Saturday, November 18, 5pm
St. Paul's Church, Cardo 6
$400, $300 $150

Vienna Chamber Symphony - concert

The Vienna Kammersymphonie, loosely translated as the Vienna Chamber Symphony, will give one concert for Pro Musica on Saturday, November 18 at 5 pm at St. Paul's Church.  The Kammersymphonie is an elite ensemble of six Austrian musicians; string quartet, double base and piano; which specializes in playing full-scale symphonic works with their own arrangements. This is a strongly emerging trend in classical music as more people want to hear their favorite works, but not in an enormous hall and at the price of a visit to the symphony. Pro Musica has been lucky enough to secure the Kammersymphonie as part of their Latin American tour when San Miguel audiences will experience the unique, creamy sound of great Viennese string playing. 
 
The ensemble of impressively gifted musicians comprises Nadja Kalmykova (1st violin), Aya Georgieva (2nd violin), Ljuba Kalmykova (viola), Sergio Mastro (violoncello), Benedict Ziervogel (double bass) and Alvaro Siviero (piano). Founded in 2006, the “Year of Mozart”, they were hailed in Austria as the best performers in an epic year of music-making dedicated to the famed composer, and went on to tour worldwide.
 
As well as performing well known music by the great names, such as Beethoven and Mahler, the Kammersymphonie also specialize in reviving overlooked musical gems by composers whose works are less often performed, for example Erich Korngold and Hans Gál.  Pieces by all these maestros will be highlighted in the concert, including a movement from Mahler's Symphony No. 4. Mahler conducted both the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic in the early 1900s, and in the Vienna Philharmonic he was unanimously voted to be the Music Director. This caused a stir (and spoke highly of his influence) as Vienna was traditionally anti-Semitic. Under Mahler’s guidance both the Vienna and New York Philharmonic led the world, and continue to do so . The concert will feature the first movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 4. Another beloved work, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor will be performed in its entirety. The concerto was premiered in 1803 in a concert of his own works, spurned by a contest between Schickaneder'sTheater-an-der-Wien and von Braun's Kärtnertor-theater.  Expect fireworks from maestro Siviero at the keyboard!
 
Mahler's fellow countryman Hans Gál, fled Hitler, but was interned for a time by the British. A child prodigy, Gál was 13 when he composed the Five Intermezzos that we will hear. The concert also includes Erich Korngold's Märchenbilder, a fitting match to complement Gál's Intermezzi. Korngold was a sensation even among contemporary masters like Mahler, and one reviewer raved about his, “...astounding feats of composition and of piano-playing, in which the composer's age is not to be taken into consideration."

 Tickets for the concerts at St. Paul’s are $150, $300 and $400 pesos donation each, and are on sale at La Tienda in the Biblioteca Pública and online through our website on the Buy Tickets tab at the top of the Home Page; and at the concert 45 minutes before performance time.

Buy tickets here