What are the most famous opening four notes in music?
No contest.
The answer: “Duh-duh-duh-duuuh” from classical music’s greatest calling card, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.
Expect Guadalajara’s Teatro Degollado to be packed to the rafters next weekend when the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra continues its fall season with a performance of this majestic work composed in 1803.
In the second program of the season, JPO musical director Marco Parisotto interprets “The Three Great ‘Bs’ in History.”
The other famous ‘Bs’ are none other than Johann Sebastian Bach and Johannes Brahms – no small fries themselves!
Filling out the program will be Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, arranged by Leopold Stokowski, and Brahms’ classic Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90.
The performances are Friday, October 2, 8:30 p.m. and Sunday, October 4, 12:30 p.m.
Back from a successful summer tour of South Korea, the JPO began its third season of 2015 last weekend with a program of hit Hollywood movie themes composed by John Williams and conducted by Dorian Wilson of the United States. The two concerts were warmly received by patrons, who gave solo violinist, Ivan Perez from Venezuela, hearty applause on both days.
Parisotto takes a break from the podium for programs three and four of the season, when Bulgarian Martin Panteleev and Eckart Preu of Germany are the invited conductors.
On Friday, October 9 and Sunday, October 11, Panteleev will be joined by Daniela Liebman, the 13-year-old local piano prodigy who has already played at New York’s fabled Carnegie Hall. The program consists of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 3 in D major, Op. 29 and Chopin’s Piano Concerto No 2 in F minor, Op 21.
Canadian Sheng Cai is the invited pianist on October 16 and 18 when Preu conducts Ferde Grofe’s Grand Canyon Suite, William Schuman’s American Festival Overture, Bela Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Jose Pablo Moncayo’s Cumbres.
The fifth and final concert of the fall season sees Parisotto joined by clarinetist Joaquín Valdepeñas for a program of music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A single performance is scheduled on Sunday, November 6, 12:30 p.m.
The Teatro Degollado is located at the far end of the Plaza de la Liberation in downtown Guadalajara. Tickets are available at the box office, open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., telephone (33) 3614-4773. Cost for all the concerts is 110-200 pesos. There is a 30-percent discount for students, teachers, senior citizens (with ID) and persons with special needs. Entry only to persons over six years of age. Tickets also available from Ticketmaster, at 3818-3800, www.ticketmaster.com.mx or outlets in local stores, including Liverpool and Mixup.
Musical appreciation talks (in Spanish) relating to the programs are held free of charge on the Friday of each concert, at 7 p.m., in the theater’s Sala de Camera, entrance on Morelos.
The theater usually allows patrons into the theater to watch the Friday morning dress rehearsal with no charge.