Guest conductor Michael Francis conducted with violinist Ray Chen.
Ludwig van Beethoven: Concerto in D Major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 61
Edward Elgar: Symphony No. 1 in A-flat Major, Op. 55
I loved the Beethoven concerto. It is always refreshing to hear a non-Kreisler cadenza played. :)
In addition to the 1st and 3rd movement cadenzas, Ray Chen inserted a transition piece between the 2nd and 3rd. For an encore, he treated us with Paganini's Caprice No. 21. The replay on KUSC is definitely something I will be looking forward to! :)
There was lots of fun in the pre-concert lecture as well! Alan Chapman interviewed the star guests, and here are some fun facts I found out.
Michael brought the rain to California last week! He told the orchestra, if you do an English piece with an English conductor, you're getting English weather. :)
He also reminded us that Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance was not composed for US graduation ceremonies.
Ray, at 28 years old, has more concerts with first-time conductors. He's starting round 2's and 3's with orchestras, though.
He talked about his pre-concert ritual, a count-down before entering the stage. Being a young performer, Ray still gets nervous, and this helps him get a psychological advantage.
He was coming down with a cold or something, but his performance was awesome! :)
