Drama and Pathos: Goosby Plays Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto

Kahchun Wong, conductor
Randall Goosby, violin
San Diego Symphony Orchestra

UNSUK CHIN: subito con forza
TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35
MUSSORGSKY (orch. Ravel): Pictures from an Exhibition

Korean composer Unsuk Chin’s subito con forza provides a thrilling opening to a concert of music mixing savage drama with the sweetest possible melodies. Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto was written in only a few days in an unstoppable flow of passion and inspiration, while Mussorgsky’s Pictures from an Exhibition (fabulously orchestrated by Maurice Ravel) mourns the tragic early death of an artist friend; the music rages against the cruelty of his fate, remembers the sweetness of shared experiences, and in the last movement, “The Great Gate of Kiev”, fills us all with hope for a better future.