Words and Images Courtesy of the Virginia Arts Festival
New Album Release this Friday March 18! BRAHMS & SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Quintets Olga Kern, piano & Dali Quartet
presented by the Virginia Arts Festival, recorded during 2019 Virginia Arts Festival season
Recorded during the 2019 Virginia Arts Festival season in the Robin Hixon Theater, Clay & Jay Barr Education Center, two landmark works of the chamber repertoire, the piano quintets of Johannes Brahms and Dmitri Shostakovich, are rendered with power and beauty by acclaimed pianist Olga Kern and the path-breaking Dalí Quartet. The CDs can be purchased through the Virginia Arts Festival website at vafest.org or by calling 757-282-2822.
Brahms tried different combinations of instruments for what became his Piano Quintet before settling on the warm, rich sound of four strings to blend and contrast with the power and dramatic capabilities of the piano. The piece has long been a favorite with players and audiences.
While Brahms chose to open his quintet with a movement in classical sonata form, Shostakovich began his with a prelude and fugue, acknowledging Bach. One of the most popular works of chamber music from the 20th Century, the quintet is emotionally intense and the mood vacillates from happy to sad, tragic to cheerful, and everything in between.
Olga Kern is the winner of many prestigious awards, including the Gold Medal of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. She has soloed with leading orchestras around the world. Kern is making her Delos debut with this album, following a run on the Harmonia Mundi label that included a GRAMMY® nomination for Rachmaninoff’s Corelli Variations.
This album is presented by the Virginia Arts Festival, celebrating its 25th season this year. Olga Kern is the Director of Chamber Music for the Festival and will perform in five concerts this spring.
The Philadelphia-based Dalí Quartet is best known for spearheading an infusion of Latin American works into the chamber repertoire. Rapturously received in its live performances, the Dalí is Quartet in Residence at West Chester University and was the 2021 recipient of the Guarneri String Quartet Residency.
Founded in 1973, Delos has released more than 650 albums featuring top artists. A pioneer in digital recording, Delos is known as a label with a strong personality that attracts a host of major performers and has also garnered acclaim for the technical excellence of its recordings. Please visit the Delos website, delosmusic.com for more information.
About the Virginia Arts Festival The Virginia Arts Festival celebrates its 25th Anniversary in 2022. The largest and most prestigious performing arts organization in southeastern Virginia, Virginia Arts Festival has transformed the region's cultural scene, presenting great performers from around the world and making this historic region a cultural destination for visitors from across the United States and around the world. Over the past 25 years, the Festival has welcomed visitors from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 25 foreign countries. The Festival has presented over 1,438 performances, free community events, and student matinees and workshops with a reach of over 1.2 million attendees. Each season, millions more are reached through international broadcasts of Festival performances on American Public Radio's Performance Today, nationally on PBS TV, and regionally on WHRO TV. Over 32% of ticket sales come from outside the region, bringing tens of thousands of visitors to local museums and attractions and filling regional hotels and restaurants. The estimated annual economic impact of the Festival exceeds $25 million.