Featured in this concert is pianist Markus Groh performing Brahms’ “Piano Concert No. 2.” Groh is a young German pianist highly regarded for his interpretations of Brahms.
Since winning the 1995 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels (the first German in the competition’s history), Markus Groh has confirmed his position in top echelon of the new generation of pianists. Frequently cited for the richness of his “sound imagination,” his grasp of disparate styles is remarkable. In addition to his concert activities, Groh is the founder of the Bebersee Chamber Music Festival outside of Berlin. He studied at the Stuttgart Conservatory, at the Berlin Academy of the Arts and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
Johannes Brahms’s “Second Piano Concerto,” described as “sober, reflective and philosophical,” is the largest concerto ever composed in traditional, classical form. This work reflects the complex personality of Brahms. He was known for spewing forth bitter insults — he called Bruckner’s works “gigantic snake symphonies” — but he also regularly passed out pocketfuls of candy to the little tots who followed him around Vienna on his daily walks. The concerto took three years to write and was inspired by his vacations to Italy.
The orchestra will also perform Edward Elgar’s “Cockaigne” (“In London Town”), and Benjamin Britten’s “Sinfonia da Requiem.” Cockaigne is a musical picture of early 20th century London in the reign of Edward VII. Elgar imagined the city’s sights and sounds through the senses of two lovers taking a walk. They enter a church, then exchange love messages in a park. The sound of a triumphal marching band and the religious music of a church organ form part of the music’s texture.
The expressive content of the “Sinfonia da Requiem” grew equally from Britten’s strong anti-war views of World War II (he was granted status as a conscientious objector when he returned to England from the U. S.) and his abiding sorrow over the deaths of his father in 1934 and his mother three years later.
The Symphony announces that single tickets may now be purchased locally at the Campbell House through the Arts Council of Moore County. Single tickets are $25 each for this concert held at Pinecrest High School. The Arts Council can be reached at 692-4356.
