Eventos

Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 is actually the second one he composed – scholars speculate that he chose to publish it first in order to knock the socks off his Viennese audience. He almost certainly accomplished that: in 1798, this would have been the biggest concerto ever performed in terms of orchestra size, and the piano cadenza in the first movement alone is incredible. Orion Weiss brings this brilliant, virtuosic, and playful piece to life with the Festival Chamber Orchestra. A miniature masterpiece by Gioacchino Rossini (of Barber of Seville fame) opens the program–the festive overture to his opera The Silken Staircase.

As one might expect, Beethoven’s first symphony follows many of the traditions and “rules” inherited from Haydn and Mozart–the symphonic masters of the day. Even so, Beethoven’s unique voice and defiance of the expectations of his time shine through in many ways—starting with the opening chord (which dodged the symphony’s C Major key that audiences would have expected) and continuing through an unusually slow introduction to the finale. Stephanie Childress begins the program with Britten’s Simple Symphony, an energetic and cheerful work whose movements include titles such as “Playful Pizzicato” and “Frolicsome Finale.”

Pianist Orion Weiss opens this chamber concert with Tchaikovsky’s brilliant, technically demanding, yet often overlooked Theme and Variations. Inspired by French tunes, it showcases Tchaikovsky’s skill in taking a charming, graceful theme and creating eleven inventive variations ranging from melancholic to playful, while ending in a powerful finale. Following, Weiss joins Festival musicians for Hungarian composer Ernö Dohnányi’s first Piano Quintet, a work that received perhaps the highest phrase Brahms ever offered to another composer: “I could not have written it better myself.” Brahms even played the piano part in the piece’s first performance.