Firebirds, Dolphins & Gypsies
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
Evening Music offers evocations of an exotic “Firebird,” dolphins leaping above sun-tipped glittering Pacific waves, and Hungarian gypsies whirling near a campfire, as well as more usual fare.
Most of us think of Francesco Cilea only as the composer of “Adriana Lecouvreur,” not without reason, as his output was small. But you’ll enjoy his charming Cello Sonata in D as performed by Simca Heled on cello and Jonathan Zak on piano. The featured work this evening is Stravinsky’s ballet, “Firebird,” Pierre Boulez leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Among other substantial works is Beethoven’s Piano Trio in E Minor, performed by the Vienna Piano Trio. Canadian Jim Hiscott says that the third movement of his String Quartet No. 1 evokes a sunset view of the Pacific Ocean: “As the sun descended, the waves became innumerable shifting, sparkling points of reflected golden light, resembling schools of leaping dolphins. . ..” The Hungarian countryside is what is evoked by Zoltan Kodaly’s Sonata for Solo Cello, brilliantly played as we end our evening by Pieter Wispelwey.
Most of us think of Francesco Cilea only as the composer of “Adriana Lecouvreur,” not without reason, as his output was small. But you’ll enjoy his charming Cello Sonata in D as performed by Simca Heled on cello and Jonathan Zak on piano. The featured work this evening is Stravinsky’s ballet, “Firebird,” Pierre Boulez leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Among other substantial works is Beethoven’s Piano Trio in E Minor, performed by the Vienna Piano Trio. Canadian Jim Hiscott says that the third movement of his String Quartet No. 1 evokes a sunset view of the Pacific Ocean: “As the sun descended, the waves became innumerable shifting, sparkling points of reflected golden light, resembling schools of leaping dolphins. . ..” The Hungarian countryside is what is evoked by Zoltan Kodaly’s Sonata for Solo Cello, brilliantly played as we end our evening by Pieter Wispelwey.
