Tag: Concerto

Sinaisky returns to Seattle with Brahms and Ravel

Conductor Vassily Sinaisky

It was couples only night Thursday at the Seattle Symphony. French and German. Ravel and Brahms. Cello and Violin. Daphnis and Chloe. Returning to the podium was the conductor Vassily Sinaisky.

With everyone wondering who will be the Seattle Symphony’s next music director, Sinaisky is undoubtedly at the top of the list for some people. The conductor is currently the head of the Malmo Symphony and the Chief Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Russian is eyeing an American Post as the next step in his career.

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OSSCS takes Torke, Strauss, and Bartok to Meany Hall

About once a year, Orchestra Seattle performs its “big orchestra” concert at the University of Washington’s Meany Hall. A few years ago, Benjamin Britten’s “War Requiem” was chosen for the concert. Last year, the orchestra was absent from the Meany Hall stage. This season, Orchestra Seattle returned to the University of Washington with a concert of music by Torke, Strauss, and Bartok.

For the first half, Shangrow programmed Michael Torke’s Saxaphone Concerto and Richard Strauss’ “Four Last Songs.” Eleanor Stallcop-Horrox sang the Strauss and Erik Ibsen-Nowak played the Torke as soloists. After the intermission, the orchestra took on Bela Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra.
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Ingrid Fliter Makes Her Seattle Debut Thursday night at Benaroya Hall

By R.M. Campbell

Until pianist Ingrid Fliter was awarded the Gilmore Artist Award four years ago, she was little known beyond the borders of her native Argentina. That coveted prize gave her international press she could not buy and launched her career. Prestigious dates at prestigious halls and with prestigious conductors followed quickly. So did a recording contract with EMI.

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Elisa Barston shines in Mozart “Turkish” Concerto

By Peter A. Klein

Elisa Barston, the Seattle Symphony’s principal second violinist, was the featured soloist in three all-Mozart concerts this past weekend. With everything else going on in town, Benaroya Hall was not full, but still comfortably well-populated on Saturday evening. Those in attendance were treated to some fine playing, with Music Director Gerard Schwarz’ many years as a Mozart conductor informing the proceedings.

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Russian National Orchestra plays glorious concert Wednesday

By R.M. Campbell

The Russian National Orchestra spends a good share of its collective life on the road. Since its founding, in 1990, the ensemble has spurned government funding, perhaps unique in all of Europe, in favor of American style private funding. Inevitably it has an international board that insist on an international profile.

It is not a stranger to Seattle. One of the great virtues of Benaroya Hall has been that there is now time and space for orchestras other than the Seattle Symphony. They are a principal highlight of the SSO season, some orchestras greater than others admittedly, but none is shabby. The Russian National Orchestra is among the best. Led by its founding music director, the pianist Mikhail Pletnev, the ensemble did a mostly Russian program Wednesday night: Tchaikovsky’s “Elegy” and Shostakovich’s Ninth Symphony. The concerto du jour belonged to Dvorak which seems almost Russian because of its long identification with the late Mikhail Rostropovich. The cellist at Benaroya was Russian — a young virtuoso of great talent, Sergey Antonov.

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Barber and Brahms are the program this weekend at Benaroya

R.M. Campbell

There weren’t many people at Bernaroya Hall Thursday night (alas): The music deserved better.

The two highlights were Stefan Jackiw in Barber’s Violin Concerto and Arnold Schoenberg’s orchestral transcription of Brahms’ G Minor Piano Quartet.

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Dynamic Schumann at the SSO

Busoni, Schumann and Strauss was the line-up of composers on this week’s SSO subscription concert. Ferruccio Busoni’s Turandot Suite opened the program followed by Richard Strauss’ youthful Violin Concerto. James Ehnes was the guest soloist. The night closed with Robert Schumann’s 3rd Symphony “Rhenish.” For most of the audience, the pieces chosen — with the exception of Schumann’s symphony — were probably unfamiliar. While unfamiliarity can yield surprises and new discoveries, this wasn’t the case with the recent batch of SSO concerts.

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One from Mozart and one from Mendelssohn

By Gigi Yellen

The CD “Live in the Fiddler’s House,” played in the car as I headed for Benaroya Hall to hear “Reb Itzik” play.

That would be Itzhak Perlman, the wildly famous virtuoso violinist, whose Jan. 28 concert as soloist and conductor was the second in a two-night stand that launched this year’s Seattle Symphony Mainly Mozart Series.

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Violin is featured in Bellevue Phil and Seattle Baroque concerts

Ingrid Matthews

You could say the violin is the foundation of classical music.  There are more violins in the modern symphony orchestra than any other instrument.  String quartets use two of them.  Piano trios depend on the instrument’s singing qualities to balance out the piano.  Concerti for the instrument are some of the most famous pieces in the entire classical cannon.  Soloists – from Isaac Stern to Paganini – have used the instrument to dazzle crowds and gather fame.  While much of the chatter among classical music fans has focused on the Seattle Symphony this month, two concerts – both giving prominence to the violin – deserved more attention than they received.

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