During last year’s North State Symphony performance of Mahler’s “Resurrection,” I sat in the second row at the Cascade Theatre and experienced something amazing.
From that close I could see — and almost feel — every nuance of the musicians on stage. The wave of what they were projecting hit me so instantaneously. By the time the “Resurrection” hit its climatic moment, I was in tears.
The experience seems so valuable to me now. It felt like I had shared a special moment along the musical journey of all these brilliant instrumentalists and vocalists.
A new opportunity to experience such an event happens on Saturday night at the Cascade in Redding. The North State Symphony kicks off its eighth season as a combined regional orchestra with a performance titled “A Star Shines in Autumn,” featuring piano soloist Jon Nakamatsu doing Rachmaninoff’s Third Concerto, Brahms’ Third Symphony and Glazunov’s lively work “Autumn.
Jon Nakamatsu
The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. and conductor Kyle Wiley Pickett will give a pre-concert talk at 6:30 p.m.
If you attend Pickett’s talk, you’ll likely hear him rave about Nakamatsu, whom he described as “one of the top, top pianists of his generation.”
The Rachmaninoff piece, featured throughout the film “Shine,” is staggeringly difficult, yet spectacularly beautiful, Pickett said on Tuesday.
“You have to be a masterful musician to pull this off,” Pickett said. “This thing is so unbelievably hard. Just to follow (the music) with your eyes is difficult. There are so many notes. I can’t conceive how a pianist can learn it and execute it.”
Nakamatsu, who performs with major orchestras around the world, is a Van Cliburn award-winner, which Pickett compares to winning the all-around gymnastics gold medal at the Olympics. Pickett said the entire orchestra has been energized for months about the idea of performing with Nakamatsu. On the subject of piano competitions, here’s a great video of Nakamatsu talking about losing and the essence of the musical journey.
When he designs a concert, Pickett said he attempts to take the audience for a journey.
He said the Glazunov piece, which opens the concert, is a “bright” tribute to autumn. The Russian composer was inspired, in part, the fall grape harvest. Brahms’ Third Symphony follows that piece to close out the first half of the concert. Brahms wrote the symphony near the end of the summer at a time when he was contemplating retirement. Pickett called Brahms’ Third one of his all-time favorite works.
Season ticket sales have been stronger than ever in both Redding and Chico (where the concert will happen on Saturday Sunday afternoon at Laxson Auditorium). Individual tickets sales are the question mark, but Pickett is hoping to fill the Cascade on Saturday for what he believes will be an incredible evening of music.
Details:
What: Opening concert of the North State Symphony’s 2008-09 season.
Where: Cascade Theatre in Redding
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday (Sept. 27)
Tickets: $40 (premium), $24 (general), $20 (economy)
Information: Cascade Theatre or North State Symphony
