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Press and News
Peninsula Symphony presents:
Beethoven’s 5th & a Virtuoso Debut
Friday, March 18, San Mateo Performing Arts Center
Sunday, March 19, Flint Center, Cupertino
Concerts begin at 8pm
Pre-Concert Lectures begin at 7pm
February 2011 -- Los Altos, CA:
The Peninsula Symphony will burst into high energy, drama and triumph in March as it continues its season of ‘Great Works in Grand Style’ with Beethoven’s landmark masterpiece, the Fifth Symphony.
The program also includes a virtuoso debut by Francesca dePasquale, First Prize (Marvin T. Tepperman Award) winner of the 2010 Irving M. Klein International String Competition, performing Dvorák’s Violin Concerto in A Minor, as well as composer Joan Tower’s lyrical tribute to her homeland, Made in America.
Performances are on Friday, March 18th at the San Mateo Performing Arts Center and Saturday, March 19th at the Flint Center in Cupertino, both at 8pm. The pre-concert lecture begins at 7pm both evenings. Tickets are $38 General Admission, $32 Senior and $20 Youth/Student.
Seeing and hearing Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony live is a truly thrilling experience, as it still delivers amazing power and passion, even200 years after it was written. “I believe the key to the enduring fascination and love for this masterpiece lies in its canny mix of almost savage muscle with more subtle emotions,” remarks Peninsula Symphony Music Director and Conductor, Mitchell Sardou Klein. The iconic first movement is ablaze with fiery anger, only occasionally relieved with more lyrical material, and after this visceral outburst, the elegant second movement comes as tuneful and serene relief. The third movement, scherzo, alternates moments of suspense with a blaring march and a rowdy dance. Lastly, Beethoven introduces trombones – for the first time in a symphony! – and contrabassoon into the mix of orchestral sounds to create a triumphal march, fusing power and grandeur into a majestic Finale.
The evening includes a performance by the 20-year-old violinist Francesca de Pasquale, First Prize (Marvin T. Tepperman Award) winner of the 2010 Irving M. Klein International String Competition in San Francisco. Francesca, who comes from a legendary string-playing family in Philadelphia, makes her Peninsula Symphony debut with the glorious Dvorák Concerto. Dvorák’s concerto was initially written with the intention of dedicating the piece to Joseph Joachim, a famous Austrian violinist. Ultimately, the piece was not dedicated to Joachim; however, it is still an essential work the violin repertoire.
And the program also includes Joan Tower’s Made in America, a charming and nostalgic piece, and the composer’s salute to this nation, which she gratefully returned to at age 18, after living for nine years in Bolivia. This piece is a perfect complement to the program, as Tower, years later, as a mature and celebrated composer, pays tribute to Beethoven, bringing an element of stress into this music, but ultimately the warmth of strains of “America the Beautiful” emerge and dominate.
The Peninsula Symphony, a 90-member community orchestra led by Music Director and Conductor Mitchell Sardou Klein, celebrates its 60th anniversary of providing unique and first-class music to the Bay Area community. In addition, as part of its “Bridges to Music” outreach programs, the Symphony shares its passion for music by offering programs in schools, providing free or discounted tickets to students and their families, hosting two competitions for students, and presenting a free family concert and outdoor summer concert. This season the Orchestra performs concerts in venues from Cupertino to San Mateo. For tickets or more information visit www.peninsulasymphony.org or call (650) 941-5291.
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