June 9, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Oregon Public Broadcasting will air an Oregon Symphony Classical concert featuring Music Director Carlos Kalmar leading the orchestra in Strauss’ “Don Quixote” featuring Principal Cellist Nancy Ives and Principal Violist Joël Belgique on Friday, July 7, from 9 to 11 p.m. This broadcast is the seventh of nine OPB broadcasts of classical Oregon Symphony concerts from the 2005-06 season which will air on OPB Radio the first Friday of each month through September 2006.
Cervantes’ classic tale of chivalric heroism is brought to life through Strauss’ musical retelling of “Don Quixote,” an episodic work that brings the passionately unstable Don and his colorful adventures to life. The Don, represented by a solo cello, accompanied by his squire Sancho Panza, a solo viola, battles his way through a world inhabited by menacing evildoers, all the while seeking his unattainable lady love, Dulcinea, in a series of vivid variations. “This is a very difficult work to perform well,” says Kalmar, “but it’s also a really magnificent orchestral showpiece.”
The other two works on the program are also orchestral variations. Britten’s “Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell,” is perhaps better known by its other title, “A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.” This work has become a favorite of audiences of all ages with its colorful writing for each section and its grand closing fugue.
Also featured on the program is the Symphony’s premiere of French composer Henri Dutilleux’s “Métaboles,” written in 1964. Dutilleux’ distinctive writing showcases all the families of the orchestra and each movement segues seamlessly into the next in constantly shifting mood. These performances of Dutilleux’s “Métaboles” were supported in part by a grant from the French-American Fund for Contemporary Music, a program of FACE with major support from SACEM and BMG Music Publishing.
In addition to the concerts, OPB and KBPS are collaborating to bring listeners interviews with musicians and conductors during the performance intermission. All broadcasts will repeat on KBPS in a nine-week series beginning July 17; this concert will air Sunday, Aug. 27, from 7 to 9 p.m. KBPS programs classical music all day, every day at 89.9 FM in the Portland region and 90.1 in the Columbia Gorge. Jefferson Public Radio, serving southwest Oregon and northern California, is also airing the broadcasts in a nine-week series that began June 2; this concert will be heard Friday, July 14, from 10 a.m. to noon.
Oregon Public Broadcasting is a statewide network of community-supported learning resources, including OPB Television, an affiliate of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and OPB Radio, presenting local news coverage and the programs of National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Radio International (PRI). For a list of OPB Radio frequencies, log on to www.opb.org.
For more information, please contact Carol Howard at (503) 977-7751 or carol_howard@opb.org, or visit the Symphony's website at www.orsymphony.org.