Music from the Baroque period will come vibrantly to life Saturday evening at the Arts Centre as the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra presents ‘A Concert for all Seasons’.
The performance begins at 8 p.m.
Highlights include Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons performed by Canadian violin virtuoso Marc Destrube, founding director of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra.
“Vivaldi, himself a violinist of high caliber, often wrote concerti for multiple instruments including several for multiple violins. But here, the use of the single violin is most appropriate as it can act as a sort of narrator, or commentator on the unfolding story,” notes Claude Lapalme, RDSO music director.
“Despite the use of a single soloist, the score sometimes asks for help from other solo violins, such as the tweeting birds from the opening solo of the set, and makes virtuosic demands from the cello as well.”
Destrube has certainly built an impressive resume over the course of his career.
He has given annual classes at international academies in Mateus (Portugal), Oberlin College and Vancouver. Fluent in English, French, German and Dutch, he has also taught at the Paris, Moscow and Utrecht Conservatoires, Indiana University, Oberlin College, the MacPhail School in Minneapolis and the University of Victoria and has presented children’s concerts at the Cité de la Musique in Paris.
The evening will also open with Bach’s Suite No. 3 in D Major, followed by his Brandenburg Concerto No. 2. Both pieces will feature Richard Scholz on trumpet. Scholz is the newly appointed principal trumpet with the RDSO.
He has been performing with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra since 1995, most recently as assistant principal trumpet.
Scholz has also played with the Regina Symphony Orchestra, Lethbridge Symphony and the Calgary Bach Society Orchestra. He is currently a member of Altius Brass and the Bow Valley Brass Quintet.
As to the Suite No. 3 in D Major, Lapalme notes the piece was likely composed in 1731 and “was not at all the kind of music Bach normally wrote; it is lighter fare than his other instrumental music and was typical of the all-purpose, ‘Frenchified’ form of entertainment which was in demand amongst 18th century European royals.”
Meanwhile, the RDSO’s Horn of Plenty fundraising raffle prize will be drawn at Saturday’s concert. A $4,000 cash prize is up for grabs, and there are still a few tickets left. Call the RDSO office at 403-340-2948 for more information.
For concert ticket information, call Ticketmaster at 403-340-4455 or check out www.ticketmaster.ca.
mweber@reddeerexpress.com
