“The Helena Symphony will close their 70th Season with two immortal works of symphonic music, Beethoven’s Emperor and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition,” explains Director of Development & Communications Cameron Betchey. “Whether you have joined us for a Season 70 performance yet or not, this is the one to catch before we take a break for the summer!”
The concert begins with Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition which was a tone poem expressing the emotional impact of touring the Louvre Museum in Paris. “Pictures at an Exhibition, like so much of Mussorgsky’s music, was rarely performed during the composer’s lifetime,” explains Maestro Allan R. Scott. “Mussorgsky’s then radically advanced harmonies and strange melodic twists were scarcely appreciated in his native Russia, and even less so in the West. The work was not published until five years after Mussorgsky’s death, and while it received little attention from pianists for some time, its orchestral possibilities were noticed immediately. Mussorgsky’s piano writing is as picturesque as can be, achieving mystery, frenzy, humor, and grandeur – it is a work that cries out for orchestral color.”
The grand finale of the Symphony orchestra’s seventieth season is Beethoven’s Symphony Number 4, known as the “Emperor”. “Part of Beethoven’s rarely seen sense of humor was a love of creating false expectations,” says Maestro Scott. “The opening of the Symphony is just that – a seemingly heavy, gloomy opening that seems to want to lead to another intense work; yet, the upbeat tempo will convey a light-hearted composition, full of joy. Throughout the movement Beethoven offers musical quirks using displaced accents, and sudden dynamic shifts to convey a light-hearted and lively mood. The traditional slower second movement tends to possess an inner glow with a steady rhythmic pulse and is one of the most beautifully constructed melodies that Beethoven ever wrote.”
Rodolfo Leone, the piano soloist of the evening has been described as a “true sound philosopher. The brilliant young Italian-born pianist, whose career is supported by the Amron-Sutherland Fund for Young Pianists at the Colburn School, was the first-prize winner of the 2017 International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna. He released his debut album on the Austrian label Gramola in May 2018 and “Piano Jewels” featuring works of Muzio Clementi on Naxos in January 2022. Mr. Leone’s recent seasons include a collaboration with James Conlon and LA Opera and debuts with the San Diego Symphony, Pasadena Symphony and Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra. He also performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in Walt Disney Hall under the baton of Xian Zhang.
Don’t miss this spectacular Symphony concert at the Helena Civic Center on Saturday, May 3 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available here.