Arts & Entertainment
Nathan Cole headlines Santa Monica Symphony with tricky piece
The free concert Saturday at Barnum Hall of SaMoHi will also feature Capriccio Espagnol and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6.
Violin sensation Nathan Cole will execute the exacting Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No. 2 at Santa Monica Symphony’s opener to its 71st season at Barnum Hall at SaMoHi at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
As always, the concert will be free of charge.
“It is an honor to conduct an orchestra with so many great players,” said Maestro Guido Lamell. “Santa Monica is so fortunate to have an orchestra of this stature that it can call its very own.”
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The Santa Monica Symphony is composed of local professionals, emerging pre-professionals and volunteer musicians of exceptional quality.
Cole joins the symphony as its featured soloist. He is First Associate Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
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Not only is his piece a rarity on the concert stage, his violin is also rare: Jack Benny Stradivarius, bequeathed to the LA Phil from comedian Jack Benny and currently on loan to Cole.
Saturday night’s concert opens with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol.
“I can’t think of a more splendid way to open a season,” Lamell said. “From the first note, the orchestra explodes into the auditorium!”
Based on Spanish folk melodies, the music features solos from various instruments in the orchestra and was described by Rimsky-Korsakov himself as “vividly brilliant.”
As a counterpoint to the flair of the first two pieces on the program, Maestro Lamell has selected a passionate and moving work to conclude Saturday’s concert: Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, commonly referred to as the Pathetique or “passionate” symphony.
Lamel called the Symphony No. 6 “Tchaikovsky’s greatest work. This symphony has intense meaning for me as it did for Tchaikovsky, and I’ve been saving it for just the right time to perform with the Santa Monica Symphony.”
Before Saturday night’s concert gets underway, a pre-concert lecture by musician and conductor Stephen Karr is offered at 6:30 p.m.
Since the concert is free, no ticket is required.
Parking is available at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium lot or in the colorful Civic Center Parking Structure at 4th Street and Olympic Blvd.
The Symphony’s final concert of 2015, “Veni, Vidi, Vici – Heroes” will take place Saturday, Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. in Barnum Hall.
For complete information on the exciting 2015-16 season, visit www.smsymphony.org or call (310) 395-6330.
