TCHAIKOVSKY’S SUBLIME VIOLIN CONCERTO, HEART-POUNDING “1812” OVERTURE (WITH CANNONS AND FIREWORKS) AND MORE
MAKE PACIFIC SYMPHONY’S ANNUAL CONCERT “SPECTACULAR”
Led by Music Director Carl St.Clair, “Tchaikovsky Spectacular” is Symphony’s third “Tweetcert,” featuring program notes/tidbits sent to cell phones in real time
Orange County, Calif.—An evening of favorite Tchaikovsky masterpieces, a little Mozart and all the drama of the “1812” Overture with cannons and fireworks highlight this year’s annual “Tchaikovsky Spectacular” at Pacific Symphony’s Summer Festival 2012, sponsored by Hoag. Led by Music Director Carl St.Clair, the concert features young violin prodigy Chad Hoopes performing Tchaikovsky’s demanding and exquisite Violin Concerto, with all of its soothing beauty and graceful melodies. At only 18, Hoopes (who plays the 1713 Antonio Stradivari) performs with “an inspiring blend of emotional expression, technical ease and engaging showmanship way beyond his years…” (Press Democrat). The concert takes place Saturday, Aug. 25, at 8 p.m., at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine.
For the Symphony’s third “Tweetcert,” audience members are encouraged to turn on their cell phones! Those with access to Twitter or text messaging may view tweet-size tidbits of information about the music and the featured artists in real time. Follow the Symphony on Twitter at twitter.com/PacificSymphony and respond to the tweets using #PSSummer.
Individual tickets are $25 (lawn) to $99 (orchestra); kids under 14 are half price in
most sections with the purchase of an adult ticket. Members of the military get in free all season! Guests are welcome to picnic on the grounds of the amphitheater starting at 6 p.m. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (714) 755-5799 or visit PacificSymphony.org.
“Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto is one of those great works one never tires of,” says Maestro St.Clair. “It is—and will always remain—a beloved favorite of the repertoire. In his letters, Tchaikovsky talks about how the sun begins to shine again as he is writing this concerto, and how happy he is with the outcome of this great work. He writes that there is a lot of freshness, lightness and beautifully harmonized melodies…the last movement is very jubilant and ends with a virtuosic flair.”
The concert opens with the Overture to Mozart’s opera, “Don Giovanni” and also includes a movement from one of the world’s most famous ballets, Tchaikovsky’s Waltz from “Swan Lake”; a musical retelling of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers in the “Romeo and Juliet” Fantasy Overture; and Preghiera from “Mozartiana,” an affectionate tribute to Mozart, written for the 100th anniversary of “Don Giovanni.”
“On the surface it might seem that Mozart, a Classical composer, and Tchaikovsky, the ultimate Romantic, would be an uncommon pairing,” says St.Clair. “However, at the age of 17, Tchaikovsky had the chance to hear Mozart’s opera, ‘Don Giovanni,’ and in the composer’s words, ‘it came as a sheer revelation. It is impossible for me to describe the enthusiasm, the ecstasy, the intoxication which I was seized by. Among the great masters, Mozart is the one to whom I feel most attracted; it has been so ever since that day and it will always be like that.’”
It’s interesting to note that while it took several weeks for Mozart to compose the opera, “Don Giovanni,” it took him a single evening to compose the overture. The story goes that someone had asked Mozart about the overture close to the premiere, to which he replied that he had completely forgotten to compose one. So, the night before the premiere, in a state of drunkenness, he composed the dramatic, captivating overture.
“Only a genius like Mozart could have done something like this,” says St.Clair. “Factual or not, it is still one of the all time great overtures in the repertoire. So before experiencing the music of our beloved Tchaikovsky, I wanted our audience to have the same experience and get to hear Mozart’s Overture to ‘Don Giovanni.’ Of course, doing a portion of Tchaikovsky’s suite, ‘Mozartiana,’ is a flattering link between these two great master composers. “
St.Clair adds: “And what is more reflective of a great summer concert than the ‘1812’ Overture, complete with fireworks, cannons, bells and a multitude of brass gloriously signaling the victor? It’s a thrill for everyone, even all of us on the stage.”
For this uplifting and triumphant battle plan for orchestra, the concert’s memorable finale, the Symphony is joined by members of the Huntington Beach Concert Band (which is also providing pre-concert entertainment), the Symphony’s board of directors chair, Sally Anderson, playing percussion, along with 16 cannon blasts and synchronized fireworks.
American violinist Hoopes, born in 1994, has been appearing with numerous ensembles throughout the world since he won the first prize at the Young Artists Division of the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition. His exceptional talent and tone are acclaimed by critics worldwide. During the 2011-12 season, he was the third artist-in-residence in the history of the Classical Minnesota Public Radio. His virtuosity and exuberant personality have been featured on the CBS Early Show, NBC affiliate station WKYC (Cleveland), NPR station WCLV in Ohio, ABC affiliate station KSTP Twin Cities Live and on PBS’s From the Top: Live at Carnegie Hall.
This concert is sponsored by American Airlines. Summer Festival 2012 is presented by Hoag with support from The Orange County Register. The festival receives additional support from American Airlines, The Westin South Coast Plaza, Vizio, KUSC, PBS SoCal, K-EARTH and KPCC.
Jayce Keane
Director of Public Relations
