Folklore and Myth

Our April Masterworks concert pair will be a treat for the ears, with classics by Chopin and Ravel, and lesser known works by Bizet and Osvaldo Golijov. Chopin's E Minor Piano Concerto will feature pianist Adam Golka, returning to Knoxville after his performance of Rachmaninov's 3rd Concerto in 2009.

Golijov is an Argentinian composer of Romanian descent who melds two seemingly disparate musical genres-- klezmer and tango-- into one unique style. His music has been championed by Yoyo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, and a chamber arrangement of this particular work can be found on the SRE's New Impossibilities CD. Two short movements from Bizet's underappreciated opera The Pearl Fishers will usher in the Golijov work in a seamless tableau.

Back in February of 2007, we performed the complete Daphnis and Chloe ballet score (from which this week's Suite is pulled) under the baton of Lucas Richman. It's a lengthy, quirky work, close to an hour long, but when we arrived at the familiar part, (where the 2nd Suite begins) there was such a chill going up my backbone-- like when you see a spectacular sight that you haven't seen since you were a child. This week, the chills will be instantaneous, as the 2nd Suite begins with Ravel's rich depiction of a sunrise over the isle of Lesbos, from where the story originates. Wind players labor for years over the gently bubbling riffs that open the Suite, and the surges of dynamic power recall Esther Williams' synchronized swimming film extravaganzas from the '40s and '50s. Stravinsky called it “one of the most beautiful products in all of French music,” and you, too will be amazed that something so vigorous could also be so beautiful.
   
Thursday & Friday performances begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Tennessee Theatre; tickets here. Facebook event here.
                  
                      

APRIL JEWELS

It's April, and for some people that means only one thing-- golf's Masters Tournament, taking place down in Georgia right now. On Saturday, the 8th, KSO audiences will be treated to the work of a Fiddle Master-- Nova Scotian performer Natalie MacMaster! In addition to the electrifying fiddle work, Ms MacMaster can dance the jig and strathspey like nobody's business. You will be amazed at what a large catalog of songs stems from Canada's Cape Breton tradition, and by the ensemble's dazzling precision. That's Saturday night at 8 at the Civic Auditorium. Be aware that there will be a Knoxville Ice Bears game on the other side of the building, so maybe allowing a little extra time to park will be a good strategy.

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Is it already time for another Q Series concert?? Time flies when you're having fun, I guess. We are happy to provide you all with a smile-inducing smorgasbord of chamber music on Wednesday the 12th at the Square Room. The principal String Quartet is going to divide and conquer, with two duos filling out our half. Violinist Gordon Tsai and violist Katie Gawne will present the Handel-Halvorsen Passacaglia, while violinist Edward Pulgar and I will render for your approval Ravel's 1922 Sonata for Violin and Cello. The Woodwind Quintet will close the show with Endre Szervánsky's Wind Quintet No. 1 from 1953.

When you say “Handel-Halvorsen,” every string player's eyes light up and you can tell you've struck a chord (lol). The Passacaglia starts with a theme written by Handel, then a deftly written series of variations on that theme follows, written by Norwegian composer Johan Halvorsen. Why we don't just call this the Halvorsen “Variations on a Theme by Handel” is beyond me; it would save so much explanation. Both it and the Ravel that follows are virtuoso works that have tremendous effect. This is not the Ravel of the Mother Goose Suite and Bolero, but an entirely different animal. Look for two amusing tunes in it; the first in the wacky 2nd movement which, I believe, inspired the Armor Hot Dogs jingle from the mid-'60s, and in its last movement, one that predicts the J Geils Band's song Centerfold (you know, with the whistling outro... I think it's a strathspey...). Although the Szervánsky quintet is the most recently composed work on the program, you will find it's accessibility pleasantly surprising.

Spring String Thing with Oboe Bling

Music of three centuries will be performed at the Bijou Theatre, Sunday April 2 at 2:30.  Resident Conductor James Fellenbaum will direct a pleasing program of Chamber Classics standards, with principal oboist Claire Chenette soloing in Mozart's Oboe Concerto.  Respighi's soothing Ancient Airs and Dances and Tchaikovsky's robust Serenade for Strings round out the program.

Claire has been principal oboist with us since 2014, coming from Iowa via LA.  It came as a pleasant surprise to me that she had settled here in the summer of 2014 just a couple blocks from our house. The coincidences were only beginning to appear, though, as I soon learned that her father, Jonathan Chenette, was the acting president of Vassar College, where my younger son Richard is currently a senior!  When he was home on break, Richard was walking the dog and noticed a car with a Vassar sticker on it.  “That's Claire's car,” I told him.  Jonathan is a composer whose music has been performed by the KSO's Principal Woodwind Quintet.  He was formerly on the faculty of Grinnell College in Iowa.  There he was a fellow faculty member with Mark Dorr, who is also the personnel manager of the Des Moines Metro Opera where I (and several other present and past KSO members) have spent many summers.  The Dorrs and the Chenettes were good buddies when Claire was growing up in Grinnell.

Respighi's neo-Renaissance music has a timeless sound that belies its 1932 composition date, and differs greatly from the grandiose tone poems he is known for, such as “The Pines of Rome.”  Based on compositions by 16th- and 17th-century composers Besard, Roncalli, Garsi da Palma and some anonymous composers, this folio of airs and dances is unique among the three such suites in that it is the only one composed for strings only.  Tchaikovsky's Serenade is also (obviously) for strings only, so please join us for the KSO's Spring String Thing!  Just be advised that due to the Knoxville Marathon, Gay St. will be closed off to vehicles Sunday morning.  I'm not sure when it will reopen, but do look out for and respect those runners who are bringing up the rear.  As usual, there will be a shuttle bus to carry concertgoers from the State St. Garage to the Bijou, starting an hour before the concert and returning to the garage up to an hour afterwords.