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DAVID ROBERTSON conducts
EMANUEL AX piano

BARBER Overture to The School for Scandal
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor
JOHN ADAMS Harmonielehre (DSO premiere)

It’s always an event when Emanuel Ax performs, and Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto will showcase his prodigious virtuosity. This grand work speaks with a bold new voice in the dramatic key of C minor that Beethoven turned to for his revolutionary works. So, hang onto your seat when, after a gargantuan orchestral introduction, the piano announces its presence with three crashing fortissimo chords! The exhilarating Harmonielehre is one of Adams’ most popular works. A fascinating fusion of minimalism and late Romanticism — rushing waves of color, pulsing rhythms and shimmering textures — it promises an unforgettable musical journey at its DSO premiere. The composer points to the final movement that “culminates in a tidal wave of brass and percussion over a pedal point on E-flat Major.” Beginning this concert is the piece that sparked Barber’s career, The School for Scandal. His first work for orchestra is filled with romance and drama, ending on a note of joyous harmony.

Celebrating the DSO’s 125th Anniversary, this concert marks the first performance of John Adams’ Harmonielehre in the orchestra’s history.