Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Double-header Weekend

This weekend brings a duet of concerts that showcases two completely opposite hemispheres of the KSO’s musical world– the smooth jazz extravaganza of trumpeter Chris Botti on Saturday night, and a generous helping of Baroque string music on Sunday afternoon.

Saturday night at 8:00, jazz trumpet star Chris Botti will join the KSO Pops at 8:00 at the Civic Auditorium. His Youtube performances of When I Fall in Love, Time to Say Goodbye and The Look of Love are classy and moving. Mr. Botti will play three more shows in the states and one in Mexico City before touring Australia later in the spring.

Sunday afternoon at 2:30, the Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra will present works of Purcell, Vivaldi, Bach, Handel and Heinrich Biber at the Bijou Theatre. While the bulk of this concert’s repertoire explores a variety of Baroque counterpoint styles, a special feature will be Biber’s Battalia. Dating from 1673, the best way to describe this piece is as Charles Ives entertaining Louis XIV. Special effects not used again until the Bartok era are called for, such as snap pizzicato and the use of paper under the bass strings to create a snare drum effect. You can also hear Vivaldi at his most “emo” in his Sinfonia al Santo Sepulcro, a beautiful gem of baroque “passion music.”

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