Tonight at the Redlands Bowl! Redlands Symphony Orchestra, violinist Roberto Cani to perform at Redlands Bowl By Betty Tyler, Redlands Daily Facts Symphonic music returns to the Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival tomorrow Aug. 8 in a concert featuring the Redlands Symphony Orchestra and violinist Roberto Cani. Frank Fetta, the festival’s artistic adviser, will conduct the orchestra, a scaled-down, classical-sized contingent of the Redlands Symphony, in the concert themed “Virtuosity Plus.” That classical-sized orchestra is just right not only for the Overture to Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro,” which will open the program, but also for the evening’s other music — Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and Sergei Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony. All three pieces of music use the same orchestration, Fetta said, though they are from three time periods — the Mozart from the classical period of the 18th century, the Mendelssohn from the 19th-century Romantic period and the Prokofiev from the 20th century. The orchestra of Mozart’s era grew during the 19th century with Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner and others writing music for ever-larger groups of musicians. Mendelssohn was an exception to the 19th-century rule. Though he wrote music in the early part of the Romantic era, had more elements of the classical style in his music than did his contemporaries. And Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony should show the Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival audience that scaling back to a smaller orchestra doesn’t mean skimping on music. Fetta described Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony, written during World War I, as very bright and quicksilver. “It belies the fact that it is a smaller classical orchestra,” Fetta said. The first and last movements of the symphony are fast and bright, and the slow movement in the middle is exquisite, Fetta said. It is short for a symphony, lasting about 15 minutes, he said, but it is also the most difficult music for the orchestra in the concert. Mendelssohn’s violin concerto is not that hard for the orchestra, Fetta said, but it is very difficult for the violin soloist, tying into the concert’s theme of “Virtuosity Plus.” Violinist Roberto Cani, according to Fetta, is up to the challenge. “Roberto is such an incredible virtuoso,” Fetta said. “You have to have a tremendous gift of melodic awareness and really quick fingers (to play the Mendelssohn concerto).” Cani, who is from Italy, won the Paganini International Competition in Genoa when he was 21. He has performed throughout Italy and the United States and in other countries around the world. Cani is also concertmaster of the LA Opera, and he has performed in past seasons at the Redlands Bowl, most recently as soloist in Edouard Lalo’s “Symphonie Espagnole” in 2011. The Mendelssohn Violin Concerto is one of three concertos every professional violinist has to play, Fetta said. The other two, the Tchaikovsky and Brahms concertos, have a very big scope, Fetta said. “The Mendelssohn is not so grandiose,” he said, but it is very difficult and much more in the mode of Mozart. “In Mendelssohn, there’s no place to hide,” he said. The second movement of the Mendelssohn concerto “is to die for,” Fetta said, and “the third movement at the right tempo is breathtaking.” The concert begins at 8:15 p.m. at the Redlands Bowl, in Smiley Park between Eureka and Grant streets. Ray Watts is master of ceremonies for the program, and intermission speaker is Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar. There is no admission charge. Freewill donations are collected. For information, visit redlandsbowl.org or call 909-793-7316. redlandsdailyfacts/arts-and-entertainment/20140731/redlands-symphony-orchestra-violinist-roberto-cani-to-perform-at-redlands-bowl
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 17:26:54 +0000