The North Carolina Symphony, led by Resident Conductor William Henry Curry, will perform Rimsky-Korsakov’s brilliant Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34, Friday, Feb. 7 at noon in Meymandi Concert Hall in downtown Raleigh as part of its 2013/14 Friday Favorites Series, and Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m., in Memorial Hall on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as part of its 2013/14 Chapel Hill Classical Series.
Scholar Richard Rodda writes, “Rimsky-Korsakov’s principal project during the summer of 1887 was the orchestration of the opera Prince Igor by his compatriot Alexander Borodin, who had died the preceding winter. Rimsky installed himself at Nikolskoe on the shore of Lake Nelai in a rented villa, and made good progress with the opera, one of many completions and revisions he undertook of the music of his fellow Russian composers. Things went well enough that he felt able to interrupt this project for several weeks to work on his piece on Spanish themes, originally intended for solo violin and orchestra but which he re-cast for full orchestra as the brilliant Capriccio espagnol.”
The orchestra will also perform Borodin’s Symphony No. 2 in B minor, Tchaikovsky’s Marche slave, Op. 31 (Feb. 8 performance only), and Koussevitzky’s Concerto in F-Sharp minor for Bass and Orchestra, Op. 3, featuring North Carolina Symphony Principal Bass Leonid Finkelshteyn. The concerts are in partnership with the North Carolina Museum of History’s Tsars’ Cabinet exhibition.
Bassist Leonid Finkelshteyn enjoys an active career as a performer and teacher. Currently Principal Bassist of the North Carolina Symphony and the Eastern Festival Orchestra in North Carolina, Mr. Finkelshteyn also serves on the faculty of East Carolina University, North Carolina State University and the Eastern Music Festival, while also maintaining a large private studio. As a soloist, he has made numerous concerto appearances with both the North Carolina Symphony and the Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra in Wisconsin, including works by Bottesini, Bruch, Koussevitsky and Tubin. Mr. Finkelshteyn has also performed the North American premiere of Gareth Glyn’s Microncerto and the world premiere of J.Mark Scearce’s Antaeus, a concerto for double bass and orchestra, which the North Carolina Symphony commissioned for Mr. Finkelshteyn.
Other artistic pursuits have included tours with the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and the Philharmonia Hungarica. Recently, he appeared with the All-Star Orchestra under the direction of Gerard Schwarz as part of a series of programs for PBS. A committed teacher, Mr. Finkelshteyn has given masterclasses at Yale University and in New York City for students from the Manhattan School of Music and the Mannes College of Music. He is involved within his community as well, leading sectionals for local Youth Philharmonic Orchestras and the North Carolina All-State Orchestra. A native of Leningrad in the former Soviet Union, Mr. Finkelshteyn joined the Symphony Orchestra of the Leningrad Philharmonic at only 19 years of age, while still a student at the Leningrad Conservatory from which he earned a M.M., graduating with honors.
In addition to stellar performances, North Carolina Symphony concertgoers can enjoy pre-concert talks, post-concert discussions, and “Meet the Artists,” which feature interactive conversations with guest artists and select orchestra members, at many Symphony events. Before the Friday, Feb. 7 performance in Raleigh, Dr. Jeanne Marie Warzeski of the North Carolina Museum of History will give a pre-concert talk at 11 a.m. in the Swalin Lobby of Meymandi Concert Hall. Before the Chapel Hill performance on Feb. 8, an Evening Overtures program will take place at 6:30 p.m. in Gerrard Hall, adjacent to Memorial Hall. With chamber music performances and discussions, Evening Overtures allows for a deeper exploration of the music.
For the Chapel Hill performance, the Symphony provides a free shuttle service from two locations:
- University Mall between Dillards and Wells Fargo Bank
- Southern Village near the Village Green Stage on Aberdeen Drive.
The shuttle service departs between 6:15 and 6:20 p.m.
Tickets to the Raleigh Friday Favorites Series performance on Friday, Feb. 7 are $27. Tickets to the Chapel Hill Classical Series performance on Feb. 8 range from $18 to $50. Student tickets in both locations are $10. Concert tickets at both performances are also available at the door one hour prior to concert start time.
Meymandi Concert Hall is located in the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. South St., in Raleigh. Memorial Hall is located at 114 East Cameron Ave., on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Partners for the 2013/14 Raleigh Friday Favorites Series include Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, SearStone, and The Cypress of Raleigh.
Partners for the 2013/14 Chapel Hill Series include Carol Woods Retirement Community, Harrington Bank, and The Businesses of Market Street, Southern Village. Generous support for Evening Overtures has been provided by the Hulka Ensemble and Chamber Music Programs Fund of the North Carolina Symphony.
Statewide partner is Duke Energy.
About the North Carolina Symphony
Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony gives more than 200 performances annually to adults and school children in more than 50 North Carolina counties. An entity of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, the orchestra employs 66 professional musicians, under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Grant Llewellyn and Resident Conductor William Henry Curry.
Headquartered in downtown Raleigh’s spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts and an outdoor summer venue at Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C., the Symphony performs about 60 concerts annually in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary metropolitan area. It holds regular concert series in Fayetteville, New Bern, Southern Pines and Wilmington—as well as individual concerts in many other North Carolina communities throughout the year—and conducts one of the most extensive education programs of any U.S. orchestra.
February 7-8 Concert/Event Listings:
North Carolina Symphony
“Capriccio espagnol”
William Henry Curry, Resident Conductor
Friday, February 7, Noon
Meymandi Concert Hall, Raleigh, NC
Saturday, February 8, 7:30 p.m.
Memorial Hall, UNC-Chapel Hill
February 7-8 Program
North Carolina Symphony
William Henry Curry, Resident Conductor
Leonid Finkelshteyn, bass
Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
- Alborada
- Variazioni
- Alborada
- Scena e canto Gitano
- Fandango asturiano
Concerto in F-Sharp minor for Double Bass and Orchestra, Op.3
Serge Koussevitzky (1874-1951)/ Arr. Norman Ludwin
- Allegro
- Andante
- Allegro
Leonid Finkelshteyn, bass
Symphony No. 2 in B minor
Alexander Borodin (1833-1887)
- Allegro
- Scherzo: Prestissimo
- Andante
- Finale: Allegro
Marche slave, Op. 31 (February 8 performance only)
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
