Happy birthday

For its April
1 concert at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera
House, the Brooklyn Philharmonic presents "Love and Betrayal,"
a program paying tribute to composers celebrating milestone birthdays:
Mozart’s 250th and Dmitri Shostakovich’s 100th.



Music Director Michael Christie (pictured) discussed the three
works on the program with GO Brooklyn, beginning with an honor
from one composer to another: Estonian Alfred Schnittke’s whimsical
orchestral work, 1977’s "Moz-Art a la Haydn."



"The Schnittke work is an homage to Mozart and the classical-era
style, done with an updated musical vernacular, if you will,"
says Christie. "This very clever piece is a perfect opener."



Next is one of Shostakovich’s most terse and personal works.



"Shostakovich’s ’Chamber Symphony’ is actually a re-orchestration
of his eighth string quartet, probably one of his most famous
works," Christie explains. "He quotes several of his
own pieces throughout, so if we perform one Shostakovich composition,
it’s nice to do this, because it’s so autobiographical."



Mozart’s music, written for the play "Thamos, King of Egypt,"
takes up the entire second half of the concert. "King Thamos"
isn’t often performed, probably because it’s a curious hybrid,
as Christie notes: not quite opera nor oratorio.



" ’Thamos’ is quite theatrical, which makes it exciting
to perform," Christie says. "Even though it’s incidental
music to a German text [which Christie translated specifically
for this performance], it includes fantastic choral numbers,
sung by the New York Virtuoso Singers.



"Coincidentally," the conductor continues, "it’s
based on an ancient Egyptian text, like Philip Glass’s ’Akhnaten’
[heard at the last Philharmonic concert]. We’re always happy
to perform a piece that isn’t done too often."



The Brooklyn Philharmonic performs Schnittke, Shostakovich and
Mozart on April 1 at 8 pm at BAM’s Howard Gilman Opera House,
30 Lafayette Ave. at Ashland Place in Fort Greene. For more information,
visit www.brooklynphilharmonic.org.