A Musical Smorgasbord

“…an approach that was consistently elegant, clear and attentive to detail, hallmarks of the orchestra under music director Carlos Kalmar.”

McQuillen was reviewing our Presidents Day weekend concerts with pianist Arnaldo Cohen playing Franz Liszt’s Second Piano Concerto. He described the program as “a bit of a smorgasbord,” and perhaps it was, with two works by Liszt as well as a mixture of well-known and unfamiliar works by Copland, Barber and Bizet. 

This could also describe the season we have planned for you. Yes, we are playing what the press likes to describe as “warhorses” – such great and glorious old beasts as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and Brahms Third Symphony. We make no apologies for playing some of the best-loved works of the Western canon and for bringing you internationally renowned artists like Joshua Bell, Itzhak Perlman, Lang Lang and Garrick Ohlsson.

But if you check your brochure you’ll see that, just like the “smorgasbord” concert in February, next season’s programs contain many surprises and interesting juxtapositions. For example, we open Classical “B” subscription series with Valentina Lisitsa playing the Grieg Piano Concerto, but the second half of the program shifts to South America and music by Golijov, Revueltas and Ginastera. Music Director Carlos Kalmar first heard Golijov’s “Last Round” in a concert at the Old Church here in Portland last fall, performed by Third Angle and Fear No Music – two contemporary music ensembles comprised mainly of musicians from the Oregon Symphony – and immediately wanted to program it for our audiences.

And what could be more of a smorgasbord than the concerts led by conductor Hannu Lintu with pianist Horacio Gutiérrez?  Mozart’s Symphony No. 36, Ravel’s Bolero, Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini – and Feria by contemporary Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg?

Mixing it up even further, we have less conventional guest artists like bass virtuoso Edgar Meyer and Portland’s own Thomas Lauderdale playing Gershwin’s great Piano Concerto in F – and then the celebrated Stephen Hough with a work you may never have heard, Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto.

With 2,780 seats in the hall and three performances of each program, we have a lot of seats to fill. We need to capture the imaginations of a broad cross-section of our community. We must program famous old friends, introduce brilliant new artists, satisfy the need for the familiar and well-loved and stimulate the curious. Some orchestras do this by creating very distinct packages with names like the “masterworks” and “explorations” series. We are finding that Portland audiences will come for a great piano masterpiece – and then be impressed, intrigued or delighted by John Adams’ Chamber Symphony and Samuel Barber’s “Souvenirs”.

Our subscription renewal deadline is fast approaching on May 1st, and we’re thrilled by the response to next year’s programs. We have many new subscribers patiently waiting in line for tickets – so if you haven’t yet renewed your subscription, please accept this gentle reminder to do so as quickly as possible.

Best wishes,

Elaine Calder
President