Spring Concert

Tuesday, March 18, 7:30 pm
Community Arts Center, Williamsport

Conducted by Viswa Subbaraman. Mussorsgky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition; Sibelius: Violin Concerto, featuring Guest Artist Gregory Fulkerson; Beethoven: Overture to Leonore #3. Pre-Concert Talk with Dr. Gary Boerckel, 7:00 pm in CAC Capitol Lounge. Sponsor: Pennsylvania College of Technology. Guest Artist Sponsor: Jersey Shore State Bank. Tickets can be ordered at the CAC box office by phone (570-326-2424 / 800-432-9382) or online through the CAC.

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GET THE PICTURE. Art is no mere play, and time is precious,” said Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. Artists have made memorials ranging from statues of generals to the Great Pyramids. Sometimes the most powerful memorials are those which convey personal loss. In 1874, Mussorgsky went to work on Pictures at an Exhibition to perpetuate the memory of his friend, architect and painter Viktor Hartmann. In the process, Mussorgsky made a memorial that transcends the evanescence of life and art.

Pictures at an Exhibition is best known as a symphonic work, but it has been transcribed for cartoons, chamber groups, electronic-techno, heavy metal, jazz, rap, Russian folk band, and solo acoustic instruments. In 1971, the group Emerson, Lake & Palmer had a landmark hit with their progressive rock makeover of the pieces.

Sound clips of Pictures at an Exhibition can be heard here.

THE PAIN OF THE SIBELIUS VIOLIN. Jean Sibelius had a unique orientation: He was a failed violnist. He said it was his "dearest wish, my overriding ambition, to become a great virtuoso." Even in his sleep, he dreamed of being a violin superstar, but circumstances worked against him. It is believed that he wrote the Violin Concerto in D Minor as a "pain reliever" to put closure on his "personal wish," and to project his feelings for the instrument. Here is a clip of the Concerto, performed by Silvia Marcovici with the French National Radio Orchestra.

The WSO will perform the Concerto with acclaimed violinist Gregory Fulkerson. England's Classic FM magazine lauded Fulkerson for his "uncontainable energy and gloriously full-bodied sound...he plays like a man possessed, taking the various technical hurdles in his stride, vividly communicating..." In 1992, he performed the role of "Einstein" in a world tour revival of Philip Glass's landmark Einstein on the Beach, and Fulkerson recorded the work on the Nonesuch label. His recordings of Charles Ives's violin sonatas (on the Bridge record label) have become the standard version of those works.

Maestro Viswa Subbaraman will conduct the Spring Concert. His guest appearance is also part of the WSO's Conductor Search (which ends in May). The critically acclaimed conductor has been described as "sensitive" and "confident...getting particularly refined and elegant playing from the orchestra" (Baltimore Sun). He was recently awarded the Herbert von Karajan Conducting Fellowship, and he is presently the Assistant Conductor of the Orchestre National de France, assisting Kurt Masur and visiting guest conductors such as Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Muti, and Sir Colin Davis.

The WSO Spring Concert will also include Beethoven’s Overture to Leonore #3. For more details on our program, read our Symphony Notes newsletter.