jmc's classics
I worked at the coffee concert on Friday October 13. I don't like Friday the 13th. It featured Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture, Aram Khachaturian's Violin concerto and William Walton's Symphony#1. He wrote two symphonies. I have a recording of the Second but not the First. The guest conductor was Markus Stenz who is the conductor of the Dutch Radio Orchestra. He is a German and has conducted several orchestras. The soloist was David Halen who is the concertmaster of the SLSO. A concertmaster is sort of an assistant conductor and is the first violinist.
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) was a Frenchmen and is best known for his Symphony Fantastic (Opus#14) from the same period as the Roman Carnival Overture(Opus#9). The overture dates from 1844. It is a freestanding overture which means that it is not connected to another work. It has some of the same themes as his opera Benvenuto Cellini and has some of the same themes. I don't know anything about this opera. His operas are not as popular today The other two works on the program were from the 20th century Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) and William Walton (1902-1983) were contemporaries.. Khachaturian was born in The former Soviet republic of Georgia to Armenian parents. Georgia is now an independent country and has no connection to the State of Georgia! The country had its name first and is an ancient nation and one of the first nations to adopt Christianity as its official religion. The Armenians were the first nation to make Christianity the official religion. When we think of "Walton" we think of Wal-Mart which I do not like or for those of us who are older the 70's TV show on CBS. The show is still on the re-runs. Actor Richard Thomas was one of the stars of this show. William Walton has no connections to either. The violin concerto was dedicated Russian-Soviet violinist David Oistrakh who premiered it. This work has themes form Armenian folk melodies. it is one of his best known works. His most famous work was his Saber Dance. William Walton was a British composer who was a bridge between the music of Ralph Vaughan-Williams and Benjamin Brittan. He wrote operas including Troilus and Cresseda. His best known work is his Cello Concerto. The final movement has jazz themes in it. This work sounds more modern. I don't have recordings of any of these works so I can't recommend a recording. I am not good at recommending recordings as I have mentioned earlier. overall I enjoyed the concert. The Coffee Concerts have a different crowd than the evening concerts. There are a lot of older people including senior citizens homes. Schools make field trips to these concerts. It is a good bargain if you can get off work!
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