PORT ANGELES — The musical story starts out stern and dark, according to the Belarusian pianist, but from there, we’re swept up and away.
In Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3, “we go to a serene, unbelievably beautiful, very slow and dreamy movement into a country-like dance,” promised Alexander Tutunov, the soloist who will bring the piece to Port Angeles in two performances Saturday.
This Beethoven concerto’s end, Tutunov added, brings “happy, virtuosic fireworks.”
Tutunov, who holds a doctorate from the Belarusian State Conservatory, now lives in Ashland, Ore., where he’s a professor of piano at Southern Oregon University.
Winter concerts
A performer who travels the world, he will join the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra for its pair of winter concerts, one a dress rehearsal at 10 a.m. and the other the formal event at 7:30 p.m. Both will take place at the Port Angeles High School Performing Arts Center, 304 E. Park Ave.
Admission to the morning performance will be $5 per person or $10 per family.
Tickets to the evening concert — which includes a short talk by symphony conductor Adam Stern at 6:40 p.m. — range from $12 to $30, while youths 16 and younger will enjoy free admission when accompanied by an adult.
The symphony also will offer two other classics: Prokofiev’s Overture on Hebrew Themes and Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B minor, known as the “Unfinished” symphony.
Why Schubert’s “Unfinished” is unfinished is a question for debate, Stern said.
Some scholars believe Schubert became distracted by the creation of other big works, while others think the composer decided it was fine as it stood.
Whatever the case, said Stern, nothing changes “the fact that the ‘Unfinished’ is perfection itself.”
As for the Overture on Hebrew Themes, Prokofiev’s piece “is undeniably folk-like, earthy, catchy and good-humored and sentimental by turns,” Stern said.
And while the overture is popular as a chamber piece, “we are pleased to present a rare performance of the orchestral version.”
Tickets
General admission tickets to the symphony’s Saturday evening concert are available in Port Angeles at Port Book and News, 104 E. First St., and in Sequim at the Good Book-Joyful Noise Music Center, 108 W. Washington St., and Sequim Village Glass, 761 Carlsborg Road.
Reserved-seating tickets can be purchased at the symphony office at 360-457-5579, and all tickets also will be sold at the door.
To learn more about the Port Angeles Symphony’s concerts and other activities, phone the symphony office or visit www.portangelessymphony.org.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
