September Song

It's that time of year again when the kids are back in school, walnuts are falling onto the tin roof of my neighbor's garage at all hours, and the KSO is playing the annual Concert in the Park at Ijams Nature Center. This Sunday, Sept. 11 at 5:30, Ijams opens its gates for a benefit for the Center, with Aram Demirjian making his Ijams debut! Special guests for this year's event will be local keyboard rocker Ben Maney, and Electric Darling vocalist Yasameen Hoffman-Shahin. I've had a blast sharing the stage with Yaz and Ben at various times in the recent past in Knoxville's jazz scene, and now they'll have us as the most awesome back-up band. We'll sandwich works by Elgar, Holst, Copland and Rossini around three of Ben's songs, arranged by the righteous Warren Clark.

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New maestro Aram Demirjian will conduct his first Masterworks concert as such next Thursday and Friday at 7:30 at the Tennessee Theatre. Two monumental Russian works will make up the program, but to call this an “all-Russian” program is to discount the universality of each work's appeal.

Sergei Rachmaninoff's statue stands in World's Fair Park, a short walk from the Sunsphere and the Tennessee Amphitheater. I often ride by it on my bike, as it lay on a relatively hill-free route from my house in Parkridge to the Third Creek Greenway. The statue, by Victor Bokarev, could be much more visible; out in the sun, or even on an island in the small lake there. But no, it is tucked away in a shady corner of the park, and it is a fitting location for a tribute to a man who, despite a brilliant performing and composing career, had real issues dealing with the public. In a letter to the poet Marietta Shaginyan, he described his personality to be fraught with “criminal internal timidity.” Well, I assure you there is nothing timid about either his 3rd Piano Concerto, or the playing of our guest pianist, Orion Weiss, who played Rachmaninov's 2nd concerto with us in 2012.

Tchaikovsky, in an 1888 letter to the Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich, complained of some composers using remplissage, or the “padding” of the music with extraneous material, however melodious. He also stated: “I shall go to my grave without having produced anything with really perfect form.” Really, dude?? I have played the Nutcracker Ballet several times annually for the past 30 years, and I can't think of anything in that score that is not formally perfect. The same could be said for the Violin and Piano Concerti. Take his 5th Symphony, which we will perform next Thursday and Friday at the Tennessee Theatre. The 2nd movement, Andante cantabile, has the most gorgeous horn solo ever, and the triumphant finale, which quotes the first movement, will bring you to your feet. 

Come see what's new with the KSO for our 81st season!