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Media Relations

Dresden performance will reunite ‘Viennese oracle’ with his Steinway

When renowned Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder comes to Bloomington to perform with the classical orchestra Dresden Staatskapelle at IU Auditorium (8 p.m., Nov. 17), he'll be able to visit his old friend, cellist Janos Starker, a distinguished professor at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Buchbinder will also be reunited with his beloved German Steinway piano, now housed at IU.

"It was 1979 when I bought that piano and recorded all of Beethoven's sonatas," said Buchbinder by phone with Live at IU from Vienna. "Then one of my best friends, (the late IU professor) James King, bought the piano, took it to Bloomington and sold it to Indiana University. I have tears in my eyes when I see it."

Audiences may tear up at the beauty of the music Buchbinder produces on that piano with Dresden Staatskapelle, a classical music tradition that was originally founded in 1548 as the court orchestra for a Saxon prince. Dresden Staatskapelle is the world's oldest continuously operating orchestra and is the resident orchestra for the SächsischeStaatsoper (Saxon State Opera House) in the eastern German city of Dresden. German composer and conductor Richard Strauss had a 60-year association with the orchestra.

Conducted by Maestro Fabio Luisi, Dresden Staatskapelle has built upon a four-century reputation for excellence by burnishing its own status as a global sensation. Luisi -- a frequent guest conductor for the world's leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, and the Orchestre de Paris -- is directing Dresden Staatskapelle as Sony BMG records all of Richard Strauss' orchestral works.

Buchbinder has traveled the world many times over to perform as a soloist with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, London Philharmonic, National Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He has also collaborated with the world's most distinguished conductors, including Abbado, Dohnányi, Frühbeck de Burgos, Giulini and Sawallisch, and is a regular guest at the Salzburger Festspiele and other major festivals around the world.

Starker, considered one of the most famous cellists of the 20th Century, recently said: "The infamous (Arthur) Rubenstein statement, 'Where are the great pianists of yesteryear?' is negated by someone like Rudolf Buchbinder. He is a great pianist and musician," said Starker. "I had the joy of performing and recording with him for years. Personally, he is a member of my family. I am looking forward to having him Bloomington."

Called "the Viennese oracle on the core literature of Haydn, Beethoven and Brahms" by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Buchbinder has made more than 100 recordings and is the founding artistic director of the Grafenegg Music Festival, a major international music festival near Vienna, which launched in August 2007.

His 18-disc set of Haydn's works earned him the Grand Prix du Disque, while the cycle of all of Mozart's piano concertos with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, recorded live at the Vienna Konzerthaus, was chosen by Joachim Kaiser as CD of the Year. In 2006, he performed 12 Mozart piano concertos with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Vienna Festwochen, and a live DVD recording of these was recently released by EuroArts.

All of his most recent CDs are live recordings. "In the studio, there is no emotion, no atmosphere. I will never record in the studio again," Buchbinder said.

His recordings include the Brahms piano concertos with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Nikolaus Harnoncourt and all five Beethoven piano concertos with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

"Beethoven is the person who occupies my whole life," he said. "I have 18 complete editions of his 32 sonatas, and I have the first edition of all of his sonatas as well. He occupies me as a human being as a composer."

Dresden Staatskapelle will perform in Bloomington for one night only, 8 p.m. Nov. 17, at IU Auditorium. Tickets are available at http://www.iuauditorium.com/new0809/subscriber.html and the IU Auditorium box office, 1211 E. Seventh St. IU Auditorium is located on the campus of Indiana University, Bloomington. Phone orders are processed by Ticketmaster, and a service charge will be added to tickets purchased. During box office hours, please call 812-855-1103. After hours, tickets may be purchased by calling 812-333-9955.

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