CONCERT PROGRAM

Heitor Villa-Lobos: Preludio from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1
Richard Strauss: Romanze
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Cello Concerto
Richard Strauss: Don Quixote

What’s better than one cello? More cellos.

Beloved for its rich sound and warm tone, the cello takes centre stage in this celebration of the instrument. In the culminating concert of the International Cello Festival of Canada, three renowned soloists perform with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in a program illuminating the cello’s many sounds, colours, and characters.

Denise Djokovic brings her “arrestingly beautiful tone colour” (The Strad) to the youthful Richard Strauss’ Romanze.

A pivotal figure in Hollywood’s lush Germanic sound of the 1930s and 40s, Erich Korngold’s Cello Concerto draws on music previously composed for the silver screen — with cellist Bryan Cheng as the leading man.

To close the concert, Alban Gerhardt takes on the title role in another Richard Strauss work — the stirring tone poem Don Quixote.

Plus, a “mass cello” number to begin the evening — Bachianas brasileiras No. 1 by Villa-Lobos.

Like we said… more cellos.

This concert is dedicated to Rita Menzies, who gave so much to Winnipeg’s arts community, specifically the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Agassiz Music, and the WSO.