A Classical Cornucopia on November 17

We just finished our Opening Night concert last Saturday, and already, the November previews are coming in.

The California Chronicle previews our November 17 concert.

PASADENA, Calif. Jorge Mester, longtime Music Director of The Pasadena Symphony and an avid amateur chef, has often likened programming a concert to planning a menu. As the Thanksgiving season approaches, the orchestra will present a cornucopia of works to please all musical palates.

The concert will open with Enesco’s Romanian Rhapsody No. 1, inspired by folk tunes from the composer’s native country of Romania. Following is Ravel’s Concerto for Piano, which opens with the literal crack of a whip and, from that moment on, snaps and sparkles with echoes from Bach to the jazz age. Brahms’ lush and lyrical last symphony, Symphony No. 4, considered by many to be his ultimate achievement, will conclude the evening’s performance.

Joining The Pasadena Symphony for Ravel’s Concerto for Piano is the internationally renowned pianist Rueibin Chen. Hailed by the Swiss daily newspaper, Neue Zurcher Zeitung, as “one of those geniuses who comes along once every twenty years,” Chen has appeared worldwide as a soloist with such orchestras as the National Polish Radio Symphony, the Budapest Symphony, the Prague Symphony, the Moscow State Symphony, the Shanghai Symphony, the Taipei Symphony, the London Chamber Symphony and the Utah Symphony, among many others. He was also the designated soloist commemorating the 75th Anniversary of Turkey in 1998.

The full article is here.