Subscription Concert — February 9, 2019

Concert at: 8 p.m.
Pre-concert lecture at 7 p.m.

• Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tsar' Departure and Farewell, Op. 57
• Johannes Brahms: Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102
    Miranda Liu, violin and Jonah Kim, cello
• Igor Stravinsky: Funeral Song
  
• Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements

Our blockbuster February 9 concert has TWO main attractions. One is the first ever teaming up of two musical titans: Miranda Liu, who recently performed the Britten and Bartok violin concertos with us, and Jonah Kim, who premiered Michael Daugherty's Tales of Hemingway and melted hearts with Elgar's Cello Concerto at our concerts—performing Brahms' Concerto for Violin and Cello.

As if this weren't enough, we are exploring the teacher/pupil connection from Rimsky-Korsakov to Stravinsky. The former's The Tsar's Departure and Farewell is a late brilliant work of the revered composer, which will open the program. Rimsky's death soon after was commemorated in Funeral Song, a long-missing early work (written before The Firebird propelled Igor Stravinsky to international fame) that was only recently rediscovered and played for the second time over 100 years after its 1908 premiere. This work has not even been recorded yet; hear it here first!

Stravinsky's chameleon-like style evolved quite a bit from the Rimsky/Debussy melange of Firebird, from Petrushka and The Rite of Spring, through many decades of changes. By 1945, many considered the 63-year-old composer something of a has-been when he introduced the Symphony in Three Movements, but listeners were stunned by the composer's return to a style reminiscent of The Rite, with propulsive rhythms and scorching dissonances along with a new, jazzy element. An equal to the earlier masterpieces, this work will be performed by Redwood Symphony after having recorded it for a future CD release.

Redwood Advantage: Children under 18 admitted free!
Online sales end noon before the concert.