TrulyGrace

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra- Cameron Carpenter, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich

After a morning training at the museum and the afternoon planning for the final practical exam at the univeristy, I met up with Regina K for a night at the symphony. She drove us, we parked, and were pleased to see that Western Pennsylvania native Cameron Carpenter played his International Touring Organ for us that night.  Regina spotted fellow members of the American Guild of Organists; we said a hello to Ken and Lisa.  I met her sister Vanessa and her friend John.  The program for the evening was:
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43   (Transcribed for organ by Cameron Carpenter)  U.S. Premiere 
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Opus 93

I was thrilled to see that Cameron Carpenter chose an accordion-like sound for the most familiar 18th theme of the themes from Paganini (25.40 to 28.20 in the YouTube video)!  His technique was superb, with lightning-fast trills and flashy, sparkly footwork (see ~30.00 in the YouTube video). 

https://www.pittsburghsymphony.org/production/43798/carpenter-plays-rachmaninoff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F79BgeqyXhI

Cameron Carpenter played a solo "Stars and Stripes Forever," as his encore.  Bravo!

The Shostakovich piece was first performed after the death Stalin, and was thought to be a "tribute" of sorts to the former Soviet dictator.

After the concert, Vanessa and John, Regina, and I stopped in Starbucks for some beverages, chatted on Penn Avenue for a tad, and called it a night.

posted by Grace @ 4/16/2016 04:21:00 PM