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! :)
During the concert preview with Alan Chapman, Rune mentioned that it was actually family time this week. However, he made a promise with his wife last year, that he can be excused on three events. When he's called by the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, or Pacific Symphony!
So this is actually Rune's second time with the symphony. He was also here last November. He was joking how it was nice that the South Coast Plaza set up the Christmas tree for him each time. :)
This is the first time I saw him, and he is a very energetic conductor! Dancing around and jumping, the visuals were awesome, too. He can also pronounce "Szczecin Philharmonic", which got him the job as music director after one rehearsal. :)
We went to the final summer concert of the Pacific Symphony on Saturday. This has become a family tradition to end summer with canons and fireworks.
Unfortunately, the Pacific Amphitheater does not have lawn seating, so we decided to let the kids have a sleepover at a friends home.
Music director Carl St.Clair conducted with pianist Yekwon Sunwoo.
Dmitri Shostakovich: “Galop” from Moscow, Cheryomushki
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 2 in C Minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 18 Moderato
Sergei Prokofiev: March in B-flat, Op. 99
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Overture Fantasy from Romeo and Juliet
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture Op. 49, TH 49
Yekwon Sunwoo was this year's Van Cliburn International Piano Competition gold medalist. You can sample his piano on Amazon. :)
The canons were placed at the top of the amphitheater.
I think they launched the fireworks from the parking lot, but I couldn't see where. They came up on the left-hand side, facing the stage. To get the best view, the right side seating would be the best. That will be sections 1, 7, and 8.
Went to see the Pacific Symphony's summer concert last night. It was an amazing experience! I always love the movie nights at the symphony. :)
It was the full 1993 movie by Steven Spielberg, based on the novel by Michael Crichton.
Pop concert conductor Richard Kaufman conducted the orchestra in real time, while the movie showed on the screen.
This was the first time we went to the new summer venue, the Pacific Amphitheatre at the OC Fair & Event Center. The first impression was, "hey, I don't have to walk that much from the parking area!" :)
They do have a picnic area that you can access from the back of the amphitheater, but you have to go through security check when you come back in. So it's a good idea to start heading back 30 minutes before the concert begins.
One drawback is that they do not have a lawn seating section. Our kids loved the Irvine Meadows lawn. They could run, roll down the hill, and they had a great time using up their energy before the concert began. I'm not sure how they're going to like the new place, but we're thinking of trying it out for the Tchaikovsky Spectacular concert n September 9th.
