August 2009 Symphony Season - Program 2
Thursday, August 6, 2009 -
Beethoven's Piano Concerti & Ballet I
Lilya Zilberstein, piano
Victor Yampolsky, conductor
Copland: Quiet City
Beethoven: Piano Concerto #3
Lilya Zilberstein, piano
Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man
Copland: Billy the Kid Ballet
This is the first of three Thursday programs comprising a "mini-series" featuring Beethoven's Piano Concerti and ballet music. In each case, the Beethoven concerto is "sandwiched" between pieces by another composer, one of which is ballet music. In this program, Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto is surrounded by music of Aaron Copland ending with the ballet Billy the Kid.
The concert opens with Copland's atmospheric invocation of New York City at night featuring beautiful solos for English Horn played by Rogene Russell and Trumpet by Terry Everson. Lilya Zilberstein, our soloist in the opening concert Brahms Piano Concerto #1 returns to perform the Beethoven Piano Concerto #3. (the 4th and 5th will be performed the next two Thursdays by other soloists) The concert concludes with Copland's popular Fanfare for the Common Man followed by the ballet Billy the Kid. In contrast to the portrait of a large city portrayed in Quiet City, Billy the Kid evokes the wide open spaces of the west. Copland skillfully pioneered the ability to evoke empty space, which has been widely imitated by others. But it is not all empty space. There are scenes of drama and action, including a gun fight.
Copland's Quiet City was last performed at the Festival in 1992, Billy the Kid in 1997, and Beethoven's Piano Concerto #3 with soloist Anton Nel in 1988.
See and hear Peninsula Music Festival Music Director Victor Yampolsky and Associate Conductor Stephen Alltop discuss this program along with some unique musical and historical insights via this link.
Program Notes for this concert
This concert is sponsored by Prilla & Tony Beadell in memory of Marcia Larsen