Symphony Season Opens with a Sumptuous Russian Feast
Sep 15, 2010
For Immediate Release
Contact: Annie Matlow 464-7071
SPOKANE—The Spokane Symphony’s Opening Night promises to be a musical feast of Russian music, guaranteed to get the 2010-2011 Season off to a tantalizing start. Music Director Eckart Preu will conduct Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Overture and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 at Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010, at 3 p.m. In addition, Opening Night Russian Feast, the first in the Classics Series, will showcase virtuoso French violinist Philippe Quint playing Glazunov’s Violin Concerto.
For those who would like the evening to include an edible feast may purchase tickets to the Third Annual Opening Night Gala, which will be held at the Spokane Club before the Saturday, Sept. 25 performance, beginning with a
The concert will begin with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Overture, an exceptionally brilliant orchestral work based on themes from Russian Orthodox Liturgy. The work begins with a slow introduction evoking the solemn, mysterious mood of the Passion, alternating the canticle “Let God Arise” with an ecclesiastical theme “An Angel Wailed.” The overture then transitions into the Allegro, a joyous celebration punctuated with trumpet blasts and the sense of bell-tolling, conveying a sense of excitement and merriment. The composer wrote:“This legendary and heathen side of the holiday, this transition from the gloomy and mysterious evening of Passion Saturday to the unbridled pagan-religious merry-making of Easter Sunday, is what I was eager to reproduce in my overture…”
The orchestra will then perform the Violin Concerto composed by Glazunov, Rimsky-Korsakov’s favorite pupil. Written in 1904, this unabashedly romantic piece is now Glazunov’s most popular work. While the concerto consists of the usual three movements, it is written as a single continuous 21-minute-long piece and is performed without any pauses between movements. In fact, the slow second movement is seamlessly inserted into the middle of the first movement, with the music reprising the opening themes before embarking on the Finale. The main cadenza at the end of the second movement utilizes extensive double-stopping technique and is considered one of the most difficult parts of the concerto. The concerto concludes with a colorful rondo that is a lively exchange between the orchestra and soloist.
Violinist Philippe Quint has emerged in recent years as one of the few young soloists to combine a remarkable degree of lyricism, poetry and impeccable virtuosity. His recordings of the Schuman and Korngold Violin Concertos each received a total of four Grammy nominations. His Naxos discography includes the world premičre recording of Corigliano’s Red Violin Caprices (Naxos 8559364), works for violin and piano by Miklós Rózsa (Naxos 8570190) and Rorem’s Violin Concerto (
Quint will be performing on the magnificent 1708 “Ruby” Antonio Stradivari, Cremona violin which is on a generous long-term loan from the Stradivari Society®, and organization dedicated to the preservation of and pursuit of excellence in classical music by identifying the world's most promising young artists and uniting them with the superb Italian instruments they need to help launch and sustain their professional careers. The celebrated "Ruby" is so-named because of its rich, ruby-tinted varnish that remained well preserved over centuries. Mr. Quint’s acquisition of this instrument coincides with a multi city tour which will see him concertizing in over 34 cities on three continents during 2010-11 season.
“I am thrilled to become the next recipient of this exquisite instrument. The mysterious gemstone “Ruby” represents love, passion, vivacity, exuberance, and power and I instantly felt that the violin also had all these magical qualities during my first concerts. I am extremely excited about the new journey of getting to know it and very grateful to The Stradivari Society® for their continued support of my work as an artist and musician,” Quint commented.
The "Ruby" is made on a full model with a broad appearance to the lower bouts compared to the upper bouts. The back is one of the rare "slab-cut" backs seen on only a few Stradivari instruments after 1700. According to tradition, one of the ancestors of the Marquis de Pierisis acquired the violin from Paolo Stradivari. In 1905, while it was still in the possession of the Marquis, the celebrated Spanish violinist Pablo de Sarasate admired the violin and left a charming comment to that effect on his calling card.
Philippe Quint will be giving a violin Master Class on Sept. 24 from 3-5pm at Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox. Four top students will be chosen by audition to play for this class. This event will be free and open to the public.
The concert will conclude Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10, a fine example of Shostakovich’s ability to merge allusions to the symphonic tradition on the one hand, and encoded references to his own particular time and place on the other. The symphony was premiered in Dec. of 1943, only months after Stalin's death in March 1953. Like many of hisgreatest and most personal works, it appears to have been composed “for the drawer” in the midst of the Stalinist repressions; there is evidence that Shostakovich started it as early as 1951. According to Solomon Volkov in his controversial book Testimony, the composer told him that he actually depicted Stalin in this symphony, especially in the second movement. The Symphony is replete with extra-musical symbolism, craftily woven into the complex fabric of the score. It is an expression of his country’s pain and suffering.
Tickets for either performance are $22, $32, $40, and $44. Tickets are available in advance at the Spokane Symphony Ticket Office, located at Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague, or by calling 509-624-1200. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.spokanesymphony.org Tickets are also available at all TicketsWest outlets or by calling 1-800-325-SEAT.
Sterling Savings Bank is the underwriter for this concert.
Spokane Symphony P.O. Box 365 Spokane, WA 99210-0365 | Phone 509-624-1200