An upcoming orchestral concert in Chilliwack will focus on exclusive pieces by three composers.
The Chilliwack Metropolitan Orchestra (CMO) presents 'The One and Only,' a spring concert featuring compositions which represent the only piece of music in that genre from the composer. They have been selected by artistic director Gregory Johnson, and the spring concert will be at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre on March 16.
On the program will be Fidelio, the only opera written by Ludwig Van Beethoven. The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saens was meant only as a humorous musical suite to entertain guests at his home; that piece, along with Robert Schumann's only Piano Concerto (in A minor op.54), will also be heard.
Schumann's piece premiered on Dec. 4, 1845 and his wife Clara Schumann, an accomplished pianist and composer in her own right, performed it.
Guest pianist Boris Konovalov, an instructor with the Chilliwack Academy of Music, will be playing Schumann's concerto.
“It’s quite a substantial piece of music,” he said. “When Schumann died, (Clara) did extraordinary work. She published and edited all his work, and still now we use this edition as the best one.”
The concerto contains three movements and the entire piece is about 35 minutes long. He's been practising it for the past six months, has memorized the concerto and researched Schumann, and is now ready to share it with listeners.
“I know (his) ideas, I know the situation of when this piece was written. I know his concerns and everything connected to this music. So, when I play I have images in my head… I know how it’s supposed to sound.”
He wants the audience to enjoy it and have knowledge of what the composer’s ideas were at the time of creating the piece.
“I feel like I’m a messenger from the soul of the composer, and through my hands, through my body, through my mind, I deliver what the composer created.”
Konovalov admits that, even after years of performing, he still gets a bit nervous before a concert.
"I play by memory. I’m trying not to think about what notes I remember. I’m playing music which contains some images, some story. Each musical piece is like a story that I am telling, and I’m transforming myself into Schumann,” he said.
Before Konovalov moved to Canada in 1998 (he has been in Chilliwack for two years), he trained in Russia at the Novosibirsk Glinka Conservatory and then the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. At age 11, he was awarded the first prize in the All-Siberia Piano Competition and went on to win the first prize at age 21 in the All-Russia Piano Competition in 1977. A career encompassing many world tours, master classes and adjudication as well as professorship of music, his vast repertoire includes Beethoven’s 32 sonatas, 40 solo programs and 30 piano concertos.
Sisters and CMO members Jessica and Emily Jou will also be performing with the orchestra. Together, on two pianos, they will play The Carnival of the Animals which was composed in 1886.
This satirical suite of 14 pieces, depicting animals and their traits, has gone onto become one of the most beloved pieces of the musical repertoire and is often used in young people’s concert programs. Humorous writer Ogden Nash composed matching and amusing poems set to each animal piece. Principal cellist Emily Hwang will be highlighted as she performs The Swan. Other instruments include the flute for The Aviary, clarinet for The Cuckoo, and double bass for The Elephant.
"(It's) great fun for both the audience and the musicians and a wonderful way to introduce young people to the symphony," CMO member Anne Flemming stated in a press release.
Both Jessica and Emily Jou have performed with the orchestra as soloists and Emily is currently the orchestra's resident pianist. They are students of Konovalov and are also piano teachers in Chilliwack.
There will also be a silent auction in the lobby as the orchestra is fundraising for a timpani set.
Spring concert 'The One and Only' by the Chilliwack Metropolitan Orchestra, featuring pianists Boris Konovalov, Jessica Jou and Emily Jou, is at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre on Sunday, March 16 at 3 p.m. in the Rotary Hall Studio Theatre. Tickets are $45 for adults and $40 for seniors/students. Tickets can be purchased at the Centre Box Office, online at chilliwackculturalcentre.ca, or by calling 604-391-SHOW(7469).
