Award-winning Russian-American violinist Philippe Quint will lead The Four Seasons, and the symphony’s music director, Carl St.Clair, will lead the Strauss composition.
A preview talk with assistant conductor Roger Kalia will begin at 7pm.
“Overall, this program celebrates Earth’s nature and its deep influence on composers and their music throughout the ages,” said St.Clair. “Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is as permanent and important a part of our orchestral repertoire as the seasons themselves are to our daily lives. This far-reaching concerto has become such a rich staple on concert stages. Along with Handel’s Messiah, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is almost a yearly ‘must.’ ”
Nicknamed il Prete Rosso (“the Red Priest” ) for being a Catholic priest and red-haired, Vivaldi composed 770 works, including 477 concerted works. The Four Seasons has become one of the most favored pieces in classical music for its portrayal of the Earth’s changing seasons, demanding virtuosity for its breakneck pace. Four sonnets were written (possibly by Vivaldi himself) to accompany the piece, which reflected Vivaldi’s intense feelings for life and the transformation the changing seasons had on him. He created the work for solo violin and, in the original score, he wrote descriptions of the most stunning scenes of spring, summer, autumn and winter, each consisting of three highly expressive movements, which Quint will help bring to life for Pacific Symphony’s audiences.
“Philippe Quint is a dear and welcomed guest with our orchestra,” says St.Clair of the acclaimed violinist, who is widely recognized for his classical chops. “I have asked him to come and lead this concerto, without me as conductor on the stage. He is a master at leading musicians in performances of this concerto. This adds to the concerto’s intimacy and imagery. Not all soloists agree to do this concerto in this manner, but Philippe does it masterfully.”
The symphonic tone poem, An Alpine Symphony, premiered more than a century ago and was last performed by Pacific Symphony during the 2011-12 season. Strauss’ work— with its explicit indications of forests, meadows, glaciers and mountain peaks— is his last great symphonic poem, with the whole journey taking place in the span of one day and one night.
“Strauss’s Alpine Symphony, like Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, paints incredible tonal pictures of a journey through God’s natural gift— nature,” says St.Clair. “In a single work, Strauss composes some of his most serenely intimate music, complemented by the sonic power and majesty of the wondrous Alps. Through the genius of Richard Strauss, the orchestra’s sounds might be the only way to adequately describe the magnitude of the darkness before sunrise, the brooks, the glaciers and the acme of these wonders. There is no greater master at tone painting than Strauss.” Â
The piece used one of the largest orchestras ever assembled, especially in the brass department. It had 12 French horns, four Wagner tubas, two sets of timpani, extra trumpets and trombones, a wind machine, a thunder machine and extra woodwinds. He even used a device for the wind section that would allow the players to hold long notes indefinitely without having to breathe. It involved foot pumps and air tubes and other inventions.
Tickets range from $25 to $110. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (714) 755-5799 or visit pacificsymphony.org.
