NM Philharmonic’s new music director makes debut
Based in São Paulo, Brazil, first-time New Mexico Philharmonic music director Roberto Minczuk will trail a taste of Canada behind him in his official debut at Popejoy Hall on Saturday.
Along with a favorites-packed program that includes Strauss’ “Blue Danube Waltz,” and Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” the orchestra’s first full-time conductor will lead the musicians through “Vernissage” by Donovan Seidle.
Minczuk commissioned the piece by the young composer when he was the music director of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he held for 10 years.
“This was to be a companion piece to Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” Minczuk said in a telephone interview from São Paulo.
The title is French for an opening night preview. As Mussorgsky was inspired by the memorial exhibition of a friend, Seidle was inspired by two paintings and a sculpture.
“It’s something new I can bring to New Mexico and to the audience in Albuquerque,” Minczuk said.
The opening concert also includes Olga Kern International Piano Competition champion Chen Guang , 21, playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1.
“It’s one of the greatest piano concertos of all time,” Minczuk said. “It’s always difficult because of its simplicity and transparency. It’s in the same style of Mozart. It shows everything; it’s like pure crystal. It cannot be played with exaggeration.
“It’s like going to a beautiful banquet with royalty. There are all these musical conventions to follow.”
The orchestra will open the concert with the Strauss, commissioned for the 1867 Paris World’s Fair. It remains one of the most popular pieces of music in the classical repertoire.
Minczuk makes music in two hemispheres. Also the music director at the São Paulo Opera House, he was a protégé of the late German conductor Kurt Masur, who helmed the New York Philharmonic from 1991 to 2001. Minczuk debuted with the orchestra in 1998, rising to associate conductor in 2002.
“I’m looking forward to spending time in Albuquerque, which I love,” he said. “I love the climate. I love the altitude. I love the aromas in the evening.
“Of course, I love the musicians. They play so beautifully for me. It’s like a marriage; it’s a new relationship. So I am thrilled this is going to become my family.”