Document text
- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels November 18, 2004 The sweet sounds of Tchaikovsky's Fifth The Rogue Valley Symphony Orchestra led by Arthur Shaw, will perform one of the best loved symphonies ever, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in three performances this weekend in Southern Oregon. The first performance is at 8 p.m. on Friday, in Ashland at the SOU Music Recital Hall. The second performance is at 8 p.m. on Saturday, in Medford at the Ginger Rogers Craterian Theater and the last performance is at 3 p.m. on Sunday, in Grants Pass at the GPHS Performing Arts Center. The program also includes Todd Barton's Cymbeline Suite and Harpist Laura Zaerr performing Henriette Reni�'s Concerto for Harp and Orchestra. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's (1840-1893) symphonies are spread throughout his career, managing to capture the range of human emotions from exuberant youth to the passionate wisdom of age. Tchaikovsky's himself wrote, "At the moment of composing, when I am aglow with emotion, it flashes across my mind that all who will hear my music will experience some reflection of what I am feeling myself." Written with the Fourth and Sixth between the years of 1878 and 1893, his Fifth Symphony is the most relaxed and optimistic of the trilogy. Composed at his country house at Grovolske in the summer of 1888 it is written with a unique and original conception of symphonic form. Symphony No. 5 opens with a theme first heard on clarinets that transforms from a march in the first movement to a waltz in the third movement surrounding an Andante cantabile, which Tchaikovsky aptly expressed as "con desiderio e passione, with desire and passion". The last movement is a grandiose statement of a transformed theme and a brilliant coda for full orchestra, forever placing Symphony No. 5 as one of the greatest symphonic favorites in the Western world. Harpist Laura Zaerr has performed with the Rogue Valley Symphony for many years. She began playing the harp at the age of 10, studied with Sally Maxwell at the University of Oregon, and took her master's degree in harp performance at the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Eileen Malone. In 1981-1982 she continued her harp studies in Paris with Bertille Fournier. Locally, she has appeared as part of the Abbey Bach Festival and the OSU Winter Music Festival. Aside from her solo work, Zaerr is a member of the Portland based Oregon Renaissance Band as well as the Celtic band Village Green based in Corvallis. Zaerr is currently on faculty at the University of Oregon in Eugene. Todd Barton's Cymbeline Suite II is only a small part of his four decades of interest in music and the arts. As Resident Composer and Music Director for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival since 1969, he has composed music for the entire canon of Shakespeare's plays twice, as well as music for more than one hundred classical and contemporary theatrical productions. Cymbeline Suite II began life as the soundtrack for the 1998 OSF production of Cymbeline, where audiences heard a recording made by the Rogue Valley Symphony. In 1999, Conductor Cynthia Hutton asked for a suite that her Youth Symphony of Southern Oregon could perform. Several years later, came Cymbeline Suite II. In it, Barton says, "some sections have been extended and/or re-orchestrated to take advantage of the Rogue Valley Symphony's forces. The overall structure has remained intact. A fanfare from the original recording sessions has been added to the beginning of the piece and substantially extended. Of particular interest is the free-form canonic section that appears about two-thirds of the way into the Suite." The play tells a tale chock full of Shakespearean complications, brimming with star-crossed lovers, betrayals, and disguised identities. Barton explains, "Though all of the main themes of the characters appear here in nearly chronological order, the piece stands on its own musical feet." To enrich your concert experience, plan to attend the pre-concert talk one hour before each performance. For details on this performance and upcoming events, please visit our Web site at www.rvsymphony.org. Call the Rogue Valley Symphony Box Office at 541-552-6398 to reserve your seat. Ticket information Ashland: $39 premium, $32 general reserved, and $5 student. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams