Full weekend slate for pianist

4/2/2004

Music making on dimensions both large and small is on the agenda this weekend for 28-year-old pianist Orli Shaham.

The New York-based artist comes to town to perform Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Toledo Symphony tonight and tomorrow night. Sunday afternoon, she teams up with orchestra members for a program of chamber music.

"One of the great things about being a pianist is all the different sorts of things that are available. It's like having two or three careers in one," Shaham said this week from New York.

"In the best cases, playing a concerto can be like playing chamber music on a large scale. But everything has to go through the conductor. Rarely do I ever get to speak to the musicians in a rehearsal. With chamber music there is such direct communication," she said.

The Sunday chamber music series was initiated this season so that orchestra musicians would have more opportunities for interaction with guest soloists. The recitals have also been a great opportunity for audiences, who sit on the Peristyle stage often within a few feet of the musicians. This is the final such event of the season.

Pianist Orli Shaham joins guest conductor Kazimierz Kord and the Toledo Symphony in music of Chopin, Lutoslawski, and others at 8 tonight and tomorrow. Tickets range from $15 to $40. Shaham and orchestra members play music of Mozart and Shostakovich at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10. Both concerts are in the Toledo Museum of Art Peristyle. The audience must enter via the stage door on Sunday. Information: 419-246-8000.