Northwest Sinfonietta celebrates love with unchained melodies

photo courtesy of NW Sinfonietta

PAPPAS

When love is in the air come Valentine’s Day weekend, Northwest Sinfonietta will be fanning the flames of romance through its performance of “Romancing the Muse,” Feb. 13 at Rialto Theater. Offering some of the greatest love arias from Mozart’s most renowned and beloved operas, “Romancing the Muse” will welcome special guest soprano Lambroula Maria Pappas and present the Northwest premiere of Erwin Stein’s arrangement of Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 4 in G,” conducted by Christophe Chagnard.

The first part of the “Romancing the Muse” program begins with French composer Gabriel Fauré’s “Romance Sans Paroles” (Romance Without Words) featuring longtime Sinfonietta player and principal cellist Mara Finkelstein. With a melody that listeners instantly fall in love with, Fauré’s exquisite work shows why he influenced so many 20th century composers.

The music continues in the key of l’amour with love arias of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Canadian lyric-coloratura soprano Pappas taking the stage to charm with her charismatic style. Acclaimed for her impeccable tone, Pappas’ performances have been called “goose-bump inducing” and the notes she sings, “shimmering.” Gilda in “Rigoletto” has become one of her signature roles among the many she has performed all over the world to standing ovations from critics and audiences alike.

The Mozart selection on the night’s playbill will include four famous love arias that Pappas will grace with her vocals: “Deh vieni non tardar” (from “The Marriage of Figaro”); “Se il Padre perdei (from “Idomeneo”); “Ach, ich fuhl’s (from “The Magic Flute”); and “Batti, batti o bel Masetto (from “Don Giovanni”).   

Following Mozart, Pappas will sing the first movement of Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 4 in G” arranged for chamber ensemble by Austrian musician and composer Erwin Stein. A student of renowned Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg, Stein helped him re-orchestrate complex symphonic pieces for smaller ensembles. Through their Society for Private Musical Performances, part of the Society’s work included the formation of a chamber group made up of gifted musicians to meet in people’s homes and play the re-orchestrated compositions Schoenberg, Stein and their colleagues wrote.

“It’s a brilliant orchestration,” said Sinfonietta Executive Director Neil Birnbaum of Stein’s chamber ensemble treatment of Mahler’s fourth symphony. “It includes all the notes one would hear in a full symphony but played by fewer musicians. It’s much more transparent and it also happens to be remarkably satisfying.”

All of the musical selections in “Romancing the Muse” will showcase the amazing talents of the 35 foremost instrumentalists in Northwest Sinfonietta, most of whom have been with the ensemble since its founding in 1991 by Chagnard, one of the most sought-after conductors in the Pacific Northwest, and Kathryn Habedank on the occasion of the Mozart Bicentennial.

“We have an incredible spirit among our musicians,” Birnbaum said. “We have very little turnover with our people, and it makes me grateful that our musicians have such terrific loyalty.”

“Romancing the Muse” plays Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m. at Rialto Theatre. Tickets are $19-$49, available by calling (800) 291-7593 or at http://www.NWSinfonietta.org.

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