Brahms & Brews
Saturday, October 21, 2017 | 6:00 - 7:30 PM

Buy pre-event tickets here!

Join us for an exclusive pre-concert event! Prior to the concert, Mr. John and Dr. Angela Sims will host the second of our four Noteworthy Parties, Brahms & Brews sponsored by Nonic Bar & Kitchen. Beginning at 6:00 PM in the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts' 3rd Floor Atrium, enjoy an Oktoberfest themed evening of various craft beers, hors d'oeuvres, live music, and more followed by our CSO concert featuring some of the best German composers of all time. Tickets for this pre-event are $35 and can be purchased at the RiverCenter Box Office or online at csoga.org/noteworthy.

Beer selections:

Weihenstephan USA Festbier

Farmers Brewing Co.Harvest Ale

Service Brewing Teufel Hunden

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

Three Taverns Craft Brewery Enchantress

Stone Brewing Xocoveza Mocha Stout

Khashimov Plays Brahms

Aflac Masterworks Series
Saturday, October 21, 2017 | 7:30 PM

Open Rehearsal | 12:30 PM
Know the Score | 6:30 PM

Buy tickets here!

Prize-winning violinist Nadir Khashimov returns to Columbus to play Brahms' only violin concerto. Also programmed are Beethoven's "Pastorale" symphony and Grieg's haunting melodies.

Grieg's translated his Two Elegiac Melodies for string orchestra from a collection of twelve songs he composed inspired by the work of Norwegian poet, Aasmund Olavsson Vinje. Grieg re-wrote the vocal lines in the language of strings in a word-for-note orchestration. The first movement (Heart-sore) speaks of the wounds of life and their inability to destroy faith. The second (Last Spring) imagines the season of rebirth colored by the possibility that the viewer may not live to see another.

Returning to the Columbus Symphony Orchestra is violin soloist Nadir Khashimov.

Khashimov's expressive and charismatic style has made him one of the most accomplished and versatile violinists on the international music scene today. In 2006 at the age of just 16, Mr. Khashimov won the 2nd prize at the prestigious Paganini Competition in Moscow. Mr. Khashimov began his studies at the age of seven with his father, Vakhob Khashimov. He went on to study with Sergiu Schwartz and Patricio Cobos at the Columbus State University, and with Pamela Frank and Shmuel Ashkenasi at the Curtis Institute of Music where he received his Bachelor of Music degree.

Brahms' Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 stands at the pinnacle of the violin repertoire. No concerto unleashes the soaring, heroic power and poetic potential of the violin more profoundly than Brahms'. It is music that runs the gamut between smoldering ferocity and tranquil introspection. It is impossible to think about Brahms' formidable Violin Concerto without considering the violinist to whom it was dedicated, Joseph Joachim. The Hungarian violinist set his mark indelibly on this work as on other Brahms' works, and their long friendship was one of mutual musical respect.
 
Beethoven's Sixth Symphony is one of only two symphonies Beethoven intentionally named. Its full title was Pastorale Symphony, or Recollections of Country Life. Beethoven's affinity for nature and his love for walks through the countryside were captured in the music, as well as in the notes scribbled on sketches of the symphony. Beethoven's descriptive movement titles were made public to the audience before the premiere. The first movement, Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arriving in the country, sets the stage for the atmospheric pastoral quality while the second movement, Scene by the brook, includes famous birdcalls from the woodwinds. The third is entitled Merry gathering of peasants and suggests a town band playing dance music leading to the fourth, Tempest - storm that approaches from afar as ominous rumblings give way to the full fury of thunder and lightning. The final movement is the storm passing, leaving some scattered moments of disruption before the Shepherds' hymn-Happy and thankful feelings after the stormbrings the work to its close.

Performing:

Grieg - Two Elegiac Melodies, Op. 34

Brahms - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major, Op. 77

Beethoven - Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 "Pastorale"

Sponsored by WLTZ, 103.7 Litefm, Boomer 102.5, Steeplechase, & Columbus Marriott