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Beethoven and Rodrigo "Eroica" to "Aranjuez"

San Francisco Conservatory of Music
San Francisco, CA

For its season finale, the Pacific Chamber Symphony welcomes guest artist Paul Galbraith, the world-renowned guitarist, as Maestro Lawrence Kohl adds the Spanish flair of Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" to the Romanticism of Beethoven's Third ("Eroica") Symphony.

Paul Galbraith won the silver medal at the Segovia International Guitar Competition when he was only 17 years old. Andres Segovia called his playing Magnificent. Since then Mr. Galbraith has enjoyed an outstanding international career as a performer and recording artist. He has played with major orchestras throughout the world, and his recordings regularly receive rave reviews. His recording of the Complete Bach Violin Sonatas and Partitas (Delos) reached the top 10 on Billboards classical charts and was nominated for a Grammy award in 1998. Gramaphone Magazine called the CD a landmark in the history of guitar recordings.

In 1989, at the Edinburgh Festival, Mr. Galbraith revealed a unique instrument, created in collaboration with luthier David Rubio. Played in the cello position, with a metal endpin and wooden resonator box, this eight stringed instrument makes available a sonority and dynamic range previously unattainable on the guitar.

This instrument, coupled with Mr. Galbraiths impeccable musicianship and astounding technique, is a perfect vehicle for the lush melodies and rich harmonies of Joaquin Rodrigos Concierto de Aranjuez. Written in Paris on the eve of the Second World War, and inspired by the gardens at Palacio Read de Aranjuez, the piece evokes the fragrance of magnolias, the singing of birds, and the gushing of fountains.

Subtitled Sinfonia eroica, coposta per festeggiare il souvenire dun granduomo (heroic symphony, composed to the memory of a great man), Beethovens Symphony No. 3 Eroica was originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte. But, disgusted with Napoleons self-proclaimed Emperorship, Beethoven obliterated the original dedication and changed the title.

With its unprecedented depth of orchestral color, the work is groundbreaking in its musical scope and sonority. With the addition of but a single horn to the orchestral forces, abrupt modulations to distant keys, and exploitation of hidden potentials within existing classical forms, Beethoven pushes the classical principles to their limit.

Kid Friendly: No

Dog Friendly: No

Non-Smoking: No

Wheelchair Accessible: No

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