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Program Notes and Meet Marina Galstyan
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Program Notes
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Rossini: Galop from "William Tell Overture"
They say you can tell a true classical music lover by seeing if she/he can hear the overture to Rossini's "William Tell" without thinking of the Lone Ranger. Too many listeners think that this overture consists of only this section, marked "galop" in the original score, not knowing that it is preceded by the Dawn, Storm, and Calm sections, each a little tone poem of great beauty. The galop shows up again late in the opera as Tell leads the Swiss rebels against the enemy forces. It is an excellent choice to open a concert.
There is a story, probably spurious, that a critic in the 19th century, when asked to name the greatest Swiss composer, answered "Rossini." Many might agree.
Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra in C minor"
The two major works being played today are both by Russian composers and both are in the same key.
The second movement of the "Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra in C minor" by Sergei Rachmaninoff invariably calls to mind the once popular song based on it, "Full moon and empty arms." The concerto was first heard in Russia, with the composer as soloist, in 1902, and in America in 1905. One might say it has never stopped being played since then.
It is interesting to note that this most beautiful work was composed after the composer suffered two years of depression because of the cold reception his earlier works had received!
The first movement starts with eight chords, each individually colored. The piano, as one critic points out, is not an antagonist with the orchestra but a partner in their exploration of the possibilities of the themes in each movement. (Some interpret "concerto" to mean "contest" and others to mean "partnership." Rachmaninoff seems to take the second point of view.)
The famous theme of the second movement is subjected to a typical Rachmaninoff use of rhythms, whereby the original ones seem to be absorbed by newer ones. There are many virtuoso passages for the soloist in the cadenza, and the movement ends in a serene coda.
The second theme in the third movement harkens back to the first theme of the first movement. The concerto as a whole ends with some eccentric rhythms that seem just right to sum up what has gone before.
Still, one also goes out humming that gorgeous theme from the second movement, with or without the Tin Pan Alley lyrics.
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 2 in C minor, "Little Russian"
When Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Symphony No. 2 in C minor" was first heard in 1873, it was dubbed "Little Russian" by music critic Nicholas Kashkin and the name stuck. The public loved it, but the composer was not happy with it and revised the first two movements drastically in 1879. The Keene Chamber Orchestra is offering the version familiar to concert goers since then.
This symphony is for the most part based on Malo-Russian melodies familiar to the original audience. The first movement contains a Ukrainian theme at the start and then a folk melody called "Down by Mother Volga." For the second movement, Tchaikovsky drew a happy little wedding march from one of his earlier operas that was never produced, "Undine." One writer finds that the rest of that movement and all of the third sounds like a Russian "Midsummer Night's Dream" with its woodland-sprites atmosphere.
Keene Chamber Orchestra conductor Eric Stumacher finds striking similarities between the second movement and the spirit, sound, and character of Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker."
Another folk tune, "The Crane," is heard at the start of the last (unrevised) movement, which builds up to a tremendous climax, almost in anticipation of the sylvan first movement of Mahler's first symphony.
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Meet Marina Galstyan
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Marina Galstyan, a native of Armenia, is a piano student of Eric Stumacher and one of two academic year 2007-08 Keene State College Playing for Peace Scholars. Marina has performed extensively as soloist and chamber musician throughout Armenia, in Russia, and in various European locales. She is a two-time recipient of the Apple Hill Armenian Playing for Peace Scholarship. KCO is honored to have her perform as piano soloist in the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2. Marina's year at Keene State College has included her unexpected acquisition of gourmet cooking skills.
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Last Modified: Jan 28, 09:18
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