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Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival season closes with
Symphony Concert
The Redlands Bowl Summer Festival Symphony Concert will “Light Up the Sky” with the final event of the season on Friday, August 26. Literally. To the sparkles and brilliant glow of fireworks above the Prosellis, the Redlands Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of conductor Frank Fetta, will perform Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.”
The orchestra will light up the stage, figuratively, with two other works: the premiere of “Fanfare for Orchestra 2010” by Pacific Palisades composer Dwight Stone, and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in Bb minor.
Stone composed the Fanfare in 1987, inspired by Richard Strauss’ “Also sprach Zarathustra,” commonly known as the theme music for “2001 Space Odyssey.”
“I thought sometime in the future, people will want to hear a 2001 plus 1,” Stone said in a recent telephone interview.
He describes the brief work as tonal with harmonic diversity that keeps the listener involved, yet is accessible on first listening.
Tchaikovsky’s concerto, composed in 1874 for soloist Nikolai Rubinstein, was at first rejected by Rubinstein. Tchaikovsky offered it to German conductor and pianist Hans von Bulow who hailed the work as “lofty, strong, and original.” Bulow took it on the performance tour, eventually performing in America where, “At every performance, Bulow was obliged to repeat the entire finale,” according to music historian Frederic Grunfeld.
From its majestic opening to its blazing finale, the work demands exceptional virtuosity from soloist Xin Xin. Born in Beijing and immigrating to Canada at age 13, Xin has been acclaimed in critical reviews and has been featured in radio and television broadcasts throughout Canada, China, and the United States.
Xin’s concert schedule has taken him to the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra, Peninsula Symphony Orchestra, Marina del Rey Music Festival Orchestra, American Youth Symphony, and the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, among many others, and he has won competitions including the National Concerto Competition, the USC Concerto Competition, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra Showcase Competition, and the Edith Knox Performance Competition.
Mussorgsky composed “Pictures at an Exhibition” as a piano work of musical representation of 10 pictures at a memorial exhibition for Russian artist Victor Hartmann. The work, arranged for full orchestra by many composers, including Ravel, whose work will be performed at this concert, features 15 movements, including “The Gnome,” “The Old Castle,” “Tuileries,” “Bydlo” (Polish farm cart), “Unhatched chickens,” “Samuel Goldenberg and Shmuyle,” “Market-place at Limoges,” “Catacombs,” “Baba-yaga” (The Hut on Fowl’s Legs), and “The Great Gate of Kiev,” all linked together with a stately musical “promenade.”
“This is one of the great examples of Ravel’s orchestration,” said Fetta in a recent telephone interview. “It’s a wonderful combination of Russian thinking and French orchestration.”
The program begins at 8:15 p.m. Like all Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival performances, this event is free of charge, and a free-will offering will be collected at intermission.
The ushers will be representatives of the Kiwanis Club of Redlands. The intermission speaker will be Marsha Gebara, president of the Redlands Community Music Association, Inc.
The Redlands Bowl is located on Eureka Street just south of Brookside Avenue in Redlands. For information and directions, call (909) 793-7316 or visit the Web site at www.redlandsbowl.org.
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