Violin Virtuoso Itzhak Perlman to Conduct and Perform with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Feb. 18-21

By -

BSO Principal Oboist Katherine Needleman to join Perlman for J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe

Internationally acclaimed musician Itzhak Perlman will lead and perform with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on Thursday, February 18 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, February 21 at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and on Saturday, February 20 at 8 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore. The concert includes a diverse program of orchestral classics from the Baroque to the Romantic eras, featuring Beethoven’s famous Fifth Symphony and Tchaikovsky’s lush Serenade for Strings. BSO Principal Oboist Katherine Needleman will join Perlman for a performance of J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe.

According to the New York Times, “there is probably no more talented violinist in the world than Itzhak Perlman.” Perlman trained at the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv and has toured extensively as a guest conductor and performer and is renowned for making several of the most artistic and subtle classical recordings available. The Grammy Award-winning violinist was recently invited as a guest artist to perform during the Inauguration of President Barack Obama. Perlman is currently artistic director of the Westchester Philharmonic Orchestra, while making time to lead the Perlman Music Program in New York and Israel that he founded with his wife, Toby.

Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony offers a powerful metaphor for victory. Composed in 1807-1808, the main motif, which is so often quoted in television and movies as an indication of something ominous is commonly thought of as representing fate knocking at the door. While the movement begins in a distraught C minor, the symphony concludes optimistically in C major, suggesting a triumphant victory over fate.

Because J.S. Bach composed primarily to meet the needs of his various church positions, he was incredibly prolific and often would recycle sections from his own works. His Concerto for Violin and Oboe is an example of this phenomenon: while originally composed for violin and oboe, the version that exists today is an arrangement for two harpsichords and orchestra. Luckily, with the help of historians and what remains of the score, musicians can perform a largely accurate version of this original piece.

Romantic composer Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is well-known for his powerfully evocative symphonies and ballets, including his gripping Fourth Symphony (performed by the BSO earlier this season) and the charming ballet The Nutcracker. While Tchaikovsky was dismissed by his colleagues for a large portion of the twentieth century as being a trivial composer, his compositions have proved timeless, securing his status as one of the most famous and important composers of Western classical music. Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings is considered to be an archetypical Romantic composition because of its soaring and beautiful harmonies.

COMPLETE CONCERT DETAILS
Special Event: Itzhak Perlman

Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.—Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Saturday, February 20, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.—The Music Center at Strathmore
Sunday, February 21, 2010 at 3:00 p.m.—Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

Itzhak Perlman, conductor and violin
Katherine Needleman, oboe

J.S. Bach: Concerto for Violin and Oboe
Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5

Tickets for these performances range from $30 to $125 and are available through the BSO Ticket Office, 877.BSO.1444, 410.783.8000 or 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 &quo
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

The Art of String Quartets by Brian Ferneyhough

By -
Image
When an artist sets paint to canvas, there are brush strokes used for different effects. Sometimes those strokes are subtle, imperceptible; they produce works of art like the Mona Lisa . Other times the very obvious nature of the stroke is the art, as in works by Van Gogh. With some composers of music, the notes on the page are their craft. How those notes translate into an aural experience is what defines some composers as great artists. Brian Ferneyhough has a masterful command of the techniques of putting notes on the page. These techniques are sometimes so subtle, even though written in black and white, they escape detection. Some of what he attempts with his music is just that, to escape detection, to bury the framework, diverting the ear away from the structure, so only the music is heard . The subtlety is so fine it is almost imperceptible. Even though he studied at several institutions, he is considered self-taught, studying scores from Boule
Read more