Alisa Weilerstein joins Spokane Symphony for Narrations

Mar 27, 2009

For Immediate Release

Contact: Annie Matlow 326-3136

SPOKANE—The Spokane Symphony will present Narrations, the eighth concert in the Classics series on Saturday, April 4 at 8 p.m.  and Sunday, April 5 at 3 p.m. at Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, all under the baton of Music Director Eckart Preu.  The concert will feature works by Igor Markevitch, Franz Schreker, and Antonín Dvořák. Alisa Weilerstein will join the Spokane Symphony for Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor.

Alisa Weilerstein is a natural virtuoso who has been hailed for her impassioned musicianship and expressive range. She is internationally renowned as one of the premiere solo cellists and chamber musicians of her generation. “Cellists twice of thrice Weilerstein’s age would be hard-pressed to match the concentrated beauty and power of this young dynamo’s playing,” says The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Weilerstein has appeared with many prestigious ensembles including the orchestras of Baltimore, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, as well as the New York Philharmonic and National Symphony Orchestra. Her praised debut recording was released on EMI classics and she was the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2000.

The short career of Igor Markevitch resembled the prematurely concluded flight of Icarus, the boy who flew to close to the sun. Markevitch, a Ukrainian composer, wrote Icare in 1943. The sound Markevitch achieves from the orchestra is imaginative, bold, thrilling, and dazzling. Originally written as a ballet, Icare was especially radical for its time, including quarter tones in both the woodwinds and strings.

Short also was the career of Franz Schreker, who was at the height of his creativity when he wrote the prelude to Die Gezeichneten (“The Branded”). An opera written between 1911 and 1915, Die Gezeichneten captures the somewhat strange and dangerous element at the heart of Schreker’s work and captivates the audience with its unstable and implosive energy. The prelude portrays the apocalyptic nature of the opera, setting the stage for a tumultuous story of love, beauty, and suffering.

Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor is not only one of the finest cello concerti ever written, it is also his heartfelt tribute to his love of youth. This magnificent concerto was written in 1894 for his friend and cellist Hanuš Wihan. A great feeling of nostalgia pervades the piece and effectively captures the characteristics of Dvořák’s personal style and also the Czech idiom he wholeheartedly embraced. The concerto is heroic in scale without ever becoming larger than life, and embodies the majestic character of Dvořák’s career.

Tickets on Saturday are $22, $32, $40, and $44. Tickets on Sunday are $18, $28, $36, and $41. Tickets are available in advance at the Spokane Symphony Ticket office, 1001 W. Sprague, or by calling 509-624-1200. Tickets are also available at all TicketsWest outlets or by calling 1-800-325-SEAT, or at spokanesymphony.org.