Knoxville Symphony Orchestra—Chamber Classics Series
“Mozart Piano Concerto No. 27”
Conductor: Aram Demirjian
• Gioachino Rossini: Overture To Il Signor Bruschino
• W.A. Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 27 In B-Flat, K. 595 (Pianist Emi Kagawa)
• Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 5
Sunday, March 5, 2:30 PM
Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street
Tickets and Information
When Mozart completed his Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat in 1791, it was his first piano concerto in almost three years—and it would be his last. The composer performed it himself on March 4 of that year, dying nine months later at age 35. Written at a point of financial stress and worry, the concerto indeed displays a different mood than his previous efforts in the genre. Admittedly though, music writers and biographers have had a wide range of opinions as to what that mood actually is. Some have seen tragedy, sadness, or a foreshadowing of the composer’s demise, while others see subdued intimacy and a lyrical clarity that speaks with subtle but buoyant cheerfulness.
Whether sadness or cheerfulness, listeners will be hearing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27 in the heralded acoustic intimacy of the Bijou Theatre where uncanny nuances of performance reach every seat in the hall. The Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra, under Aram Demirjian, will be joined by pianist Emi Kagawa for the Mozart.
Dr. Kagawa, also the principal keyboardist for the KSO, is currently on the piano faculty of Bryan College, in Dayton, TN. She received her Masters in piano performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Stony Brook University.
Only 20 years or so separate Mozart’s final Piano Concerto and the other two works on the KSO’s program—both works by young composers at the beginning of their careers. The opening work is Gioachino Rossini’s Overture to his 1813 opera Il signor Bruschino. The second half of the concert will be devoted to the Symphony No. 5 in B-flat by the then 19-year old Franz Schubert.
