Juanjo Mena leads the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Pianist Sensation Yuja Wang in Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, Feb 10-13

By -

Young Chinese pianist Yuja Wang joins forces with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO), under the direction of Juanjo Mena, in a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto on Thursday, February 10 at 8 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore and Friday, February 11 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, February 13, 2010 at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. This program will also feature the BSO’s first performance of Bruckner’s Sixth symphony since 1988.

The monstrous solo part and lush orchestral writing of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto has made it one of his most popular works. Rachmaninoff composed this work after a bout with depression following his poorly received first symphony. The success of this work revitalized his composing career and brought him international fame as a concerto composer. The difficult virtuoso solo part finds itself in the capable hands of Yuja Wang, whom Gramophone magazine named the 2009 Young Artist of the Year.

Like other major symphonic composers of the late Romantic era, Bruckner composed either small personal works or works of gargantuan proportions. Bruckner belonged to a new generation of composers in the nineteenth century that continually expanded traditions in musical styles, especially with harmony and form. His Sixth Symphony is no different and shows Bruckner’s maturity as an orchestral composer through its opulent harmonies, complex polyphony and unprepared modulations. Audience favorite Juanjo Mena, who was recently appointed Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, will lead the program.

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