A modern opening to a classic season
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Young Chang
American musicians nowadays don’t play much music from their own
country, said Robert McDuffie.
“And I say that with a little sadness,” the New Yorker continued. “I
think it should be natural for Americans to play music of their country.”
Contemporary masterpieces refresh this composer. They help him avoid
musical ruts, keep his senses sharp and make the classics sound fresh.
“It’s just another way of speaking,” McDuffie said of playing the
modern genre.
He will perform one of his favorite contemporary pieces Wednesday with
the Pacific Symphony Orchestra: Philip Glass’ Concerto for Violin and
Orchestra. Glass, a Baltimore native, injects a seductiveness to the
music, McDuffie said. And there’s a “galvanizing nature” to the piece
that entices him as a musician.
McDuffie will perform the composition this week for the opening of the
orchestra’s first Hal and Jeanette Segerstrom Family Classics Concert
Season. And he will partner with a noncontemporary instrument -- his 1735
Guarneri del Gesu violin.
The instrument cost $3.5 million and is owned by 16 people, including
himself. The investors bought the rare violin earlier this year. It has
been leased to McDuffie for 25 years.
“I just fell in love with it,” the composer said. “There are only 100
left in the world made by this maker, and only 10 of those are truly
elite.”
What ranks the instrument as royalty is its sound.
“It’s very rich and powerful, but sweet at the same time,” McDuffie
affectionately said. “That’s what makes it incredibly special.”
Pacific Symphony’s musical director Carl St. Clair said opening night
this year will have a “special flavor,” especially with McDuffie
performing.
“We use basically the same type of formula in that we try to create a
huge variety of repertoire -- from the absolute standard masterpieces of
the classic world, but then to add to that something very, very new and
imaginative and creative,” St. Clair said.
Glass’ concerto, coupled with McDuffie’s performance, will provide
that modern edge to the performance and the season. As will the world
premiere of Richard Danielpour’s “American Requiem” in November and
violinist Kyung-Wha Chung’s world premiere performance of Michael Kurek’s
“That Which Remains Unspoken.”
The rest of the season includes such classics as a semi-staged version
of Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Dvorak in America and a
performance by the Alpine Symphony, including a tone poem by Richard
Strauss.
“We want to bring a great classic repertoire to several audiences, but
at the same time by continuously stretching [listeners’] imaginations and
challenge their ears,” St. Clair said.
FYI
* WHAT: Pacific Symphony Orchestra’s season opener
* WHEN: 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday
* WHERE: Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive,
Costa Mesa
* COST: $21-$56
* CALL: (714) 755-5788
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