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Under the direction of Mark Cedel, the orchestra will perform an all-Beethoven program on Sept. 18 at 8 p.m. in Hodgson Hall of the  Performing Arts Center. The concert is free.
The program will open with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, the “Emperor,” with pianist Evgeny Rivkin.
“The orchestra plays a very significant role in this concerto,” says conductor Cedel. “The extended tuttis--sections without the soloist--are quite challenging and symphonic in breadth and expression.”
The concerto is not only a challenge for the orchestra. Rivkin, distinguished professor of music at UGA since 1995, acknowledges that it presents several challenges for the soloist as well.
Rivkin has won many awards for his playing, including top prizes in the Bavarian Radio Musik Competition, Moscow’s International Tchaikovsky Competition, the U.S.S.R. National Piano Competition of St. Petersburg and the Russian National Piano Competition. In addition to teaching at UGA and presenting master classes worldwide, Rivkin continues to perform regularly as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and Europe.
The second half of the program is devoted to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. Cedel still remembers the first time he conducted a Beethoven symphony. “As I was studying the score to the Symphony No. 7, I was overcome with a profound respect for the work and the composer,” he says. “Every time I conduct a Beethoven symphony, I recall that first time and always have the same feeling.”
This symphony is one of the most widely recognized works of Western music, although many people are more familiar with the distinctive opening of the first movement than with the other three movements. Cedel notes that one of the many interesting aspects of this symphony is that the last movement includes Beethoven’s use of trombones in the orchestra for the first time.
For additional information, call the School of Music at 542-3737.
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