Indonesian pianist joins Newbury Orchestra for evening of classical favourites
On Saturday (March 19) Newbury Symphony Orchestra (NSO) will be performing a programme of acclaimed classical favourites at St Nic's Church in the centre of town.
The NSO is one of the oldest non-professional orchestras in England and is now in its 142nd season. The orchestra comprises 60 amateur musicians of all ages and draws its members from four counties. The resident professional conductor is Jonathan Williams and the leader is Wendy Clark.
At the heart of the concert is Beethoven’s ground-breaking Symphony No 3, known as the Eroica. Beethoven idolised Napoleon, perceiving him as the hero of revolutionary France, and planned to dedicate his third symphony to the French leader. The work's original subtitle was Bonaparte. That changed when Napoleon declared himself Emperor in May 1804. Beethoven exploded in protest. ‘Is he then, too, nothing more than an ordinary human being?’ Beethoven exclaimed. ‘Now he, too, will trample on all the rights of man and indulge only his ambition. He will exalt himself above all others, become a tyrant.’ Beethoven then tore the title page of his new symphony to pieces. When he recopied it, he named it ‘Sinfonia Eroica.’ It was published 1806 with the subtitle ‘To celebrate the memory of a great man.’
Also on the NSO programme is the popular overture from the opera Don Giovanni by Mozart. This work was famously written just the night before the opera’s premiere when Mozart was reminded that he had forgotten to include an overture. The great maestro sat up all night writing out the parts and the musicians sight-read the work for the first performance, to resounding acclaim.
Completing the programme is the Shostakovich piano concerto no.2. This is one of Shostakovich’s most optimistic works, written in 1957 to celebrate his son Maxim’s 19th birthday. The soloist for this work is Indonesian pianist Jennifer. In 2019, Jennifer successfully completed her bachelor’s degree in music at the Wiesbadener Musikakademie in Germany, where she graduated with distinction and highest score of the year. In 2018, she was admitted to the prestigious International Bach Competition in Leipzig as the only Indonesian participant selected that year.
Currently, Jennifer is based in Oxford, pursuing her MPhil in music performance at the University of Oxford’s St Hilda’s College. She has performed in concert halls and venues across Germany, including the renowned Kurhaus Wiesbaden, the Hessian State Chancellery, Museum Castle Holdenstedt, Biebrich Palace, Brentano House, Medingen Cloister, and the New City Hall of Wiesbaden. She has also performed as a soloist with various ensembles including the Wratislavia Chamber Orchestra and the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Wiesbaden.
The concert is at St Nicolas Church, Newbury, on Saturday, March 19 at 7.30pm. Tickets are £12.00 (£2.00 for under 18s). Tickets are available on the door and online from the NSO website – www.newburysymphonyorchestra.org.
