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Globally renowned pianist Mikhail Rudy will meet music lovers in the territory in the forthcoming concert with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, under the baton of its Music Director, Yip Wing-sie. The programme will be staged at 8pm June 22 (Saturday) at the Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall.

Unlike most of other concerts that have one concerto in a single performance, Rudy and the orchestra will showcase a "double treat", Shostakovich's "Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 35" and Prokofiev's "Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat, Op. 10", in the concert, as well as Stravinsky's "Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra" and Tchaikovsky's "Suite No. 4 in G, Op. 61, Mozartiana".

Mikhail Rudy's outstanding musical career has always been inextricably linked with a search for excellence in many areas of art and culture. A resident in Paris and London, Rudy left his native Russia in 1977 and now travels freely between the East and West.

As a concert and recording pianist his honours are many: First Prize in the 1975 Marguerite Long Competition, and more recently the Prix de l'Academie du Disque Francaise, the Grand Prix du Disque, the Grand Prix Academie Charles Cros and the Grand Prix Liszt in Budapest.

Rudy's exceptional career has featured collaborations with such musicians as Herbert von Karajan, Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, Mstislav Rostropovich and Isaac Stern. He is a frequent soloist with the most prestigious orchestras and conductors, and appearing at the major festivals in Europe and the United States. He is the Artistic Director of the Festival de Saint-Riquier in France, and is also a respected television broadcaster and programme-maker for radio, television and video.

Founded in 1990, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta is acclaimed for its quality orchestral music playing - in the promotion of lesser heard works by Chinese composers as well as premiering newly commissioned works. Its recordings under the "Master Chinese Compositions Series" are fast establishing a benchmark. Among the illustrious array of musicians and groups with whom it has collaborated are Luciano Pavarotti, Fou Ts'ong, Mikhail Rudy, David Helfgott, Sarah Brightman, the Kirov, the Bolshoi and the Stuttgart Ballets. On tour, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta has made its mark in major cities in mainland China and other parts of Asia, and last summer it became the first Asian orchestra ever invited to perform at the Saint-Riquier Festival in France.

One of the programmes of "City Hall 40th Anniversary" presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, tickets priced at $120, $90 and $60 are now available at all URBTIX outlets. Half price concessions will be granted to senior citizens, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients (Limited student and CSSA tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis). A 10% discount is also available for Friends of LCSD performing venues.

Programme enquiries can be made on 2268 7321 or website www.lcsd.gov.hk/cp. Ticketing enquiries and reservation can be made on 2734 9009 while credit card telephone booking on 2111 5999. Besides, box seats and lounge packages are also available for sale for the performance. Please call 2268 7232 for details.

End/ Tuesday, May 28, 2002

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