“BEETHOVEN, BEETHOVEN, BEETHOVEN!” PACIFIC SYMPHONY’S
CAFÉ LUDWIG SERIES DELVES INTO THE COMPOSER’S EARLY CHAMBER MUSIC FOR AN AFTERNOON OF CLASSICS AND TREATS
Ludwig Van Beethoven—the man responsible for bringing chamber music out of the house and into the concert hall—is the composer featured at Pacific Symphony’s next Café Ludwig concert, “Beethoven, Beethoven, Beethoven!”
His early chamber works, all composed before the age of 30, show flashes of his coming revolutionary brilliance. Decorous and charming, the artfully twined melodies highlight the talent of the Symphony’s principal musicians as piano sensation and host Orli Shaham leads Benjamin Lulich (clarinet), Rose Corrigan (bassoon), Keith Popejoy (horn), Concertmaster Raymond Kobler (violin), Robert Becker (viola), Timothy Landauer (cello) and Steve Edelman (bass) in an afternoon of music.
The concert takes place Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011, at 3 p.m., in the Samueli Theater (next to the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall), transformed into an intimate café where patrons enjoy coffee, treats and timeless classics.
With an emphasis on the woodwinds and brass, the program includes Beethoven’s Sonata for Horn and Piano in F Major, Op. 17 and his Clarinet Trio No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 20, “Gassenhauer,” which pays homage to Mozart and Haydn. Then, Shaham steps away from the piano to conduct the horn, clarinet, bassoon and strings in Beethoven’s biggest hit at this stage of his career (composed in 1799), Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20. Tickets are $57 and $73; for more information or to purchase tickets, call (714) 755-5799 or visit http://www.PacificSymphony.org.
“Since Pacific Symphony is undertaking a grand Beethoven festival [in 2010- 11, the Symphony features the composer’s complete cycle of Piano Concertos and his Violin Concerto; I thought it would be interesting for the chamber music concert to highlight a particular instrument type, namely the woodwinds and brass,” says Shaham. “These three unique works all come from an early time in Beethoven’s career.
Nevertheless, they provide nice contrasts to each other because of his virtuosic composition for the different instruments. Each instrument type has its own strengths and weaknesses, physical limitations and incomparable sonic richness, and Beethoven is able to extract the best from each beautifully.
“Beethoven is always a satisfying challenge for the performer,” she continues. “He can be both extremely rigid and structural, but at the same time full of emotion and spontaneity. It’s particularly rewarding in a chamber context to try to get all this out of the music on a small scale, where you are communicating with your fellow musicians in real-time all the time.”
“Beethoven, Beethoven, Beethoven!” features three of a dozen Beethoven works on tap for the 2010-11 season, spread across the orchestra’s various concert series. The same weekend, Pinchas Zukerman both performs and conducts Beethoven’s Violin Concerto Jan. 13-15, at 8 p.m. Then, Arnaldo Cohen performs all five Beethoven Piano Concertos over three concerts with Music Director Carl St.Clair, Feb. 3-5, at 8 p.m. in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.
A consummate musician recognized for her grace, subtlety and vitality, Gilmore Young Artist Award and Avery Fisher Career Grant-winner Shaham has established an impressive international reputation as one of today’s most gifted pianists. Hailed by critics worldwide, Shaham is admired for her interpretations of both standard and modern repertoire.
She has given recitals and performed with top-tier symphonies all across America and Europe, including a recent Proms debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, a debut with the Malaysian Philharmonic, and a special appearance at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Driven by a passion to bring classical music to new audiences, she maintains an active parallel career as a respected broadcaster, music writer and lecturer. Recognized early for her prodigious talents, Shaham received her first scholarship at age 5 to study at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem. By age 7, she traveled to New York, and a year later became a scholarship student at The Juilliard School.
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Jayce Keane
Director of Public Relations
Pacific Symphony
3631 S. Harbor Blvd. Suite 100
Santa Ana, CA 92704
Direct: 714/ 876-2383 │Tickets: 714/ 755-5799
www.PacificSymphony.org
