Symphony Silicon Valley welcomes Jon Nakamatsu back to the beautiful California Theater to perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 5. Often considered the “most important piano concerto ever written” the Emperor is filled with innovation, looking forward to 19th century pianos not yet conceived, it was to be Beethoven’s last.
The program opens in a mood of enchantment, with Ravel’s elegance, delicacy, shimmering colors and expressive melodies on full display with his Mother Goose Suite and Pavane Pur Une Infante Défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess). The mood shifts dramatically with Stravinsky’s brief, brilliant Symphony. Written just after WWII, it has the intensity of a newsreel.
The beautifully restored 1927 California Theatre is located in the heart of the SoFA art district in downtown San Jose. Easy, inexpensive parking is just one block away at San Jose City Garage on San Carlos Street with entrances on 2nd and 3rd Streets.