, but Brazilian pianist Arnaldo Cohen will be playing it. Cohen has made a name for himself by tackling challenging repertoire with aplomb.
Cohen will perform with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Oct. 29-31 at Bass Performance Hall in downtown Fort Worth, state of Texas.
Another rarity receives its Fort Worth debut, the seductive "Piano Concerto" in the Brazilian style by Hekel Tavares, a romantic gem rediscovered by Cohen.
The concert opens with Kevin Puts's "River's Rush," which makes its regional debut, and concludes with Carl Nielsen's Symphony No. 4, "The Inextinguishable." Music Director Miguel Harth-Bedoya conducts.
"Arnaldo Cohen is a brilliant musician who makes the piano sing with warmth and vitality," Harth-Bedoya said.
"The Fort Worth Symphony is fortunate to have him appear in concert."
The concerts begin at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Learn more about the music at Symphonic Insights, hosted by principal keyboardist Shields-Collins "Buddy" Bray an hour before each performance in the audience chamber.
In attendance will be the 32-year-old Puts, whose most recent composition, "River's Rush," commissioned by the Saint Louis Orchestra in celebration of its 125th anniversary, debuted just last month. The Orchestra performed Puts's "Falling Dreams" last season to great acclaim.
In the years since he first came to the attention of critics and the public, Cohen has enjoyed an increasingly successful career taking him to the major concert halls of Europe, South America and the United States.
He has performed with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome as well as Philadelphia, San Francisco, New York, Seattle and Miami.
He has played under the baton of such leading conductors as Kurt Sanderling, Kurt Masur, Yehudi Menuhin, Klaus Tennstedt and Edo de Waart.
Bio
He started his musical studies at the age of five, and graduated from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro with degrees in piano and violin.
He became a professional violinist in the Rio de Janeiro Opera House Orchestra, but continued his piano studies with Jacques Klein, a disciple of William Kapell.
He continued his piano training in Vienna with Bruno Seidhofer and Dieter Weber.
Cohen came to prominence in Europe after winning the first prize of the 1972 Busoni International Piano Competition and making his debut at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, replacing Martha Argerich.
He made his New York debut in the 1996-97 season, and returned the next season for a highly acclaimed performance at the Tisch Center for the Performing Arts. Apart from solo appearances, he has performed in the Amadeus Piano Trio as well as the Lindsay Quartet and Chilingirian Quartet.
During the 2004-05 season he returns for recitals in San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York and Miami, among others.
He has recorded works by Franz Liszt for Naxos and IMP and works by Schumann and Brahms on the Vox label, as well as the highly acclaimed Three Centuries of Brazilian Music.
These concerts are made possible, in part, by the support of American Airlines and are presented in honor of the Amon G. Carter Foundation. Promotional support is provided by the Star-Telegram and WRR 101.1 FM.
Tickets are $13-$72 and are available online at www.fwsymphony.org, by telephone at 817-665-6000, or by visiting the FWSO Ticket Office at 330 E. Fourth Street, Suite 200, in downtown Fort Worth, Texas.
The ticket office is open from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday.
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