The Santa Barbara Symphony’s 70th Anniversary season continues with Beethoven Dreams, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 15, and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 16, preceded by a pre-concert Conversation with Kabaretti at 2 p.m.
Conductor Nir Kabaretti has curated a Beethoven-centric program that renews the symphony’s enduring collaborative relationship with Ensemble Theatre Company’s artistic director Jonathan Fox, who will direct the West Coast premiere of Ella Milch-Sheriff’s staged monodrama “The Eternal Stranger,” (based on a dream by Beethoven).
Beethoven’s poetic “Piano Concerto No. 4” and his “Symphony No. 4” conclude the program.
Tickets for Beethoven Dreams can be purchased online here. For full details about the Santa Barbara Symphony’s 2022/23 season, click here or call 805-898-9386.
“For me, Beethoven is the most innovative and revolutionary composer of all time, and an inspiration for so many composers after him,” Kabaretti said. “It’s also a treat to welcome Ukrainian-born pianist Ina Faliks to share the stage with us.
“Adding to this special program is a new piece by a wonderful composer and friend, Ella Milch Sheriff, inspired by a dream of Beethoven’s,” Kabaretti said.
“This piece is theatrical, and gives us an exciting opportunity to collaborate with our brilliant friend, and artistic director Jonathan Fox from Ensemble Theatre Company. We can’t wait to share this performance with you all,” he said.
This is Fox’s fifth project with the Santa Barbara Symphony. He collaborated on their Shakespeare and Valentine’s Day concerts and directed their production of “The Soldier’s Tale.”
Fox directed Opera Santa Barbara’s 2019 production of “Eugene Onegin” and 2014 production of “The Consul.” Fox has been with the company since 2006.
Considered one of the most significant composers in Israeli music, Milch-Sheriff composes works that delve deep into complicated and thrilling subjects.
Her monodrama for actor and orchestra titled “The Eternal Stranger,” inspired by a dream Beethoven had in which he imagined himself transplanted to Jerusalem, is one such example.
She composed the piece to mark the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s birth, commissioned by the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Teatro Massimo Palermo in Sicily, and London’s BBC Radio 3.
The inspiration comes from Beethoven’s letter to his publisher, Tobias Haslinger, describing a strange dream he had, in which he took a very long journey, “as far even as Syria, as far even as India, back again, as far even as Arabia,” coming finally to Jerusalem.
“The Eternal Stranger” engages with Beethoven’s legacy in a contemporary setting.
Ukrainian-born American pianist Inna Faliks has made a name for herself through her commanding performances of standard piano repertoire, as well interdisciplinary projects, and inquisitive work with contemporary composers.
After her acclaimed teenage debuts at the Gilmore Festival and with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, she has appeared on many of the world’s great stages in recital and with major orchestras and conductors. She is a professor and head of Piano Studies at UCLA.
Beethoven Dreams is supported by Principal Concert Sponsor, Todd & Allyson Aldrich; Artist Sponsor, Susan Aberle; and Selection Sponsors, Eve Bernstein, George Konstantinow & Helene Segal, Howard Jay Smith & Patricia Bivans Dixon, Dr. Bob Weinman.
For more information, visit TheSymphony.org.