VIRTUOSITY AND REVOLUTION at Meridian Arts Centre – George Weston Recital Hall

Manuel de Falla’s El Sombrero de tres pico (The Three-cornered hat) suite no. 2 draws its music from de Falla’s ballet of the same name, which uses harmonic and melodic idioms derived from traditional Andalusian folk music, flamenco style, and the cante jondo, and had sets designed Pablo Picasso. Antonio Di Cristofano then performs Ravel’s Piano concerto in G major, which boasts influences from a plurality of styles, including jazz, folk music, and Mozart. Ravel himself describes the work as “a genuine concerto…clearly highlighting the soloist’s virtuosity.” The concert concludes with Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 12, a programmatic piece in four movements played without pause and viewed as Tableaux depicting the October (1917) Revolution.

Kristian Alexander | conductor Antonio Di Cristofano | pianist Daniel Vnukowski | host

7:10 p.m. Prélude: pre-concert recital. 7:20 p.m. Pre-concert talk. Intermission discussion and Q&A with Antonio Di Cristofano and Daniel Vnukowski.