Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Overture to L’Amant anonyme
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Concert-Rondo for Piano & Orchestra
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini

Today, we call them remixes. In popular music, artists take existing songs and add a different beat, change the key or adjust the speed to create something new. In the classical music world, composers did the same but called them variations or works “based on a theme.”

Renowned concert pianist Lukáš Vondráček returns to Winnipeg after wowing audiences in the spring of 2022 with his interpretation of Antonín Dvořák’s piano concerto. This time the former prodigy takes on Mozart’s Concert-Rondo for Piano & Orchestra—a set of variations written when the composer was just 17 and trying to make a name for himself in Vienna. A delightful work, these variations are the perfect introduction to another meatier remix. Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of (Niccolo) Paganini is one of the most celebrated violin virtuosos of his time. No doubt, Vondráček will once again cause the WSO audience to leap to their feet.

The evening begins with the overture to L’Amant anonyme, or the Anonymous Lover, written by THE most fascinating man in Classical music, Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Champion swordsman, virtuosic violinist, and successful composer, the French-Caribbean composer’s life was made for the big screen. The night’s orchestral finale comes compliments of Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky and his symphonic interpretation of the tragic tale of Francesca da Rimini, a beauty immortalized in Dante’s Divine Comedy.

CONCERT PROGRAM

Pre-Concert Performance

To be selected from:

Gabrielli (arr. G. Page): Canzon per Sonare no. 4
Ewald: Brass Quintet No. 1
Mozart (arr. C. Seipp): Alleluia
arr. Brandon Ridenour: La La Land for Brass Quintet

University of Manitoba Brass Quintet

EXPERIENCE THURSDAY CLASSICS