Concert Program

VALENTINA LISITSA
PIANO

TED HEARNE
Erasure Scherzo

RACHMANINOFF
Piano Concerto No. 2

TCHAIKOVSKY
Symphony No. 5

 

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”Lisitsa is a virtuoso of the first class, seemingly tireless, with fingers and arms of steel.” 
-- Chicago Classical

You can't look much further than the names of Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky for great music! We've stuffed two incredible blockbusters into one amazing concert that will move you with some of the most tender, most compassionate, and most achingly beautiful music ever written. Along with pianist Valentina Lisitsa - a Rachmaninoff specialist whom Chicago Classical called "a virtuoso of the first class"- this concert's a sure hit! Tickets start at just $19 and are sure to go fast. Call 518.465.4755 to order.

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From David Alan Miller -

Our season opens with two of the most beloved orchestral works in the Russian repertoire.  Tchaikovsky wrote his Fifth Symphony following a wildly successful concert tour of Western Europe in 1887.  While abroad, he met all the most celebrated composers of his day.  In Hamburg, the president of the orchestra proclaimed that Tchaikovsky would become the greatest composer of his time…if only he would write in the "German" style.  When he returned home, he set to work on a symphony clearly modeled on Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.  Like the Beethoven, it begins in tragic minor and ends in triumphant major.  The second movement, with its poignant horn melody, is one of the most beautiful movements Tchaikovsky ever penned.  

Sergei Rachmaninoff was a passionate devotee of Tchaikovsky and his music.  After the disastrous premiere of his First Symphony in 1897, Rachmaninoff sunk into a deep depression, refusing to compose, until he was cured in 1800 by hypnosis.  As a result of his successful treatment, he composed the Second Piano Concerto, dedicating it to N. Dahl, his physician.  Like Tchaikovsky's symphony, the second movement of Rachmaninoff's concerto is one of the most beautiful and unforgettable slow movements in the repertoire.  The concert opens with a new work by Ted Hearne, the orchestra's Composer-Educator Partner.

Valentina Lisitsa, our piano soloist, is generously donating her services for this concert.

Click here for the program notes for Erasure Scherzo
Click here for the program notes for Piano Concerto No. 2
Click here for the program notes for Symphony No. 5