\u201cIt\u2019s amazing what can happen over a cup of coffee,\u201d says Christopher Jackson, Guest Conductor for the Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra (PSO) performance of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi\u2019s 1733 intermezzo \u201cLa serva padrona.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra presents \u201cPergolesi Celebration: La Serva Padrona,\u201d 7:30 p.m. with a 6:30 p.m. pre-concert talk, Nov. 15, Christ Lutheran Church, Allentown.<\/p>\n
Says Jackson, \u201cPaul Chou [PSO music director] and I met at a coffee shop about two years ago and talked about what kind of music the Lehigh Valley might need more of and mused that there really hasn\u2019t been a lot of local opera.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLa serva padrona\u201d (\u201cThe Servant as Mistress\u201d) was written as light-hearted staged entertainment between acts of Pergolesi\u2019s serious opera, \u201cIl prigionier superbo\u201d (\u201cThe Proud Prisoner\u201d). Although the opera was unsuccessful, the intermezzo became immensely popular and was a significant influence on the development of comic opera.<\/p>\n
With three characters (two singers and a silent actor), the performance will not be staged as an opera although the performers will interact.<\/p>\n
Soprano Ashley Milanese is Serpina, the maid turned mistress. Baritone Johnathan McCullough sings the role of Uberto, a bachelor. Giovanni Marini is the silent Vesponi, Uberto\u2019s servant.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a concert, but we do a little bit more movement than you would see in your typical concert,\u201d says McCullough. \u201cWe have some tricks up our sleeves and some things that might surprise the audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a perfect piece if it\u2019s your first introduction to opera: short and very entertaining,\u201d McCullough says.<\/p>\n
McCullough has sung lead roles with Opera Philadelphia, Komische Oper Berlin, English National Opera and Op\u00e9ra de Lausanne. McCullough is Director of The National Youth Opera Academy of the National Children\u2019s Chorus.<\/p>\n
Milanese has appeared with The Metropolitan Opera, Teatro Regio Torino, Komische Oper Berlin, Opera Philadelphia and the Allentown Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n
Marini has appeared at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, DeSales University Act I, Civic Theatre of Allentown, Cedar Crest College theater and The Pennsylvania Playhouse.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra, \u201cPergolesi Celebration: La Serva Padrona,\u201d 7:30 p.m.; 6:30 p.m. pre-concert talk, Nov. 15, Christ Lutheran Church, 1245 Hamilton St., Allentown. Tickets: PSO office, 1524 W. Linden St., Allentown; 610-434-7811; https:\/\/www.pasinfonia.org\/<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom beginning to end, this concert is really all about fun,\u201d says Diane Wittry, Allentown Symphony Orchestra (ASO) Music Director and Conductor.<\/p>\n
Allentown Symphony Orchestra presents \u201cBeethoven\u2019s 8th,\u201d 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8; 2 p.m. Nov. 9, Miller Symphony Hall, Allentown.<\/p>\n
The concert opens with Ludwig van Beethoven\u2019s \u201cRondo in the Hungarian Style, Almost a Caprice,\u201d where the addition of \u201ccaprice\u201d implies the humorous nature of the work.<\/p>\n
Beethoven\u2019s friend and early biographer Anton Schindler added the nickname \u201cRage Over a Lost Penny\u201d prior to its publication in 1828.<\/p>\n
Originally scored for piano, the orchestral arrangement is by Steven Reisteter, American composer and educator, bass clarinetist with the ASO and Principal Clarinet of the Allentown Band.<\/p>\n
Says Reisteter, \u201cI feel that there are two challenges when orchestrating a piano piece.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first is to try to not make the orchestration sound like it\u2019s from piano music.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe second is dealing with the piano\u2019s inherent resonance for which I had to judiciously add sustained notes so that the piece wouldn\u2019t sound too \u2018dry.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Next on the program is the second movement of Franz Joseph Haydn\u2019s \u201cSymphony No. 94 in G major.\u201d Dubbed the \u201cSurprise Symphony,\u201d the \u201csurprise\u201d occurs after a muted passage when the full orchestra enters with a loud and startling chord.<\/p>\n
The audience will enjoy Leroy Anderson\u2019s humorous and light piece \u201cThe Typewriter\u201d with a typewriter soloist, ASO Principal Percussionist Anthony DiBartolo.<\/p>\n
Says Wittry, \u201cThe most difficult thing about this piece was trying to find an old-fashioned typewriter which still worked.\u201d<\/p>\n
The concert\u2019s first half closes with Clarice Assad\u2019s \u201cPLAY!, A Concerto for Percussion Quartet, Vocalist and Orchestra,\u201d which she composed in 2023 for the Grammy Award- winning ensemble Third Coast Percussion, which accompanies the ASO.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was this piece that gave me the idea to include program selections which were not so serious and which used unusual instruments,\u201d says Wittry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis work is just absolute fun and is so imaginative. There\u2019s a pig squeaky toy, slide whistles, thunder tubes, bird call whistles and much more, but my favorites are the yellow rubber chickens,\u201d Wittry says.<\/p>\n
Says composer Assad, \u201cPlay: a word of boundless meanings. Fascinated by this word\u2019s depth, I began a sonic exploration with the captivating Third Coast Percussion quartet.\u201d<\/p>\n
After intermission, the concert\u2019s second half is Beethoven\u2019s lighthearted and humorous \u201cSymphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93.\u201d The second movement parodies a metronome.<\/p>\n
Allentown Symphony Orchestra, \u201cBeethoven\u2019s 8th,\u201d 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8; 2 p.m. Nov. 9, Miller Symphony Hall, 23 N. Sixth St., Allentown. Free tickets for those 21 and under. Tickets: box office; 610-432-6715; https:\/\/millersymphonyhall.org\/<\/p>\n
\u201cClassical View\u201d is a column about classical music concerts, conductors and performers. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com<\/p>\n
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOAshley Milanese, soprano, Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra<\/p>\n
Johnathan McCullough<\/p>\n
Giovanni Marini<\/p>\n
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOThird Coast Percussion accompanies the Allentown Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s amazing what can happen over a cup of coffee,\u201d says Christopher Jackson, Guest Conductor for the Pennsylvania…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":{"0":"post-28509","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-allentown","9":"tag-allentown-headlines","10":"tag-allentown-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}