Sunday, November 10, 2024

As we continue the PSO’s centennial celebration, this program brings to our attention the brilliant principal players of the orchestra. 

Variaciones concertantes by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983) was written at a time when the composer’s conflict with the Perón régime caused him great hardship. Friends in other parts of the world commissioned works from him to help ease his financial straits. Of this work, the composer wrote, “These variations have a subjective Argentine character. Instead of using folkloristic material, I try to achieve an Argentine atmosphere through the employment of my own thematic and rhythmic elements.” Each variation features one instrument in a long and difficult, usually lightly accompanied, solo passage. The work’s alternating serenity and vitality belie the hardships in the composer’s life at the time of writing.

Richard Strauss wrote 2 horn concertos, one near the beginning of his long career and the other near the end of it. He knew whereof he wrote: his father Franz was principal horn at the Bavarian Court Opera in Munich for over 40 years. The first concerto, heard today, is the one most often played. It is a wonderful showpiece for the horn as it was loved in 19^th century Germany: soaring melodies alternate with heroic utterances and fleet passagework. PSO Principal Horn Lauren Winter makes her first solo appearance with the orchestra at this concert.

Finally, we come to the unalloyed delight of Mendelssohn’s youthful and exuberant “Italian” Symphony. Mark Rohr’s more extensive note follows with factual information. Yes, this is a challenge and a showpiece for the whole orchestra, but more than that it is an embodiment of joy: the joy of exploring a new country and of dabbling in its history and culture, but most of all the joy of being alive.

– Martin Webster