WKMS is broadcasting the Paducah Symphony Orchestra’s March 11 performance this Sunday at 11:00 a.m. George Eldred speaks with Conductor Raffaele Ponti about the concert.
The performance begins with Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings. Ponti says the emotional piece is full of color. “What is beautiful about this piece is that he puts this dissonance together in such a subtle way that it’s not offensive or abrasive, bu you feel some tension. And when that release happens, it’s just like a flower blossoming and blooming,” Ponti said.
Spanish composer Oscar Navarro’s Clarinet Concerto No.2 features clarinetist Franklin Cohen. Ponti calls the piece stunning. It takes on a flamenco style, including hand claps, and is written with a stereophonic effect.
Lastly, the PSO performs all four movements of Beethoven’s Symphony No.5. “Everybody knows movement one,” Ponti said. “They don’t realize that there’s second, third, and fourth glorious movements. And their going to get a chance to hear how all of this culminates.”