From symphonies to opera to modern Japanese music, the fall music season offers something for everyone.
Riverside Symphonia
Riverside Symphonia opens its 2006-2007 season with a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major, featuring virtuoso violinist Lara St. John, Oct. 26 and 27 at the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Lambertville.
Ms. St. John and music director Mariusz Smolij will hold a pre-concert lecture at 7:15 p.m. and a champagne reception will follow the concert at the Robert Beck Studio on Bridge Street, Lambertville. Ms. St. John has been described as "something of a phenomenon" by Strad Magazine and a "high powered soloist" by The New York Times.<</i>br>
The Los Angeles Times has written, "St. John brings to the stage personal charisma, unflagging musical imagination and genuine passion." Ms. St. John was born in Canada and has performed as a soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, Boston Pops and the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra of Budapest, among many others.
Ms. St. John has performed frequently in China and Japan and toured Australia in the summer of 2006. Her debut CD, Bach: Works for Violin Solo, sold more than 35,000 copies and received resounding acclaim. The Chicago Tribune described Ms. St. John as having "superb technique and an irresistible vitality" while U.S. News and World Report called the recording an "exquisite performance."
The concert will begin with Rimsky-Korsakov’s overture The Tsar’s Bride, followed by Ms. St. John’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major. During the second half of the evening, the orchestra will present Symphony No. 1 in G minor by Kalinnikov, a contemporary of Tchaikovsky. Kalinnikov’s Symphony No. 1, with its melodic themes, interweaving parts and rich texture, established him as one of the great talented Russian composers. Mr. Smolij will conduct the evening’s program.
The Riverside Symphonia will perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major at the Church of St. John the Evangelist, 44 Bridge St., Lambertville, Oct. 26-27, 8 p.m. Tickets cost $15-$35 and are available at Dresswells, Bridge Street, Lambertville; Phillips Fine Wine, Bridge Street, Stockton; Weidel Realty, York Road, New Hope, Pa., and Siren Records, Doylestown, Pa. For information, call (609) 397-7300. On the Web: www.riversidesymphonia.org
Princeton Pro Musica
Princeton Pro Musica will perform The Grandeur of Opera in Richardson Auditorium, Princeton, Oct. 29. The program includes selected overtures, arias and choruses from Bizet, Verdi and Wagner.
Music Director Frances Fowler Slade will lead the 100-voice Princeton Pro Musica Chorus and Orchestra in arias and ensembles from Bizet’s Carmen and works by Verdi. The second half of the program features selections from Wagner’s Der Fliegender Holländer, Lohengrin and Die Meistersinger.
Mezzo soprano Sonia Gariaeff, soprano Veronica Mitina and bass Richard Ziebarth make up the trio of soloists. Ms. Gariaeff has received critical acclaim for her vocal opulence and theatrical poise, with roles at the Eugene Opera, the San Francisco Opera Center and Union Avenue Opera Theater (St. Louis, Mo.). She is the winner of numerous awards, including grand prize in the Carmel Music Society Vocal Competition, and twice national grand finalist in the Loren L. Zachary Competition.
Ms. Mitina is making a name for herself in the lyric and spinto soprano repertoires. Born in Russia, she is also an accomplished concert pianist. In the United States, she has performed with the Sarasota Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Des Moines Metro Opera and Opera North. She made her American concert debut in the Verdi Requiem with Boston Pro Musica. Mr. Ziebarth has gained attention for the warm timbre of his large voice and for his expressiveness. His opera performances have included the Opera Theatre of Lucca (Italy), the Palm Beach Opera, Chautauqua Opera and Sarasota Opera.
Princeton Pro Musica will perform The Grandeur of Opera at Richardson Auditorium, Princeton University, Oct. 29, 4 p.m. Pre-concert lecture with Mark Miller, program annotator for Princeton Pro Musica and Princeton Symphony Orchestra, will take place at 3 p.m. Tickets cost $38-$45. For information, call (609) 683-5122. On the Web: www.princetonpromusica.org
Princeton Symphony Orchestra
The Princeton Symphony Orchestra will open its 2006-2007 season Oct. 22, and welcomes the return of PSO audience favorite, Russian piano virtuoso Vladimir Ovchinnikov, performing Variations on a Nursery Song by Ernst Dohnanyi. Music director Mark Laycock has selected a rich and enormously satisfying orchestral program to round out the afternoon’s musical pleasures, including Richard Strauss’ virtuosic showpiece Don Juan and Brahms’ immortal 4th Symphony. The concert will take place at Richardson Auditorium on the Princeton University campus.
Strauss’ Don Juan draws on a range of orchestra colors to depict the title character in dramatic scenes from his infamous conquests to his ultimate reckoning. The exhilarating opening flourish grabs the listener’s attention, and does not let up until the final moments of the piece, as Don Juan’s life ebbs away in the swelling and diminishing tremolos of the strings. After a final last gasp in the violas, Don Juan meets his demise.
Hungarian composer Ernst Dohnanyi is best known for his Variations on a Nursery Song, a delightful and witty composition based on the French nursery song, "Ah, Vous Diraije, Maman," or "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Following a dramatic introduction, the well-known melody is simply stated, in its entirety, by the piano. From there the composer crafts 11 masterful variations, filled with musical references to both Brahms and Strauss, and ending with a fugue. Piano soloist Mr. Ovchinnikov is sure to delight young and old with a ravishing performance of this charming but astonishingly difficult piano concertante.
The 4th Symphony of Brahms closes the afternoon’s performance with romance and grace. Brahms’ final symphony is reflective, powerful and fulfilling and has remained an audience favorite since its premiere in 1885. The work integrates medieval church modes, Baroque variations, classical sonata forms and romantic passion.
Princeton Symphony Orchestra will present Ernst Dohnanyi’s Variations on a Nursery Song, Richard Strauss’ Don Juan and Brahms’ 4th Symphony at Richardson Auditorium, Princeton University, Oct. 22, 4 p.m. Tickets cost $15-$60. A pre-concert lecture with musicologist Gene De Lisa will take place at 3 p.m. For information, call (609) 258-5000. For series subscriptions, call (609) 497-0020. On the Web: www.princeton.edu/utickets
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study’s 2006-2007 concert series, Recent Pasts, explores a variety of aesthetic perspectives in Western art music of the 20th and early 21st centuries. This year is the final season of the four-year series, which is sponsored by the Institute’s Artist-in-Residence program, curated by Jon Magnussen.
Opening this year’s season will be A Gate into Infinity: Music from a Modern Japan, featuring the FLUX Quartet with guest pianist Stephen Gosling, Oct. 20 and 21 in Wolfensohn Hall on the Institute campus. The concert will feature the works of Somei Satoh, Toru Takemitsu, Toshio Hosokawa and Toshiro Mayuzumi.
Two other events are associated with the concert "Japan in the World: Somei Satoh speaks with Jon Magnussen" will be held Oct. 20, 4 p.m., in the Dilworth Room, and members of FLUX Quartet will join Mr. Magnussen in a pre-concert conversation about the music on the program, Oct. 21 at 6:30 p.m. in Wolfensohn Hall.
The Institute for Advanced Study will present A Gate into Infinity: Music from a Modern Japan at Wolfensohn Hall on the campus of the Institute for Advanced Study, Einstein Drive, Princeton, Oct. 20-21, 8 p.m. Free tickets; must be reserved in advance. For information, call (609) 734-8228. On the Web: www.ias.edu/air
Princeton University Orchestra
The Princeton University Orchestra, under the direction of Michael Pratt, will open its season with performances of three favorite 19th-century works Oct. 19 to 21 at Richardson Auditorium. These are the Edward T. Cone Memorial Concerts, honoring the longtime Princeton Music Department faculty member and philanthropist.
Mr. Pratt has selected works of Beethoven, Hector Berlioz and Antonin Dvorak. The program opens with Beethoven’s Cariolan Overture. "The hero is the same Roman general of Shakespeare’s play, but Beethoven composed the overture to go with a contemporary treatment of the story by Heinrich Joseph von Collin. But the hallmark heroic struggle and lyrical beauty is pure Beethoven," says Mr. Pratt.
Three scenes from Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet will follow. After intermission, the Orchestra will perform one of the most popular works in the symphonic canon, Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8. "All the glowing warmth of the Czech countryside and its people," Mr. Pratt says. "Dvorak was the master of the symphonic song."
Princeton University Orchestra will perform the Overture to Beethoven’s Coriolan, three scenes from Hector Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet, and Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8 in G major at Richardson Auditorium, Princeton University, Oct. 19-21, 8 p.m. Tickets cost $18, $15 seniors, $5 students. For tickets and information, call (609) 258-5000. On the Web: www.puorchestra.org

