Aram Demirjian, conductor
IGOR STRAVINSKY: Firebird Suite
Music history is full of anecdotal accounts of collaborations between composers and soloists—some amicable and successful, while others, not so much. Certainly in the “amicable and successful” category would be the relationship between composer Igor Stravinsky and Polish violinist Samuel Dushkin. Introduced to each other by publisher Willy Strecker for the purposes of creating a violin concerto, the pair not only collaborated on the creation of Stravinsky’s 1931 Concerto in D for Violin and Orchestra, but also became fast friends, despite the composer’s initial reluctance.
As the story goes, at a lunch meeting with Dushkin in Paris, Stravinsky drew a chord on a 
napkin and asked the violinist if it was playable. In the moment, Dushkin replied “No”, but later surprisingly discovered it was relatively easy to play, much to the relief of the composer. Stravinsky has called it the “passport” to the concerto, forms of it beginning each of the four movements.
This week, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra is offering a veritable feast of Stravinsky, including the Violin Concerto in D with KSO Concertmaster William Shaub as the soloist. Concluding the concert will be Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, a suite of five movements taken from the composer’s score for Sergei Diaghilev’s ballet, The Firebird, for the Ballets Russes.
In what has to be one of the season’s more eclectic programs, Demirjian is opening with a couple of picturesque paintings: John Williams’ “Hedwig’s Theme” from Harry Potter and Debussy’s Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun. Setting up the experience of The Firebird Suite, Demirjian is opening the second half with Icarus, a work by Lera Auerbach, commissioned by the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra in 2011.
Knoxville Symphony Orchestra
The Firebird
Thursday and Friday, November 14, 15 — 7:30PM
Tennessee Theatre. 604 S. Gay Street
Tickets and Information
