Media

Acclaimed French pianist David Kadouch returns to Hong Kong
for concert with Hong Kong Sinfonietta and recital

For immediate release
8 May 2024

Praised for his “outstanding gift for delicacy… showing plenty of wit, a kaleidoscope of colours, and a flexibility of phrasing” (New York Concert Review), French pianist David Kadouch will be returning to Hong Kong for two fantastic programmes under the invitation of Hong Kong Sinfonietta. As part of the French May Arts Festival, he will give a recital on 22 May (Wed), showcasing the works of Chopin, Liszt, Poulenc and more, as well as collaborate with Hong Kong Sinfonietta on 25 May (Sat) in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 24 under the baton of Estonian conductor Olari Elts. Both performances will take place at the Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall. Tickets are on sale now, with a 20% discount available when you purchase standard tickets to both performances.

Having started his career at a young age over 25 years ago, David Kadouch was invited by Itzhak Perlman to perform together in New York at the age of 13. He quickly became one of the leading pianists of his generation after winning prizes at the Beethoven Competition Bonn in 2005 and Leeds International Piano Competition in 2009. He was named “Révélation soliste instrumental” by the French Victoires de la Musique Classique in 2010, and “Young Artist of the Year” at the International Classical Music Awards in 2011. He is regularly invited to perform at such prestigious festivals as the Gstaad, Verbier, La Roque d’Anthéron, Colmar and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern festivals, as well as La Folle Journée in Nantes and Tokyo, and has appeared on tour with Hong Kong Sinfonietta several times, receiving wide acclaim.

In this return visit to Hong Kong, Kadouch will perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 24 in C minor with Hong Kong Sinfonietta under the baton of Olari Elts, in a concert exclusively sponsored by CLP Holdings Limited. One of the only two piano concertos written in a minor key by Mozart, the timeless classic is considered to be one of the composer’s most perfectly constructed concertos.

Currently Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Olari Elts is celebrated for his distinctive programming rich with invention. A champion of contemporary Baltic composers, he will be bringing the works of Arvo Pärt and Erkki-Sven Tüür to Hong Kong. Arvo Pärt is one of the most esteemed living composers of today, having come to international prominence in the late 1970s for his “tintinnabular” style of writing based on the three simple notes of a triad. His Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten – written in response to the death of great British composer Benjamin Britten – will be performed by the orchestra, who will also present the Asian première of Erkki-Sven Tüür’s electric Incantation of Tempest as a concert opener. The programme will culminate in Shostakovich’s iconically lightweight, humorous and perhaps satirical Symphony No 9, written after the Soviet army had triumphed over Germany in the Second World War.

As the Exclusive Sponsor of the concert on 25 May, CLP Holdings Limited has been supporting Hong Kong Sinfonietta’s concerts in the French May Arts Festival for more than 17 years. With the aim to make classical music more accessible, CLP has also sponsored the Student Ticket Scheme of Hong Kong Sinfonietta since 2013. In enabling more than 11,000 students to enjoy orchestral performances through half-priced student tickets, CLP’s initiatives contribute to the development and appreciation of the arts, improving quality of life and encouraging creative thinking.

French May Arts Festival

Hong Kong Sinfonietta

***Great Piano Concertos*: David Kadouch Plays Mozart**

25 May 2024 (Saturday) | 8pm
Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall
$520, $380, $220

Conductor: Olari Elts
Piano: David Kadouch

Programme
Erkki-Sven Tüür – Incantation of Tempest (2014) (Asian première)
Mozart – Piano Concerto No 24 in C minor, K491
Arvo Pärt – Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten (1977/1980)
Shostakovich – Symphony No 9 in E-flat, Op 70

French May Arts Festival

HKS Recital Series: David Kadouch Piano Recital

22 May 2023 (Wednesday) | 8pm
Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall
$450, $320, $180

Piano: David Kadouch

Programme
Chopin – Three Nocturnes, Op 9
Liszt – Variations on a Theme from Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen by Bach, S180
Landowska – Nuit d’Automne
Landowska – Waltz in E minor
Landowska – Feu Follet
Poulenc – Novelette No 3 in E minor (on a Theme from El Amor Brujo by Manuel de Falla)
Poulenc – Nocturne No 7 in E-flat
Poulenc – Mélancolie
Szymanowski – Variations on a Polish Folk Theme, Op 10

Half-price tickets available for full-time students, senior citizens, people with disabilities and their minder, and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients
10% discount for group bookings of 4 or more standard tickets
Get a 20% off discount when you purchase standard tickets to both programmes
Suitable for 6 years old or above
Tickets at URBTIX
Tickets online at POPTICKET (no handling fee)

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Olari Elts Conductor

Olari Elts’ passion for distinctive programming rich with invention has earned him much praise on the international music scene. He began his tenure as Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra in 2020.

Elts has appeared as a guest conductor with renowned orchestras such as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Soloists with whom he has collaborated include Gautier and Renaud Capuçon, Brett Dean, Isabelle Faust, Alban Gerhardt, Martin Grubinger, Martin Helmchen, Stephen Hough, Lucas and Arthur Jussen, Kari Kriikku, Karita Mattila, Alexander Melnikov, Daniel Lozakovich, Baiba Skride, Simon Trpčeski and Antoine Tamestit.

In the 2023/2024 season, Elts led the BBC Symphony Orchestra on tour to Poland, returning to Festiwal Eufonie for the second time. He conducted the season-opening concert of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, giving the Finnish première of Abel Selaocoe’s cello concerto Four Spirits. Other return engagements included the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra and Polish Baltic Philharmonic in Gdańsk, where he was joined by pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. He also made débuts with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta de València, the Aalborg and Wuppertal symphony orchestras and the Presidential Symphony Orchestra in Ankara. Following recent successful international tours with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra in the UK, Germany and France, Elts’ contract as the orchestra’s Chief Conductor and Music Director was extended for a further five years.

As a champion of contemporary Baltic composers such as Erkki-Sven Tüür and Heino Eller, Elts has released recordings of Eller’s symphonic poems as well as Violin Concerto with Baiba Skride and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. Also widely celebrated by critics are his Ondine recordings of Tüür’s works with Tapiola Sinfonietta, including the viola concerto Illuminatio with Lawrence Power, Symphony No 5 and the accordion concerto Prophecy with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. His 2016 recording of Brahms arrangements by Glanert and Berio with the same orchestra also received high praise. Other albums include the Borgström and Shostakovich violin concertos with Eldbjørg Hemsing and the Vienna Symphony, and music by Kalevi Aho recorded with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Kymi Sinfonietta, under the BIS label. His latest album features music by award-winning Norwegian composer Øyvind Torvund, in collaboration with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra.

Elts also made his mark in the opera field, having conducted titles such as Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Idomeneo, and Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust. Crossing genres, he toured to the Konzerthaus Berlin with a theatre-concert production which combined Mendelssohn’s and Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Tallinn-based theatre company NO99. For Bernstein’s 100th anniversary, Elts conducted the film On the Waterfront with Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg.

Elts was Principal Guest Conductor of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra from 2007-2020, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra from 2011-2014, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra from 2007-2010. He was Artistic Advisor of the Kymi Sinfonietta from 2018 to 2022, and the Orchestre National de Bretagne from 2006-2011. He was also Chief Conductor of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra from 2001-2006. Born in Tallinn in 1971, he founded the contemporary music ensemble, NYYD Ensemble.
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David Kadouch Piano

Born in Nice, France in 1985, David Kadouch began his studies at the Nice Conservatoire with Odile Poisson. At the age of 14, he entered the Paris Conservatoire in the class of Jacques Rouvier. After receiving First Prize with Honours from the Paris Conservatoire, he moved to the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid, where he studied with the legendary Dmitri Bashkirov. He has also perfected his skills with Murray Perahia, Maurizio Pollini, Maria João Pires, Daniel Barenboim, Vitaly Margulis, Itzhak Perlman, Eliso Virsaladze and Emanuel Krasovsky, and quickly became one of the most acclaimed pianists of his generation.

A prizewinner at the Beethoven Competition Bonn in 2005 and Leeds International Piano Competition in 2009, Kadouch has become a regular guest of some of the most important orchestras, recital series and international festivals. At the age of 13, he was invited by Perlman to play under his baton at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In 2008, Perlman invited him again to perform the Schumann Piano Quintet at Carnegie Hall. In 2010, Kadouch was named “Révélation soliste instrumental” by the French Victoires de la Musique Classique. In 2011, he won the “Young Artist of the Year” award at the International Classical Music Awards, and made his New York recital début at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Kadouch has appeared with orchestras such as Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, The Hallé, Hamburg Symphony, Munich Symphony, Brussels Philharmonic, Belgian National Orchestra, Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra etc, with conductors such as Myung-Whun Chung, Aziz Shokhakimov, András Keller, Matthias Pintscher, Robin Ticciati, Marc Albrecht, Daniele Gatti, Laurence Equilbey, Lawrence Foster, David Zinman and Jean-Claude Casadesus. He has performed in venues such as the Paris Philharmonie, Salzburg Mozarteum, Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Palais des Beaux-Arts and Flagey in Brussels, Munich Herkulessaal, Salle Cortot, Salle Gaveau and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He is regularly invited to festivals such as the Gstaad, Verbier, Montreux, La Roque d’Anthéron, Colmar, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schwetzingen and Jerusalem festivals, as well as La Folle Journée in Nantes and Tokyo, and Heidelberger Frühling.

Kadouch’s chamber music partners include Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Edgar Moreau, Sandrine Piau, Antoine Tamestit, Michel Dalberto, Victor Julien-Laferrière, Nikolaj Znaider, Guillaume Bellom, Yury Revich, Radovan Vlatković, Frans Helmerson, as well as the Quiroga, Ebène and Ardeo quartets.

Kadouch’s recordings include a live recording of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 5 with the Kölner Philharmonie for Naxos, Shostakovich’s Preludes for Transart Live, Schumann’s Piano Concerto (without orchestra) and Piano Quintet for Decca/Universal, and for Mirare: Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and other Russian works, a solo recital of Bach, Janáček, Schumann and Bartók, a cello & piano recital with Edgar Moreau, and the album Révolution featuring works by Chopin, Liszt, Debussy and Janáček, which won a Diapason d’Or and a Choc-Classica in 2019. In 2022, Kadouch released the album Les Musiques de Madame Bovary, a recital exploring the musical universe of Gustave Flaubert’s infamous fictional character Emma Bovary, through works of women composers contemporary of Flaubert: Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, Louise Farrenc, Pauline Viardot, as well as Delibes, Chopin and Liszt. A duo recital with Sandrine Piau exploring the themes of intimacy and interiority through works by Schubert, Wolf, Debussy, Liszt, Duparc and Lili Boulanger was released in 2023 on Alpha Classics.

Co-presenter