Critic’s Choice
Francesco Piemontesi makes his Utah Symphony debut this weekend playing Schumann’s Piano Concerto, one of the most endearing and celebrated concertos from the 19th century.
The 37-year-old Swiss pianist, a student of Alfred Brendel, has made a name for himself performing with several of the major orchestras on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Cleveland Orchestra and the London Philharmonic. He recorded the Schumann concerto a few years ago with the BBC Symphony under Jiri Belohlávek.
This weekend the Utah Symphony will also continue its season-long celebration of Beethoven’s 250th birthday with Thierry Fischer conducting his rhythmically vibrant Symphony No. 7, which Wagner called “the apotheosis of the dance.”
Rounding out the program are two movements from Olivier Messiaen’s Des canyons aux étoiles, a work he wrote after visiting southern Utah in the early 1970s: “Bryce Canyon and the Red-Orange Rocks” and “Cedar Breaks and the Gift of Awe.”
The concerts will take place 7:30 p.m. Friday and 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Abravanel Hall. utahsymphony.org; 801-355-2787.
Leave a Comment
