Mother's Day with the Finger Lakes Chamber Ensemble at Ithaca's Unitarian Church 5/11 Roberta Crawford speaks with WSKG's Bill Snyder
The Finger Lakes Chamber Ensemble presents
Mother's Day Concert
Special Door Prizes for Mothers!
Sunday, May 11, 4pm
Ithaca Unitarian Church
Ithaca, NY
Reception featuring
Blue Wave Pastry
Gimme Coffee!
Wegmans Deli
Finger Lakes Chamber Ensemble
David Brickman violin
Patricia Sunwoo violin
Roberta Crawford viola
Stefan Reuss cello
Michael Salmirs piano
STRAVINSKY
The Maiden's Dance for Violin and Piano
RACHMANINOFF
Sonata for Cello and Piano
TCHAIKOVSKY
Souvenir de Florence for String Sextet
with guest artists
Melissa Matson viola
John Haines-Eitzen cello
Historically, the "morceau de salon" or "short piece" occupies an important part of a concert violinist's repertoire. The goal of such a work is not to fully explore and develop musical material, but rather to transport the listener momentarily into a unique world of tone, feeling, textures. Stravinsky's Maiden's Dance achieves this with particular success. It is unmistakably Russian in flavor—gentle, exotic, sensual, with the occasional hint of the cossack dance.
In his mid twenties, Rachmaninoff suffered severe critical attacks and experienced a period of deep depression. Regaining his self confidence through hypnosis, he composed his Second Piano Concerto which was premiered to overwhelming acclaim. Riding on this huge wave of success, Rachmaninoff then composed his Cello Sonata which features the same lush melodies, virtuosic piano writing and exuberance of the piano concerto.
Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence is a chamber work of symphonic proportions. Scored for pairs of violins, violas, and cellos the piece is orchestral, not only in size and in the nature of its themes, but also in its texture and sonority. In 1890, Tchaikovsky spent three months in Florence, working intensively on his Opera The Queen of Spades. Although admittedly exhausted from this endeavor, when he completed this project, he plunged directly into work on the string sextet. The beautiful Italianate violin and cello duo of the Adagio, was sketched out while the composer was still in Florence and may account for the work's title. The remainder of the sextet was finished after Tchaikovsky returned to Russia. As one would expect from one of the world's greatest melodists, Souvenir de Florence is positively overflowing with lovely, unforgettable tunes. It has long been a favorite of audiences and we are delighted to present it with our two wonderful guests, Melissa Matson and John Haines-Eitzen.
