Lotsa Latin, Plus Food on the Musical Menu
Kristjan Järvi
(photo by Peter Rigaud)
|
The Cincinnati
Symphony Orchestra leads off at 8 p.m. Oct. 2 and 3 with an all-Latin American
program led by Estonian guest conductor Kristjan Järvi.
Guest artist in Argentine composer Astor
Piazzolla's Concerto for Bandoneon, "Aconcagua" is Dutch master Carel
Kraayenhof.
Created in Germany, a bandoneon is a
concertina (named for its inventor Heinrich Band), a relative of the accordion
played with buttons instead of keys. It
was brought to Argentina in the late 19th century and grew popular along with
the tango.
One of its greatest exponents was Piazzolla who
has done for the tango what Johann Strauss Jr. did for the waltz.
Also on the program are Four Dances from Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera's “gaucho” ballet "Estancia" and Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas' "La Noche de los Mayas" ("Night of the Mayas") based on his music for a 1939 film. All three works are CSO premieres.
If all that doesn't sound international, it
should.
For a preview of Piazzolla’s Concerto (named
for 22,842-foot Mt. Aconcagua in the Andes, the highest mountain outside Asia,)
see them in rehearsal on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0yrE-jaPgg
Tickets are $10-$95, 25% off for seniors
(week of the concert) at (513) 381-3300, in person at the CSO box office in
Music Hall, or visit www.cincinnatisymphony.org Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
weekdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and two hours before performances. There’ll be tango dancers and strolling
violin in the lobby before the concerts and a “Classical Conversation” at 7
p.m. in the Music Hall auditorium both nights.
The CSO is not the only group to “go Latin”
this week.
concert:nova, Cincinnati’s boundary-busting
chamber group made up of members of the CSO and Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra,
has a Latin program in store for its first concert of the season at 5:30 p.m.
Oct. 4 at the Contemporary Arts Center.
Music of Brazil, Argentina and Spain will be
heard, and there will be dancers from Tango del Barrio (a Cincinnati club
devoted to Argentine tango), bandoneonist/dancer Ben Bogart, guitarist Richard
Goering and soprano Ellen Weiser.
There will be an after party at Nada following
the concert. Concert admission is $20 at
the door or at Brown Paper Tickets, www.brownpapertickets.com/event/83183. The after party, including a Nada drink and
hors d’oeuvres, is $20 at the restaurant or at www.opentable.com
There is food on the musical menu,
too, with the debut of Jean-Robert de Cavel’s “Moveable Feast” dinners in the
Critics Club at Music Hall.
The
noted master chef will serve up dinners-by-the-bite (including dessert and
coffee) with students from the Midwest Culinary Institute in the Critics Club
at Music Hall preceding all CSO Friday night concerts this season, beginning
October 2.
The cost is $50 per person (concert tickets
are extra). Gratuity is included and a
cash bar is available. Reservations and payment
must be made in advance.
Doors open at 6 p.m.
Other “Moveable Feast” dates are Oct. 9,
Nov. 20, Dec. 4, Jan. 15, Jan. 22, Feb. 12, Feb. 19, March 12, April 16 and
April 30.
Net proceeds will benefit the Midwest
Culinary Institute Scholarship Fund.
For information and reservations, call (513)
381-3300.
Get two J.R.’s for one at the Kentucky
Symphony Orchestra’s annual benefit at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 4 at the Riverview 360
Restaurant in Covington.
That’s J.R. for Jean-Robert and J.R. for
James R. Cassidy, music director of the KSO.
The event includes a five-course gourmet menu with wine pairings
composed and prepared by Jean-Robert and dinner music by the KSO’s Flood Wall
Jazz Quintet.
Cocktails will be served at 5:30, dinner at
6:30. The cost is $175 per person. Responses were requested by September 30, but
late reservations may be accepted at (859) 431-6216 or on-line at www.kyso.org. Proceeds help support the KSO’s free
education and park programs.
The KSO season opens at 8 p.m. Oct. 16 and
17 in the new theater at Notre Dame Academy, 1699 Hilton Dr. in Covington. Joining Cassidy and the orchestra are a
clutch of sopranos, Heather Buck (coloratura), Audrey Luna (lyric), Emily Pulley
(lyric and Stacey Rishoi (mezzo-soprano).
The program, entitled “The Sopranos,” consists of opera and music theater excerpts by
Puccini, Verdi, Richard Strauss, Bernstein and others.
Cassidy will conduct.
After 17 years, the KSO has moved from its performance home in Greaves Hall at Northern Kentucky University, and is exploring new venues. Concerts this season will also be held at Florence Baptist Church at Mt. Zion, 642 Mt. Zion Rd. in Florence; the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington; and Highlands High School, 2400 Memorial Parkway in Fort Thomas.
The 2009-2010 Kentucky Symphony Orchestra season
Oct. 16, 17. Notre Dame Academy. “The
Sopranos.” Heather Buck, Audrey Luna and Emily Pulley, soprano. Stacey Rishoi, mezzo-soprano. Opera and music
theater excerpts by Verdi, Mozart, Donizetti, Puccini, Strauss, Gounod, Lehar,
Bernstein, Richard Rodgers and others. Cassidy,
conductor.
Nov. 21, Florence Baptist Church at Mt.
Zion. Nov. 22. Cathedral Basilica of the
Assumption.
Jan. 9. Highlands High School.
March 26, 27. Highlands High School. Ragtime,
Dixieland, Stride and Early Jazz. Newport Ragtime Band. Cassidy.
May 14, 15. Notre Dame Academy. Sixty Years
of Cartoon Clips and Scores. Music by Carl Stallings (“Looney Tunes”), Scott
Bradley (“Tom and Jerry”), Richard Stone (“Animaniacs”). Discussion by
musicologist/cartoon music authority Daniel Goldmark. Cassidy.
All concerts are at 8 p.m. except Nov. 22
and Jan. 10, which are at 3 p.m.
Subscriptions are $50-$115 (five Saturdays
or three Fridays and two Sundays) and $60-$155 (six vouchers used in any
combination). Single tickets are $28 and
$23, with discounts for seniors and students.
Call (859) 431-6216 or visit www.kyso.org.