Classical guitarist Pablo Villegas will reprise his role as a guest soloist with the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera during tonight’s Masterworks performance of Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Fantasia para un Gentilhombre.”If you go
› What: Chattanooga Symphony & Opera Masterworks series presents “Pulcinella.” › When: 7:30 p.m. today, March 17.› Where: Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St. › Admission: $21-$83. › Phone: 423-267-8583.› Website: chattanoogasymphony.org/event/pulcinella.
The program
› Igor Stravinsky’s Concerto in E-Flat “Dumbarton Oaks”› Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Fantasia para un Gentilhombre”› Igor Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” suite
“Percussive violence.” “Daring.” “Barbaric tone.” “Shifting and audacious rhythms.” “Post-romantic extravagance.”
These are just a few of the descriptions lobbed by the Encyclopaedia Britannica at Igor Stravinsky’s best-known compositions, the ballets “The Firebird” and “The Rite of Spring.”
You’ll notice that subtlety and restraint aren’t among them.
Tonight, March 17, the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera will shine a light on a different side of the Russian composer during the penultimate masterworks concert of the season. The program features two Stravinsky works, Concerto in E-Flat (aka “Dumbarton Oaks”) and the “Pulcinella” suite, both of which offer a strikingly different perspective on the composer, says CSO conductor Kayoko Dan.
“‘Pulcinella’ and ‘Dumbarton Oaks’ are very, very different from the huge works,” Dan says. “The instrumentation is really minimal, and the style is very, very different. Those other works are grand, large-scale pieces with huge orchestras.”
“Dumbarton Oaks,” in particular, represents the most drastic change of form. The concerto will be performed by just 15 musicians, a fraction of the 100 or so an orchestra needs to field to do justice to “Rite of Spring.” That sparsity of musicians presents a special challenge, Dan says.
“It’s practically chamber music. No one can hide in this music. Everyone is a soloist; everyone is exposed,” she says. “Everything has to be really rehearsed meticulously or it won’t sound very good. It’s challenging in that way, and it has mixed-meter stuff that puts us on our toes.”
The Stravinsky selections bookend a middle act featuring the return of Spanish classical guitarist Pablo Villegas, who last performed with the orchestra in 2013. During his last visit, Villegas tackled Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez.” This time, he’ll lay fingers to string for another Rodrigo composition, “Fantasia para un Gentilhombre” (“Fantasia for a Gentleman”).
Dan says she’s pleased to be working again with Villegas, whom she describes as “virtuosic” and “passion[ate] and warm,” adding that she’s far from alone in expressing delight at the guitarist’s return.
“Since he played with us three years ago, I’ve had a lot of audience members begging me, practically, to ‘Bring back Pablo,'” she laughs. “They really liked him.”
Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.