Israel Philharmonic audiences will have the opportunity to revel in a series of six distinctive concerts in Tel Aviv and Haifa with conductor Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider and pianist Giorgi Gigashvili.
The series will open in Haifa at the Rappaport Auditorium on March 19, and on March 20 in Tel Aviv at the Charles Bronfman Concert Hall. It will feature piano soloist Gigashvili, who was the second-place winner of the 2023 Rubinstein International Piano Competition.
He will perform Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 with maestro Szeps-Znaider, who will then lead the orchestra in Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique.
The third Tel Aviv concert in the series, on March 21, is the ever-popular late-night IPO in Jeans concert, with Dror Keren as presenter, during which Gigashvili will play both the Brahms Concerto No.1 and the Chopin Ballade No. 4.
Other concerts in the series
The next three concerts will take place in Haifa and Tel Aviv, and Szeps-Znaider will not only conduct the IPO in Symphony No. 9 (From the New World) by Anton Dvorak but will also be the violin soloist, performing and conducting Mozart’s Concerto No. 1 for violin, the Violin Concerto in C major “in the style of Vivaldi” by Fritz Kreisler, and Estrellita by Ponce.
Szeps-Znaider balances the roles of being a celebrated violinist and a critically acclaimed conductor. Appointed in 2021 as music director of the Orchestre national de Lyon, he continues a close relationship as guest conductor and solo violinist with the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony, the Bamberg Symphony, and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic.
He said that becoming a conductor was not a difficult choice because he felt that leading a full ensemble and learning a new repertoire was an inner necessity for growth. Since he had already built a successful career as an international violinist, he was ready to take on the challenge.
The Strad magazine praised his complete recording of the Mozart violin concertos as soloist and conductor with the London Symphony, stating it was “possibly the most exquisite violin sound ever captured on disc.”
Conducting is an art
Speaking about his role as a conductor, he was once quoted as saying that a conductor must comprehend the score in its entirety and have a clear vision of the music. Conducting must be learned as an art. He or she must listen to everyone at the same time, enabling the music to be an enjoyable experience for musicians as well as audience.
Szeps-Znaider was born in Copenhagen to Polish-Jewish parents in 1975. His father had originally emigrated from Poland to Israel, and his mother’s family had settled in Denmark before World War II.
In the late ’90s, the young musician was advised to shorten his name, leaving out the name Szeps, because, he was told, it would be better for presenting himself on stage.
However, after he came across records of more than a dozen Szepses who lost their lives in the Holocaust, he said, he was overcome by a strong sense he could not bear and would not be responsible for another Szeps disappearing from the world. Therefore, he made the decision from then on to carry both names and honor his father and his father’s side of the family wherever he appears, publicly as well as privately.
Pianist Gigashvili also has a strong sense of nationhood. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 2000, his first love was singing and arranging the folksongs of his country. He continued his music education in Tbilisi Conservatory in piano with Revaz Tevadze, and his career began to develop.
After winning the 2019 First Prize at the Virgo International Piano Competition a few months later. He then won the Third Prize and Audience Prize at the Sixty-Second Busoni Competition. Then, the pandemic forced him to remain locked down in Georgia, and he turned to developing his skills in writing electronic music.
Balancing his concert dates and career as a classical pianist by merging his expertise with the group he created, called Tsduneba, which specializes in electronic and experimental music, Gigashvili finds it a satisfying and successful endeavor.
Now he is in Israel making his debut with the Israel Philharmonic.
For further information: ipo.co.il or *3766
