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A Bounty Awaits Us

By Eileen Wingard
San Diego Jewish Press-Heritage, January 17, 2003, page 23

A bounty of outstanding musical offerings, many with special Jewish interest, is scheduled for the opening months of 2003.

The San Diego Symphony's Jacobs' Masterworks Concerts, on Thursday, Jan. 16, at California Center for the Arts in Escondido and on
Friday and Saturday, Jan. 17 and 18, at Copley Symphony Hall, will feature Gustav Mahler's Fifth Symphony, a work subtitled "The Giant."

Mahler, born in Bohemia to Jewish parents, is considered the greatest symphonist since Brahms. The late German-born Jewish conductor
Bruno Walter, a champion of Mahler's music, described the Fifth Symphony as "passionate, wild, buoyant, solemn, tender, full of the sentiments
of which the human heart is capable."

These concerts, under guest conductor Jahja Ling, also will include Faure's Elegie and Saint-Saens' Cello Concerto performed by cellist
Lynn Harrell.

The next Jacobs' Masterworks Series concerts, on Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 7-9, at Copley Symphony Hall, will feature the young
 Russian pianist Konstantin Lifschitz, who has toured with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and performed with the Chicago Symphony, the
Minnesota Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic. He will play Rachmaninoff's Concerto #3, familiar to filmgoers from the movie Shine.
Completing the program, under the direction of guest conductor Roberto Minczuk, will be Tchaikovsky's Symphony #6 and
Krieger's Passacaglia for the New Millenium.

Both conductors, Jahja Ling and Roberto Minczuk, are candidates to replace the former SDSO conductor, Jung-Ho Pak. For information,
call (619)235-0800.

The San Diego Opera Company will open its season with Beethoven's wonderful opera Fidelio. Performances are Jan. 25, 28, 31 and Feb. 2
at the Civic Theater. For information, call (619) 570-1100.

In a smaller venue at La Jolla's Athenaeum Library of Music and Arts, the gifted American violinist Mark Kaplan, accompanied by Israeli-born pianist Yael Weiss, will present a recital on Sunday evening, Jan. 19. The next program on the library's Chamber Music Series, on Sunday, Feb. 2, will
feature Barbara Nissman, a world-renowned interpreter of Liszt, Prokofiev and Ginastera. She will perform works by those three composers. For
information, call (858) 454-5872.

At another intimate setting, a private home, the America-Israel Culture Foundation will sponsor a recital by two of its scholarship recipients,
cellist Inbal Megiddo and pianist Saleem Abboud Ashkar. Megiddo is a Jewish Israeli and Ashkar is an Arab resident of Nazereth. Both have soloed with the Israel Philharmonic and the Jerusalem Symphony and both are developing formidable careers abroad. For information, call (619) 265-8301.

Several music organizations are presenting concerts for youngsters. Among them are the Classics for Kids Philharmonic under the new leadership
of Mario Miagliotta, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra under the baton of resident conductor Matthew Garbutt and the San Diego Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Donald Barra.

The Classics for Kids Philharmonic collaborates with the San Diego Pantomime Theater to recreate the excitement of Stravinsky's whimsical Pulcinella Suite and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Performances are Jan. 21 at the East County Performing Arts Center; Jan. 22 at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido and Jan. 30 at the Spreckles Theater. For information, call (619) 435-9111.

The San Diego Symphony Orchestra will present a concert titled "The Symphonic Seasons." The orchestra will perform Vivaldi's Winter,
Tchaikovsky's June, Delius' Summer Evening and Glazunov¹s Autumn. Geni Cavitt, weathercaster for Channel 10, will talk about the science
of the seasons and big-screen visuals will bring close-ups of the musicians and illustrations of the music. Performances are scheduled on Wednesday
and Thursday, Jan. 29 and 30, at Copley Symphony Hall and Friday, Jan. 31, atthe East County Performing Arts Center. For information, call (619)
235-0800.

The San Diego Chamber Orchestra will present"³It¹s a Small, Small World," on Saturday, Feb. 15, at the Balboa Park Club and Carmel Valley
Middle School Performing Arts Center. Pre-concert activities feature face-painting, clowns, balloons and an instrument petting zoo. For information,
call (888) 848-7326, ext. 7.

As Eric Jensen says in his book Music With the Brain in Mind, "Music kindles the human spirit, sharpens the mind, fuels the body, and fills the heart."
San Diego musical organizations offer a wonderful bounty of music for people of all ages.