Pianist cancels Philadelphia Orchestra concerts, Dutoit finds terrific replacement
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Artswatch
Pianist cancels Philadelphia Orchestra concerts, Dutoit finds terrific replacement
Peter Dobrin, Inquirer Classical Music Critic
Maurizio Pollini has canceled his May U.S. appearances for health reasons - including a set of concerts with the Philadelphia Orchestra. These are Charles Dutoit's last three performances as chief of the Philadelphians, and in Pollini's place, the conductor has engaged a friend: Portuguese-born pianist Maria João Pires, who will be making her Philadelphia Orchestra debut.
The repertoire will change: instead of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1, it will be Chopin's Concerto No. 2.
Pires is a major catch - hardly a pale stand-in for Pollini. A specialist in Mozart, Schubert and Chopin, she is a strong personality we're happy to be hearing.
The concerts - one of which is in Carnegie Hall - include Ravel's Daphnis and Chloé (complete version).
Peter Dobrin is a classical music critic and culture writer for The Inquirer. Since 1989, he has written music reviews, features, news and commentary for the paper, covering such topics as the Philadelphia Museum of Art at the Venice Biennale, expansion of the Curtis Institute of Music, the Philadelphia Orchestra's bankruptcy declaration in 2011, Philadelphia's evolving performing arts center and the general health of arts and culture.
Dobrin was a French horn player. He earned an undergraduate degree in performance from the University of Miami, and received a master's degree in music criticism from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where he studied with Elliott Galkin. He has no time to practice today.
