RSO Planning Concert With Orchestration ‘Par Excellence’

RIDGEFIELD — Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra will perform its next concert, “An Orchestral High,” at 8 pm on Saturday, April 1. The performance will be at Ridgefield High School.

The program includes Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, Ravel’s G Major Piano Concerto,and Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s piano work, Pictures at an Exhibition.  In addition, Golden Baton winner John Patrick will conduct Beethoven’s Creatures of Prometheus Overture.

Guest soloist will be the Russian pianist Elena Baksht, who at age 11 was soloist with Moscow Philharmonic. She is a graduate of Moscow Conservatory and Central Special Music School for Gifted Children.

In 1998 she won the Artist International Piano Competition and was awarded her Carnegie Recital Hall debut. She earned a master’s at Juilliard and has performed throughout North America and Europe.

Night on Bald Mountain was popularized in the Disney movie Fantasia and is the King of Spook, portraying the revelry of evil spirits.

The piano concerto includes elements of jazz and contains opening and closing movements brilliant enough to be finales, enclosing a romantic nocturne.

“Pictures” is one of the all-time crowd pleasers for RSO with its lavish orchestration. Before its performance Maestro Rothstein will have Ms Baksht play some of the original piano pieces and show how Ravel achieved such tremendous effects without changing a single note.

Tickets range from $25 to $50 for adults, and $15 to $30 for students. Ticket reservations and additional information is available from the orchestra office (203-438-3889), Ridgefield Music (203-438-7446), or RidgefieldSymphony.org.