Russian Gems, performed by the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra in Penticton on Saturday, showcases music with transformative power.
Borodin’s Symphony No. 1 unfolds with uncommon beauty, Tschaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, an OSO premiere, will transform listeners with its poignancy and power under the talents of renowned pianist Ian Parker.
He appears as part of a collaborative artist-sharing arrangement with Chamber Music Kelowna, under whose auspices he will perform the famous Horn Trio of Johannes Brahms, among other works.
Parker is a Canadian pianist who has performed worldwide and holds a bachelor and master of music degrees from the Juilliard School.
Included in the program is Moussorgsky’s La Khovanshchina, which was left unfinished at his death and completed by his friend Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov. The libretto is based on Russian history of the late-17th century and the struggle waged by various political and religious factions over the country’s destiny. Borodin’s Symphony No. 1 in E-flat Major opens with a slow tempo, quoting a Russian folk song and accelerates into a bold allegro. It gently concludes blending two main thematic fragments into a single theme.
Russian Gems will be held at the Cleland Theatre in Penticton on May 5 at 7:30 p.m.