Marin Alsop Leads Baltimore Symphony and Yefim Bronfman in Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto

By -

Season finale program on June 11th also features selections from Wagner’s epic Ring cycle

Music Director Marin Alsop leads the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in its last classical concert of the 2008-2009 season on Thursday, June 11 at 8:00 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore and Friday and Saturday, June 12 and 13 at 8:00 pm. and Sunday, June 14 at 3:00 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The program will feature two powerhouse works: Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto with world-renowned soloist Yefim Bronfman and orchestral selections from Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelungen, including “Ride of the Valkyries.”

Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto is known as one of the most difficult piano works ever composed. Featured in the 1996 film Shine, this piano concerto’s complexity drove the main character, a struggling pianist, into madness. Yefim Bronfman, who previously recorded this concerto, possesses the technical genius needed to execute the quick and intricate melodies and land the long-fingered chords. The concerto runs through a range of expressions to best show the pianist’s skills: themes run from melancholy to passion and utilize both major and minor keys. The soaring finale features church bells, a roaring piano march and accelerated tempos for an exhilarating finish.

Wagner’s four-opera cycle—Das Rheingold, Die Walkürie, Siegfried and Götterdammerung—known as The Ring cycle, took more than 26 years to complete. This orchestra-heavy opera was the first of its kind to dispense with the standard operatic arias and instead merge singers and orchestra. The story of the magic ring can only be understood from listening to all four operas and the composer meant for it to be done as such. For this performance, Maestra Alsop has selected key orchestral works from all four operas including “At the bottom of the Rhine,” “The Nibelungen Smiths,” “The Ride of the Valkyries,” “Siegfried,” “Dawn and Siegfried’s Rhine Journey,” “Funeral Music,” “Immolation Scene” and “Redemption by Love” offering audiences an abridged version of Wagner’s massive Ring cycle.

OMPLETE PROGRAM INFORMATION:
Classical Concert Series: Marin Alsop and Yefim Bronfman
Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. —The Music Center at Strathmore *
Friday, June 12, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. —Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. —Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Sunday, June 14, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. —Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

Marin Alsop, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor
Wagner: Orchestral Selections from The Ring of the Nibelungen

* Music Notes LIVE! is a free pre-concert lecture at the Music Center at Strathmore, hosted by WETA’s David Ginder. The program begins at 7:00 p.m. and is free to ticket holders.
Tickets for these concerts range from $20 to $85, and are available through the BSO Ticket Office, 877.BSO.1444, 410.783.8000 or www.BSOmusic.org.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Role of Music in Opera

By -
There are numerous books on the topic, and every composer, librettist, director, singer and audience member has their opinion as to what role the music should play in an opera. In a play without music, the words ought to support the meaning behind a character's actions. However, in the case of action movies, often times the action is what tells the story and there aren't words, just images to forward the plot. We might hear music to accompany action, build tension, but the action tells the story. Musicals tend to speak until the emotion of the moment just "has" to break out in song - unless it's something like "Mama Mia" where the dialog is the rails we travel on between songs; the songs themselves, written before the concept of the musical, are the focus of the production, while the story is secondary. Operas are a different beast. The music provides emotion to the words spoken, but it also plays the role of ambience when there is only action. In ...
Read more

Episode 210b: Joyeuse le départ

By -
Image
Podcast:  Play in new window  |  Download Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts  |  Android  |  Google Play  |  Stitcher  |  TuneIn  |  RSS Provost Cunningham has Transmigrated, but to where! What is Dr Sage going to do with his body? And how can she bring home her friends, Abigail and Erasmus, without also bring home Cunningham? What are they going to say when they find the “skeleton” she’s hiding in her closet? Cast: Eddie Louise Clark  as Dr Sage Chip Clark  as Professor Savant Justin Bremer  as the Narrator Emily Riley Piatt  as Abigail Entwhistle, Calypso & Dean Stewart Written by  Eddie Louise Theme music by  Unwoman Sound Design by  Chip Michael
Read more

Teaching Composition – What are we trying to achieve

By -
In the process of learning composition I have spent time with a number of instructors who have encouraged me to write twelve-tone, pitch-class, electro-acoustic and other forms of experimental techniques. No matter how much I might understand and appreciate the work of other composers in the genres, these are not forms of music I resonate with. They are simply not forms of music I listen to and I struggle with the idea of writing them. However, in a Master Class by Libby Larsen she made the comment, “Learn them all, because all forms of music have something to offer.” This I very much agree. There are elements of each of the above mentioned forms (and others) that I do resonate with. Berg’s Violin Concerto is a beautiful twelve-tone work, although it is possible to look at numerous sections of the music with a “tonal” analysis. Another composer friend, Gary Bachlund commented that using these techniques can narrow the choices for how to compose a piece of work. If you look at ...
Read more