ESO opens season with pianist Dinara Klinton
The Elgin Symphony Orchestra's 2017-18 season will open this weekend when music director Andrew Grams welcomes pianist Dinara Klinton to the Hemmens Cultural Center stage as soloist for Tchaikovsky's Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, one of the cornerstones of the romantic classical literature.
The concerts are at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. The all-Tchaikovsky program will open with that composer's rarely heard Suite No. 3 for Orchestra, in its ESO premiere.
When Grams heard Klinton perform the Tchaikovsky First in the finals of the 2016 Cleveland International Piano Competition, he knew right away she was a perfect choice for the opening of the ESO's 67th season.
"She played the concerto with the Cleveland Orchestra. She was the last of the three finalists to play, and afterward I turned to a colleague and said 'I want her as soloist with the ESO.' She has all the pyrotechnics, all the sensitivity of touch, and she has a musical sensibility that jibes with me. I think we feel music in a similar way."
Grams will conduct his usual seven concert weekends, with the season concluding on May 5-6, 2018, with performances of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor, along with a suite from Leonard Bernstein's operetta based on Voltaire's "Candide."
"We have made a conscious decision to start programming from the point of view of individual events, rather than trying to put together an overall season theme," Grams said. "This season feels to me like each program exists solely on its own but with great variety and balance."
In addition to Ukraine native Klinton, Grams and the orchestra will collaborate with guest soloists Thomas Mesa, who will play Sir Edward Elgar's famous Cello Concerto in the March 24-25, 2018, concerts; and violinist Bella Hristova, a native of Bulgaria, who will play Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 the first weekend of January.
On Nov. 4-5, he will conduct the Beethoven Seventh Symphony, along with music from Aaron Copland's film score for Thornton Wilder's "Our Town," and American composer Philip Glass' Saxophone Concerto with soloist Amy Dickson.
Grams will continue his Friday evening "Inside the Music" programs, which he started last season. On Nov. 3, he and the ESO will explore the context and structure of the aforementioned Beethoven Seventh Symphony, and on March 23 they will delve into the creation and musical nuances of Edward Elgar's "Enigma" Variations for Orchestra (featured in the March 24-25 concerts). Both programs will include Grams' discussion of the music (along with projected visuals and orchestral excerpts) in the first half, with a complete performance of the work following intermission.
Grams will visit the pops literature on Jan 27-28, 2018, when he conducts music by John Williams written for the films of Steven Spielberg. Included will be pieces from "Jaws," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," the "Indiana Jones" films and "Jurassic Park," among others. Grams' other program will be an all-choral affair on the weekend of Feb. 10-11, holding the Mozart Requiem Mass and Antonio Vivaldi's "Gloria," featuring the Elgin Master Chorale.
Guest conductor Edwin Outwater will lead the ESO's concerts of March 3-4, 2018, with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 (featuring soloist William Wolfram) paired with Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 12. ESO resident conductor Stephen Squires will be on the podium for the concerts of Oct. 6-8 (the Friday performance in Schaumburg), titled "I Love a Piano," with soloists Rich Ridenour and his son, Brandon Ridenour, as trumpet soloist. Squires will also conduct the annual holiday concerts on Dec. 9-10, joined by the Elgin Master Chorale.
Tickets for this weekend's concerts start at $30, and can be purchased by calling (847) 888-4000, or at elginsymphony.org. The website also offers a printable one-page season schedule with details on concert dates and artists.