Department of Music

• Saturday, March 21st, 2009
• Old Cabell Hall
• 8:00pm
• $10 - $35 / 10 ARTS$

• Sunday, March 22nd, 2009
• Monticello High School
• 3:30pm

The Charlottesville and University Symphony Orchestra will present acclaimed pianist Dubravka Tomsic in its next concert, "Cathedrals of Sound.” The concert features two epic masterpieces of symphonic literature, Beethoven’s “Emperor” Piano Concerto and Saint-Saëns’ great “Organ Symphony”. The concerts will be on Saturday, March 21 at 8:00pm at Old Cabell Hall, and on Sunday, March 22 at 3:30pm at Monticello High School.

The celebrated Slovenian pianist Dubravka Tomsic enjoys “something of a cult status among pianophiles” (Gramophone Magazine), with performances that convey “heroic power and Olympian vision” (Los Angeles Times) as well as “splendor, drama, passion, poetry, and subtlety” (Boston Globe). The only protégé of legendary pianist Arthur Rubinstein, who considered her “a perfect and marvelous pianist,” she gave her first public recital at age five and later embarked on an international career that took her to all five continents, performing more than four thousand concerts to date.

Tomsic will perform Beethoven’s “Emperor” Piano Concerto, one of his most famous works which at its time was very revolutionary in form. Many will know the exultant finale that launches an irrepressible joy ride for one of the most delightful and positive conclusions in all Beethoven’s works. The second half of the program is devoted to Saint-Saëns Symphony No.3, or “Organ Symphony”. The French critic Augé de Lassus described the symphony’s climax “like Napoleon hurling in the Imperial Guard at Waterloo.” In this triumphant conclusion, victory prevails after a lengthy struggle.

Free pre-concert lectures will be held 45 minutes before each concert on both days. Saturday’s lecture will be held at nearby Minor Hall on the UVA Grounds. Sunday’s lecture will be held in the Forum at Monticello High School. They will be led by McIntire Department of Music Associate Professor Richard Will. In addition, Ms. Tamarkin leads her popular “Noon Notes” lecture series on Friday, March 20, at noon, in the Northside branch of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library.