Principal Oboe Lidia Khaner showcases musicality and precision in a concert featuring Mozart’Äôs Oboe Concerto

Midweek Classics

Principal Oboe Lidia Khaner showcases musicality and precision in a concert featuring

Mozart’Äôs Oboe Concerto

Wednesday, March 17^th ’Äì 7:30 pm

Edmonton, AB ’Ķ Your Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) and Resident Conductor Lucas Waldin bring a supernatural element, stark emotionality, and mysticism to their upcoming Midweek Classics concert at the Francis Winspear Centre for Music.  Featuring Principal Oboe Lidia Khaner in Mozart’Äôs elegant Oboe Concerto, significant works by Weber, Vivaldi, and Tchaikovsky complete this midweek program of music.

Tuneful and powerful, and a staple in concert halls around the world, Weber's groundbreaking overture to Der Freischˆºtz dawned a new era in German music.  With its daring innovations, this piece is considered the precursor to Wagner’Äôs great music dramas.  Mozart’Äôs only Oboe Concerto offers a light and transparent musical texture that highlights the soloist’Äôs shining presence, and ebullient exchanges between the soloist and orchestra add touches of rhythmic challenge.  ’ÄúThe concerto may not be one of the hardest pieces in the oboe repertoire, but it can easily show an oboist’Äôs musicality, technique, and precision,’Äù explains Lidia Khaner.

On the contrary, Mozart's Masonic Funeral Music is dark and serious ’Äì a melancholic tune of mystery as opposed to fear or dread.  Though written following the deaths of two members of the same Masonic lodge to which Mozart belonged, Mozart viewed this chilling piece as a meditation upon death.  Tchaikovsky’Äôs Fourth Orchestral Suite, ’ÄúMozartiana’Äù ’Äì adapted from some of Mozart’Äôs lesser known works ’Äì quickly won acclaim for its elaboration on graceful simplicity to create tone pictures full of charm and colour.  Vivaldi's variations on ’ÄúLa Folia’Äù, a popular Spanish tune which has inspired dozens of composers including Corelli, will also be performed.

Ticket prices for Mozart’Äôs Oboe Concerto range from $20 ’Äì $65 (agency fees apply), and are available through the Winspear Centre Box Office.  Call (780) 428-1414, toll-free 1-800-563-5081, or purchase online at www.EdmontonSymphony.com.

The next and final performance of the Midweek Classics series this season takes place on March 26^th, 2010.  Edmonton’Äôs Jeremy Spurgeon performs Handel’Äôs dramatic concerto on the Davis Concert Organ in Echoes from the Baroque ’Äì a concert also featuring substantial orchestral works by Bach, Bizet, and Poulenc.

Thank you to our series media sponsor Espace Musique, and our season media sponsors CBC and the Edmonton Journal.

Sponsorship inquiries can be directed to Marc Carnes, Director of Development, at (780) 401-2518.

The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, marking its 58^th season in 2009-2010, has taken its place as one of Canada's foremost orchestral ensemble.  Its current roster includes 56 musicians from Canada and around the world, performing a wide-ranging repertoire from the great classical masterworks to pops and children's concerts.  The presence of the orchestra and its enrichment of the community's quality of life are key elements in the stature and profile of Edmonton on the national and international scene.