On tonight’s program, center stage belongs to Schnittke’s superb Concerto for Piano & String Orchestra. Written in 1979, and premiered in Leningrad the same year, it is an unconventional work consisting of a single movement with contrasting sections. Its dramatic quality and the demand on the pianist are beyond words. Playing it tonight is one of Schnittke’s foremost interpreters, the Armenian pianist Lusine Khachatryan.

Flanking Schnittke are two symphonic works, both in Classical style: Prokofiev’s elegant yet virtuosic Symphony No. 1 “Classical” (written in his typical Neo-Classical style), and Haydn’s famous Symphony No. 103 in E-flat.

Artists:
Lusine Khachatryan, piano
Oregon Festival Orchestra

Program:
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 “Classical”, Op. 25

Schnittke: Concerto for Piano & String Orchestra

Haydn: Symphony No. 103 in E-flat “Drumroll”