Casual Classics: New Night, New Home

Dec 5, 2007

For Immediate Release

Contact: ANNIE MATLOW (509) 326-3136

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPOKANE — The Spokane Symphony plays musical portrayals of nature for its first concert in the Casual Classics Series, now in the fabulously restored Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox on Friday evenings. Maestro Eckart Preu will conduct the orchestra and shares anecdotes about the music on Friday, Dec. 14 at 8 p.m. The concert will feature guest artist, Joshua Roman, principal cellist of the Seattle Symphony.
Joshua Roman, the youngest principle player in the history of the Seattle Symphony, displays a confident virtuosity that belies his youth. Melinda Bargreen of the Seattle Times has described his heart-stopping beauty big, succulent tone and impassioned style. The Seattle Post-Intelligence noted that Roman played with ease and confidence, the sound relaxed and singing, the phrasing shapely, the tone well projected seemingly without effort. In addition to performing with a number of symphonies and chamber orchestras, Roman has also worked with several rock bands—his cello can be heard on MTV and radio stations nationwide. He is keenly aware of music's power to communicate across borders and cultures: along with his two brothers and sister, he formed a quartet that performed for thousands of schoolchildren in Uganda, playing in hospitals, camps and refugee centers in Kampala and Gulu. The irrepressible enthusiasm of the audiences—the overwhelming majority of whom had never before heard the sounds of classical music— encouraged Roman to make this the first of many such tours.

Italian composer Ottorino Respighi is best known for his colorful use of the orchestra to create tone poems, including the Roman Trilogy (the symphony performed Pines of Rome at The Fox Grand Opening Gala). Frequently, Respighi drew inspiration from older sources, and Gli Uccelli (The Birds) is one such piece. Published in 1927, Gli Uccelli was based on baroque pieces imitating the songs of birds. These include The Cuckoo, based on work by Bernado Pasquini (1637-1710), The Dove, after Jacques de Gallot, written around 1670, The Hen, after Jean-Phillipe Rameau (1683-1764), and The Nightingale, based on music by an unknown English 17th century composer. An enchanting musical diversion, Gli Uccelli has become one of Respighi's most popular works.
Dmitri Kabalevsky wrote many compositions designed to encourage young musicians, including his Concerto No. 1 in G minor for Cello and Orchestra, which was dedicated to the young Russian cellist Svyatoslav Knushevitsky. Completed in 1949, the concerto consists of two movements of fluent, melodious movements framing a soulful eulogy in to the millions of Soviets who fell during World War II.
The concert concludes with Beethoven's Symphony No. 6, commonly known as the Pastoral. One of the most beloved of all Beethoven's symphonies, the Pastoral reveals the composer's love of nature and the simple people. Extremely innovative in its time, the symphony uses the orchestra to paint a variety of country scenes with wit and humor and surprising effects. It features the sounds of the countryside, including a country dance to bagpipes by a bubbling brook with the birdsong cadenza for solo woodwinds, and a dramatic thunderstorm with shockingly dissonant chords.

Tickets are $17, $19, $24, and $28. Tickets are available in advance at the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox Box Office, 1001 W. Sprague, or by calling 509-624-1200. Tickets are also available at all TicketsWest outlets or by calling 1-800-325-SEAT, or on line at www.spokanesymphony.org
This concert has underwritten by Potlatch Corporation and by Banner Bank.

CALENDAR LISTING:
Nature's Musical Canvas Casual Classics Concert 1; Eckart Preu conducts the Spokane Symphony, Joshua Roman, cello; Dec. 14 at 8:00 p.m. in the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox. Tickets are $17 to $28; call the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox Box Office, 1001 W. Sprague, at (509) 624-1200; tickets are also available through all TicketsWest outlets or by calling 325-SEAT or 1-800-325-SEAT.