The Golden Age of the Silver Screen (Part II) / Britt Orchestra

Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson, violin and cello
Sara Davis Buechner, piano
Saturday, August 9, 2008 • 8 p.m.

This second night celebrating music of the silver screen opens with music from one of the most attractive of Shostakovich's forty film scores.

Next, legendary husband and wife virtuosos Jaime Laredo (violin) and Sharon Robinson (cello) perform a double concerto written by Miklós Rózsa for Jascha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky. Rózsa spent 55 years of his adult life living in Los Angeles and working as one of the titans of Hollywood's Golden Age. Between 1936 and 1982 he scored over 100 films including Ben Hur, Spellbound, The Lost Weekend, El Cid, Ivanhoe and The Green Berets. He was nominated for 17 Academy Awards and received 3 Oscars. All this was in addition to 45 non-film compositions, one of the most famous of which is tonight's featured work, his Sinfonia Concertante.

Photo by Peter Schaaf

The second half of the concert features guest artist Sara Davis Buechner performing two unusual pieces for piano and orchestra that were written for films. Addinsell's Warsaw Concerto is from a WWII love story and contains a passionate and unforgettable love theme. Concerto Macabre is from a Gothic romance. (The latter has the distinction of being the only piano concerto ever written where the soloist concludes the piece without the accompanying orchestra. The film ends dramatically with the main character accidentally setting fire to his surroundings and then playing this concerto as the fiery ruins crash around him.)

The program finishes with a suite by Franz Waxman (Sunset Boulevard, Peyton Place) from the classic horror film The Bride of Frankenstein.

Pre-concert talk at 7 p.m. by Don Matthews, Director of Classical Programming for Jefferson Public Radio.

Share: