The Simon Sinfonietta performs tonight at Falmouth Academy, the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra and the Falmouth Chamber Players Orchestra perform next weekend, and the Boston Cello Quartet returns to Falmouth on September 30. It is a great month for classical music!
Simon Sinfonietta, under the direction of Stephen Simon,will perform its first concert of the season on Saturday, September 15, at 7:30 PM at Falmouth Academy, 7 Highfield Drive, in Falmouth. Pianist Donna Kwon is the featured soloist. A former member of the Claremont Trio, she will perform Camille Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in g minor. A pianist himself, Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) premiered the concerto in 1938.
Also on the program is Mozart’s Symphony No. 36 in C Major, also known as The Linz. Mozart (1756-1791) had stopped in the Austrian city of Linz during a trip from Salzburg back home to Vienna, and was asked by the local court to perform a concert four days hence. He composed Symphony No. 36 for the occasion. It is considered the finest he had written up until that point.
In addition, the orchestra will perform “Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes by C. M. von Weber” by German-born composer Paul Hindemith (1895-1963). Von Weber (1786-1826) was an important composer of the Romantic period. The work was originally envisioned as a ballet.
Tickets are $40, $10 for students. Patron tickets are $135 for two seats, and season tickets (four concerts) are $140 per person. Tickets are available at www.simonsinfonietta.org or by phone 508-457-9696.
Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Jung-Ho Pak, presents “Gallery of Greats” on Saturday, September 22, at 8 PM and Sunday, September 23, at 3 PM. The season opener features pianist Adam Neiman and the Chatham Chorale. The concert is described as a multi-sensory event, with visuals, light, and sound. (Strobe lighting effects will be used.)
Considered one of the top pianists of his generation, Adam Neiman will perform his own composition, “Visions,” as well as Modest Moussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” which will be followed by Ravel’s orchestral arrangement of the same piece.
In Stephen Paulus’ “Voices from the Gallery,” the audience will hear the music, see the pictures, and hear what people in several masterpieces might be thinking. The work is narrated by Erica Horn.
“Prometheus: Poems of Fire,” composed more than a century ago by Alex Scriabin will be a “symphony of light and sound.” The orchestra has teamed up with a scholar (musicologist Anna Gawby) and an award-winning lighting designer (Justin Townsend) to produce the multi-sensory piece the composer envisioned. The piece also features an unusual “instrument” called a luce, played by Andre Redwood, and the Chatham Chorale, directed by Joseph Marchio.
Tickets are $27 to $66 and may be purchased at capesymphony.org.
Falmouth Chamber Players Orchestra presents an afternoon of small ensemble music on Sunday, September 23, at 3 PM, at Cape Cod Conservatory, 60 Highfield Drive, in Falmouth.
Select members and friends of the orchestra, coached by artistic director John Yankee, will perform a variety of works, including “Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano” by Claude Bolling with Lorrie Hassan on flute, Fritz Sonnichsen on piano, and Beth Giuffrida on double bass. Todd Beckham, newly appointed St. Barnabas music director at St. Barnabas, will perform the Froberger Suite on harpsichord
There will also be a string quartet by Haydn; a Mozart divertimento; and works by Bach, Corelli, Peter Schickele, Liszt, Schumann, Telemann and more.
Performers include Diane Aittaniemi, clarinet; Karen Bellerose, violin; Henry Duckham, clarinet; Joyce GIndra, oboe; Beth Giuffrida, double bass; Marv Grosslein, violin; Lorrie Hassan, flute; Melanie Hayn, oboe; Molly Johnston, viola da gamba; Elizabeth Kushigian, cello; Dick Payne, flute; David Prentiss, bassoon; Carol Rizzoli, violin; Bob Sanderson, bass clarinet; Fritz Sonnichsen, piano, harpsichord, and viola; and Laura Sonnichsen, violin.
Parents are encouraged to bring their children to enjoy these short classical and jazz pieces.
A donation of $15 for adults and $5 for children/students is suggested. For more information, call Fritz Sonnichsen at 508-274-2632, email FCPO@FalmouthChamberPlayers.org, or visit www.FalmouthChamberPlayers.org.
Boston Cello Quartet will perform on Sunday, September 30, at 4 PM, at Lillie Auditorium 7 MBL Street in Woods Hole.
The Boston Cello Quartet was founded in January 2010 by four cellists of the Boston Symphony Orchestra: Blaise Dejardin, Adam Esbensen, Mihail Jojatu and Alexandre Lecarme. Their wide repertoire ranges from classical music to jazz, tango, contemporary works, and comic medleys.
Their performance in Woods Hole last year was one of the highlights of the musical season.
Program
Verdi: Overture to La Forza del Destino
Strauss: Roses from the South, Waltz
Bach: Sheep May Safely Graze
Mussorgsky: 4 Movements from “Pictures at an Exhibition”
Dvorak: Humoresque
Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumble-bee
pause
Gimenez: Intermedio from La Boda de Luis Alonso
Debussy: Clair de Lune
Hoshii: Waltz of the Black Ants
Anderson: Fiddle Faddle
Dejardin: The Wolfgang Variations
Tickets are $20 general admission and available at Eight Cousins Bookstore in Falmouth, the MBL Communications Office, Candle House, 2nd Floor, in Woods Hole, and at the door. For more information, visit bostoncelloquartet.com.
For information call 508-289-7423.
Notes on The Arts 