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[Audio] Maestro Ponti Talks Upcoming Paducah Symphony Orchestra Concert

Paducah Symphony Orchestra / paducahsymphony.org

The Paducah Symphony Orchestra gives its next performance at the Carson Center this Saturday night. On Sounds Good, classical producer George Eldred speaks with conductor RaffaelePonti about the concert, titled "Sibelius' Violin Concerto."

Ponti says one of the featured pieces, Symphony No. 5 written by Howard Hanson, evokes an almost religious feeling. The three-section composition moves from strong harmonies to a chaotic and fast-paced feel that ends with a haunting tone.

Another featured composition, Serge Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet Suite No 2, tells the classic story through music. Ponti says the piece has some of the most beautiful and colorful moments in the entire performance.

He says parts of it perfectly capture Juliet’s childlike innocence before the climax of destruction and clashing chords that all Shakespeare fans know.

Ponti says the last piece, Jean Sibelius’ Violin Concerto, is a challenging and strenuous work. It incorporates a beautiful muted string sound that’s become widely adopted since it was used here.

There’s a violin solo Ponti says is so perfect, every aspiring musician that plays it does so exactly as written without any ad-libbing.

The performance will feature violinist Gary Levinson. It takes place Saturday, Feb. 20 at 7:30 P.M. at the Carson Center in Paducah.

George Eldred has lived most of his life in Princeton, Kentucky except for a 15 year stint of studying music in Sewanee, Tennessee and Lawrence, Kansas and working in camera and photo finishing shops in the Washington, DC area. George first went on the air around the 4th grade when the local station in Princeton used to get elementary school students to read children's books from the library on the air.
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