Two Concerti Planned For WSO March Concert

WATERBURY — Waterbury Symphony Orchestra will conclude its Classical Masterworks Series for this season on Saturday, March 8. The concert begins at 8 pm at the Naugatuck Valley Community College Fine Arts Center, with a pre-concert lecture beginning at 7:15 in the concert hall. There will also be a post-concert discussion hosted by Maestro Leif Bjaland following the concert in the Play Box Theater.

The concert will begin with Ludwig van Beethoven’s great Violin Concerto performed by Jennifer Frautschi. This concerto debuted in 1806, but was not well received as other works by Beethoven. It was relatively unknown until composer and conductor Felix Mendelssohn revived it in the 1840s. Now, it is one of the most well-known and most played concertos in the world.

Ms Frautschi who has been stunning audiences across the globe with her playing for years, is making a name for herself as both a virtuosic player of music from the classical repertoire as well as music of the 20th and 21st Centuries. Ms Frautschi performs on a 1722 Antonio Stradivarius Violin, which has been loaned to her by a private American foundation.

The second half of the concert will feature Bela Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra, featuring the talented musicians of Waterbury Symphony Orchestra. The piece features the folk music of Hungary, Bartok’s homeland, but was commissioned by Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1943.

The Concerto for Orchestra is not a typical concerto, which consists of a solo instrument and an orchestral accompaniment. Bartok chose to name this a concerto rather than a symphony, however, because each section of instruments within the orchestra is treated in a soloistic and virtuosic way.

Tickets for the concert range from $15 to $40 for adults, and are $5 for students. A Family Pack is available for $50, which includes two adult tickets and up to four student/child tickets for only $50.

Tickets can be purchased by calling 203-574-4283 or by visiting www.WaterburySymphony.org.

This concert is the final Classical Masterworks concert of the 2007-08 season, although the orchestra has one final Symphonic Pops concert on May 10, at the Palace Theater in Waterbury. The concert, “The Leroy Anderson Centennial Pops Celebration,” will feature the music of the late Woodbury composer Leroy Anderson, and will include a performance by Simon Tedeschi of Anderson’s Piano Concerto, and the Woodbury Ballet performing Blue Tango and Serenata. More information on this concert can be found on Waterbury Symphony Orchestra’s website.