Program features works by Mozart, Bottesini and Schickele

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2010, AT 8 PM

The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s 2009/10 Chamber Music Society series continues with a performance on Tuesday, January 12, 2010, featuring members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and acclaimed pianist André Watts, performing Mozart’s Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat, K. 452.  Members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic also perform Bottesini’s Gran Duo Concertante and Schickele’s String Sextet.

The evening commences with Bottesini’s Gran Duo Concertante.  Like many of the concertos and ensemble works composed by Bottesini, Gran Duo Concertante exists in multiple versions.  He originally composed the work in 1880 as a sort of duo concerto, for two basses and orchestra. The violin virtuoso Ernesto Camillo Sivori (1815-1894) adapted it for violin and bass.  This evening’s version is performed by members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic on violin and bass with pianist Kevin Fitz-Gerald.

The incorrigibly eclectic, stylistically peripatetic American composer Peter Schickele may be best known for his “discoveries” of the work of P.D.Q. Bach, but he has an equally varied and extensive catalog of music under his own brand. He studied with A-list mid-century composers – Roy Harris, Darius Milhaud, Vincent Persichetti and William Bergsma – but was also prominently influenced by the Everly Brothers and Spike Jones. The String Sextet that Schickele composed in 1990 represents this mixture of genres veering from manic to measured, from jazz fusion to a bluesy country waltz, with severe contrasts of tempo and texture.

Concluding the evening is Mozart’s Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-Flat, K. 452 featuring lauded pianist André Watts.  A few days after the work’s premiere on April 1, 1784, Mozart pronounced it “The best thing I have ever written,” to his father Leopold.  While one might question the composer’s evaluation of this ingratiating charmer, another vote of confidence came from no less than Ludwig van Beethoven, who modeled his own Op. 16 Quintet upon the work in 1797.

The LA Phil’s 2009/10 Chamber Music Society series offers eight distinct programs throughout the season, including concerts with renowned soloists such as Piotr Anderszewski (Jan. 26), Lars Vogt (Mar. 16), and Emanuel Ax (Mar. 30). Additional dates with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic are February 16 and April 6.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2010, AT 8 PM

WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL

111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles



Chamber Music Society



MEMBERS OF THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

ANDRÉ WATTS, piano

BOTTESINI Gran Duo Concertante

Robert Vijay Gupta, violin

Dennis Trembly, bass

Kevin Fitz-Gerald, piano



SCHICKELE String Sextet

Barry Socher, violin

Camille Avellano, violin

Ingrid Hutman, viola

Meredith Snow, viola

Daniel Rothmuller, cello

Jonathan Karoly, cello



MOZART Quintet for Piano and Winds, K. 452

Ariana Ghez, oboe

Michele Zukovsky, clarinet

Shawn Mouser, bassoon

William Lane, horn

André Watts, piano



Tickets ($26 - $51) are on sale now at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, online at LAPhil.com, or via credit card by phone at 323.850.2000. A limited number of $10 rush tickets for seniors and full time students may be available at the Walt Disney Concert Hall box office two hours prior to the performance. Valid identification is required; one ticket per person; cash only. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for special discounts for selected concerts and seating areas. For information, please call 323.850.2000.

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Sophie Jefferies, sjefferies@laphil.org, 213.972.3422; Lisa Bellamore, lbellamore@laphil.org, 213.972.3689; Photos: 213.972.3034