PORT ANGELES — Alexander Tutunov will join the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in a concert that will bring the Tchaikovsky concerto together with another highly Romantic masterwork, Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony.
“It will never feel less than a huge deal, an amazing opportunity to play this, arguably the most beloved piano concerto,” Tutunov said of the Tchaikovsky music he will perform.
There’s more than one reason why Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto stands atop the repertoire, he added.
“It’s full of beautiful tunes, masterfully woven together by a genius of the Romantic era,” Tutunov said.
“Every theme is singable and instantly familiar. And, of course, the one and only Mr. Van Cliburn won the gold medal in the first Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958 with this very piece,” said the pianist, himself a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory back when it was in the Soviet Union.
When Tutunov emigrated to the United States in the mid-1990s, this concerto was part of his big break. Cliburn had canceled his appearance with the Oklahoma Symphony, and Tutunov was asked to fill in for him.
“Needless to say, this adds more excitement to every chance I get to perform this concerto,” he said.
Conductor and artistic director Jonathan Pasternack will give a brief pre-concert talk about the whole music program at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are available at portangeles symphony.org, at Port Book and News in Port Angeles and at the door at the Port Angeles High School Performing Arts Center, 304 E. Park Ave. For more information, phone the symphony office at 360-457-5579.
Tutunov, a longtime professor at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Ore., has been coming to Port Angeles to perform with the symphony since 1998. It is still a thrill to sit down at the piano, the orchestra surrounding him, he said.
“The energy and love, the urge to make live music together are palpable,” he said.
Tutunov, Pasternack and the orchestra also invite the public to their dress rehearsal at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Port Angeles High School Performing Arts Center. Tickets to the rehearsal, during which listeners can watch how Pasternack prepares the orchestra for that evening’s concert, are available at portangelessymphony.org and at the door.
“Having Alex here to play with us again is like welcoming home a dear family member and friend,” Pasternack said. “He is a wonderful artist and human being, and I’ve been so looking forward to playing this heartfelt music with him.”
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Diane Urbani de la Paz is a freelance writer and photographer who lives in Port Townsend.
