Chamber on the Mountain, the new chamber music series directed by Heidi Lehwalder, has become a jewel in Ojai’s musical crown. The series will present its next concert at 3 p.m. Sunday.
Sunday’s featured artist is the gifted young violinist, Timothy Chooi, who will be backed by the redoubtable pianist, Robert Koenig.
Chooi’s program will include the Havanaise in E-Major, Opus 83 (1887) and the Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in a-minor, Opus 28 (1863) by Camille Saint-Saëns; the Violin-Piano Sonata No. 7 in c-minor, Opus 30, No. 2 (1802) by Ludwig Beethoven; and the Violin-Piano Sonata No. 2 in D-Major, Opus 94a (1943) by Sergei Prokofiev.
This is a gloriously solid program of established masterpieces. Interestingly, the main instrument of all three composers was not the violin but the piano — all were, in their day, famous virtuosos — but all composed quite a few works that, today, remain firmly entrenched in the recital repertoire of every solo violinist.
Both of the pieces by Saint-Saëns were originally composed for violin and orchestra, and the Prokofiev, we note, was originally composed for flute and piano (it remains a favorite of flautists) and was turned into a violin-piano work at the urging — we might almost say pleading — of David Oistrakh.
Sunday’s Chamber on the Mountain performance will be held in Logan House, adjacent to the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts at 8585 Ojai-Santa Paula Road. General admission is $25, with $15 student admission. Click here to purchase tickets online, or call 805.646.9951.
— Gerald Carpenter covers the arts as a Noozhawk contributing writer. He can be reached at gerald.carpenter@gmail.com. The opinions expressed are his own.