In summer, the Kansas City Symphony appears with its Chief Conductor Matthias Pintscher. The orchestra brings with it one of the most popular works by their compatriot Aaron Copland, along with two symphonic works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninov.
In his ballet score »Appalachian Spring«, Copland reflects on the origins of the European settlers in the United States. At its center is a newly married couple in Pennsylvania and a joyful celebration featuring square dance and fiddle music. The violin sounds very different in Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s famous Violin Concerto. The composer poured his most intimate feelings into its deeply moving melodies, which will be brought to life this evening by the renowned violinist Gil Shaham on his Stradivarius.
Sergei Rachmaninov, one of the last great composers of the late Romantic era, was one of Tchaikovsky’s favorite pupils and does full justice to his teacher with his gift for melody. His Symphony No. 3 is likewise an example of expressive music that speaks so directly to the heart that the composer himself regarded it as one of his finest works.
PERFORMERS
Kansas City Symphony orchestra
Gil Shaham violin
Matthias Pintscher conductor
PROGRAM
Aaron Copland
Appalachian Spring
Piotr I. Tschaikowsky
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, Op. 35
- Interval -
Sergej Rachmaninow
Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 44
