Weekend picks: Keyboard Concerts and Fresno State Symphony Orchestra
By Donald Munro
I give a shoutout to two promising musical events at Fresno State in my weekly “Arts Angle” segment on KVPR. Have you been listening these past few months? You can find my current minute-long segment, which airs several times during the day on Thursdays-Saturdays, and past segments on a designated page on the station’s website.
The Fresno State Symphony Orchestra performs 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Concert Hall. Thomas Loewenheim conducts a program of Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture and Elgar’s Symphony No. 1.
And on Sunday, the Philip Lorenz International Keyboard Concerts series welcomes Tchaikovsky Piano Competition silver medalist Angel Stanislav Wang. The 3 p.m. concert is also in the Concert Hall.
More details on the concerts:
FRESNO STATE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: The Academic Festival Overture by Johannes Brahms is playful, featuring a dozen popular tunes including many college songs such as “Gaudeamus igitur” and parts of the Rakoczi March. It was dedicated to the University of Breslau in gratitude for an honorary doctorate awarded Brahms by that institution in 1879.
Edward Elgar’s Symphony No. 1 was described as “the greatest symphony of modern times” by the conductor Hans Richter, who also premiered the symphony in 1908. A grand work that depicts “a wide experience of human life with a great charity (love) and a massive hope in the future,” the work enjoyed wildly enthusiastic responses from audiences and received over 100 performances during the year after its premiere. The symphony has four movements that are all connected with a broad and dignified melody that seems to proceed with ceremonial confidence and nobility, which turns at the end of the work into a victorious triumph and a final affirmation of dignity, compassion, of Elgar’s “massive hope.”
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KEYBOARD CONCERTS: Praised for his expressive depth, commanding technique, and artistic individuality, Angel Stanislav Wang has quickly drawn international attention as a rare and compelling new voice. A captivating performer with a growing global following, he has performed in world-renowned halls including Carnegie Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein, the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, and the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.
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