Opening Night with Orion Weiss

Pre-Concert Chat at 5:45 PM Lawn Paver Bar John Stafford Smith The Star-Spangled Banner Gioachino Rossini Overture to La scala di seta (The Silken Staircase) Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15 Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 is actually the second one he composed – scholars speculate that he chose to publish it first in order to knock the socks off his Viennese audience. He almost certainly accomplished that: in 1798, this would have been the biggest concerto ever performed in terms of orchestra size, and the piano cadenza in the first movement alone is incredible. Orion Weiss brings this brilliant, virtuosic, and playful piece to life with the Festival Chamber Orchestra. A miniature masterpiece by Gioacchino Rossini (of Barber of Seville fame) opens the program–the festive overture to his opera The Silken Staircase. Alasdair’s take on the program: While Beethoven’s 3rd, 4th, and 5th piano concertos are performed more frequently, the 1st is no less brilliant; It’s sometimes inventive, sometimes soulful, and frequently witty.