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San Marino — “Jonathan Mack and Friends” puts the spotlight on featured artist tenor Jonathan Mack when Maestro Victor Vener and the California Philharmonic Chamber Soloists present the fourth “Cal Phil Music, Martinis and The Maestro” concert on April 23 at Pasadena’s Green Hotel. It’s chamber style and cocktail chic at “Cal Phil Music, Martinis and The Maestro” concerts that take chamber music out of the concert hall, allowing listeners to enjoy themselves at tables close to the performers and the music. Music Director Victor Vener will regale concertgoers with his sparkling wit and thorough knowledge of music in “Talks With The Maestro” prior to each concert. Doors open at 1:30 p.m. for cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and mingling with musicians. Concerts begin at 3 p.m. Concerts take place in the Green Hotel’s elegant Romanesque Room, which is transformed into an elegant concert venue recalling bygone era. Jonathan Mack and the California Philharmonic Chamber Soloists - Pavel Farkas and Irina Voloshina, violin; James Hanna, viola; Dennis Karmazyn, cello; Ayke Agus, piano - will perform Mozart’s “Freemason Cantata” and Williams’ “On Wenlock Edge.” Since graduating from the University of Southern California with degrees in French horn and voice, Jonathan Mack’s career as a lyric tenor has taken him throughout the United States, Europe and Australia as a recital, concert and opera singer. He has performed with the Los Angeles Music Center Opera for 20 years, and his concert work includes engagements with conductors including Giulini, Mehta, Previn, Boulez, Rattle, Hogwood and Tilson-Thomas. “Jonathan is one of the pre-eminent concert singers in the country,” said Maestro Vener. “Besides the beauty of his voice and personality, he has a technique and musicianship that surpasses the mass majority of singers. I first met him when he was a French horn major at USC, and then at 20 he started taking voice lessons to improve his playing - musicians are often told to ‘play it like you would sing it.’ One of the reasons Jonathan is such a unique performer is that he combines the skills of an instrumentalist with that of a singer at all times, achieving remarkable musical effects. “He enjoys the small setting and repertoire at ‘Cal Phil Martinis, Music and The Maestro,’” Vener continued. “And that gives our audience a wonderful opportunity to be so close to this great singer as he performs.” |
Alternately known as “a small German cantata” and “a small Freemason cantata,” the short “Freemason Cantata K. 619,” was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1791. Little is known about the genesis of this piece. Its manuscript were found among sketches for “The Magic Flute” and may have been written for performance at Mozart’s Masonic lodge in Vienna where he was working on the opera. This very ecstatic setting in C major functions almost like a mini-oratorio, preaching utopian sentiments of universal love and brotherhood. In 1907 English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) grew restless with what he perceived as technical deficiencies in his work. He journeyed to Paris in 1908 to take private lessons from master musician and composer Maurice Ravel. In his autobiography he later wrote, “I came home with a bad attack of French fever and wrote a string quartet, which caused a friend to say I must have been having tea with Debussy, and a song-cycle with several atmospheric effects.” That song-cycle was “On Wenlock Edge,” featuring six settings of poems from A. E. Housman’s collection, “A Shropshire Lad.” The string quartets of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) occupy a special position in the composer’s oeuvre. They chart a course from the beginning of his full musical maturity to his final compositional thoughts. The “ ‘Rasoumovsky’ Quartets, Opus 59,” date from 1806, between the “4th Piano Concerto” and the “Violin Concerto” and midway through the astonishing decade that saw his transformation from primarily a virtuoso pianist into the most famous composer living in Vienna. The Cal Phil Brass Quintet will bring the “Cal Phil Music, Martinis and The Maestro” series to a close on May 21, performing Holst’s “Military Suite in F,” Ewald’s “Quintet,” plus Sousa marches, Dixieland tunes and Beatles classics. Guests may reserve single seats at $50 (at table) or $25 (chair) per concert or $200 and $300 for tables of four and six, respectively. Season tickets are $100 (chairs), $200 (at table), $800 (table for four) and $1,200 (table for six). Learn more about “Cal Phil Music, Martinis and The Maestro” series by calling (626) 300-8200 or visiting www.cal phil.org. |