PORT ANGELES — Pianist Josu De Solaun will be the featured soloist during the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra’s Saturday performances.
The 66-member orchestra, plus De Solaun, will give two performances — the dress rehearsal, open to the public at 10 a.m., and the evening concert at 7:30 p.m.
Both, under the baton of new conductor Jonathan Pasternack, will take place at the Port Angeles High School Performing Arts Center, 304 E. Park Ave.
As a first-prize winner of the XIII George Enescu International Piano Competition in Bucharest, the XV José Iturbi International Piano Competition and the I European Union Piano Competition held in Prague, De Solaun has performed throughout the world.
Really excited
“The orchestra and I are really excited about our performances this Saturday with Josu De Solaun, the Spanish-born pianist who will play [Sergei] Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto with us,” Pasternack said.
Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 is commonly referred to as Rach 3.
“Also on the program will be [Gioachino Antonio] Rossini’s delightful Overture to La Gazza Ladra, which means The Thieving Magpie in Italian, and three emotionally powerful selections from [Sergei] Prokofiev’s ballet ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ ” Pasternack said.
Rossini’s La Gazza Ladra begins the concert with “the kind of musical fun Rossini is known for,” said Pasternack, who will give a pre-concert chat at 6:40 p.m. Saturday at the Performing Arts Center.
Up next is “Romeo and Juliet,” during which the orchestra — plus guest pianist Linda Dowdell — will offer three excerpts.
‘Climatic build’
The music from the ballet’s final scene is “an intense climactic build,” Pasternack said.
In the very last notes of the piece — delivered in C major — Prokofiev expresses his view that Romeo and Juliet’s love transcends time, Pasternack said.
Rach 3, the concerts’ finale, “is probably the most challenging concerto in the repertoire,” said De Solaun, who has performed it in venues across Europe.
“It’s an intense collaboration between the pianist and the conductor. They’re like two sailors in charge of a boat in a perfect storm.”
Rach 3 — featured in the movie “Shine” starring Geoffrey Rush — is a piece of sheer physicality, De Solaun said.
“It’s extremely thrilling. The pianist has fun, the conductor and the audience have fun,” he said.
Defies notions
Rach 3 defies the notion that classical music is a decrepit art form, De Solaun said.
For him, “this is music to bring the house down.”
Pasternack pointed out that De Solaun has won various piano competitions with his performance of Rach 3.
In Port Angeles, “he’s going to set the whole stage on fire,” Pasternack said.
Tickets available
Tickets to Saturday’s 10 a.m. dress rehearsal are $5 per person or $10 per family, while prices range from $12 to $30 for the 7:30 p.m. concert.
Those ages 16 and younger are admitted to the evening concert for free when accompanied by an adult.
Tickets for general admission seating are available at Port Book and News, 104 E. First St., in Port Angeles; The Good Book, 108 W. Washington St., in Sequim; and Sequim Village Glass of Carlsborg, 761 Carlsborg Road.
Tickets for reserved seating are available at the Symphony Office, 216 C. North Laurel St., in Port Angeles.
For more information, call 360-457-5579, email pasymphony@olypen.com or visit www.portangelessymphony.org.
