Details

About This Program

Approximate length 2:00

The remarkable Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra returns with acclaimed pianist Jonathan Biss (who will also direct some works from the keyboard) with new music from its ambitious Beethoven/5 collaboration—a multi-year project to commission new concertos from five composers, each inspired by one of Beethoven's masterworks. Biss and the orchestra perform West Coast premieres of piano concertos by Timo Andres (his Pulitzer-nominated The Blind Banister) and Salvatore Sciarrino, each paired with its companion Beethoven concerto. Also in its West Coast premiere, the SPCO performs George Tsontakis' wistful, elegant O Mikros, O Megas. Beethoven's towering Emperor Concerto provides a rousing finale to the orchestra's weekend residency.

Friday | Feb 9 | 8:00pm

Zellerbach Hall: University of California, Berkeley
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 2
Andres: The Blind Banister (West Coast Premiere)
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4, Italian

Saturday | Feb 10 | 8:00pm

Zellerbach Hall: University of California, Berkeley
Haydn: Symphony No. 49, The Passion
Sciarrino: Il sogno di Stradella (The Dream of Stradella) for Piano and Orchestra (West Coast Premiere)
Ives: The Unanswered Question (1908; rev. 1930–35)
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4

Sunday | Feb 11 | 3:00pm

Zellerbach Hall: University of California, Berkeley
Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin
Tsontakis: O Mikros, O Megas (This Tiny World, This Enormous World) (West Coast Premiere)
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor

Led by SPCO musicians
Jonathan Biss, director and piano
Joshua Weilerstein, conductor

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SPCO concerts are made possible by audience contributions.

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