April 28-May 4, 2005

musicpicks

Curtis Symphony Orchestra

classical

Composer Richard Danielpour is one of the most successful of the so-called neo-Romantics. His voice has become especially well-focused in his recent music, including a double concerto for violin and cello that he wrote for the 25th wedding anniversary of Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson. "In the Arms of the Beloved" is a work of sustained, lyric power, even as it unfolds at a relatively muted dynamic level and pace. The music is inspired by the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi, whose love poems express the belief that we see the face of God in the vision of those who we love. As is often the case with Curtis concerts, there are a lot of local connections in Friday's performance. Danielpour was a student of the great Philadelphia composer Vincent Persichetti, and he now teaches composition at Curtis. Jaime Laredo, violin, has taught at Curtis for many years. Laredo and Robinson will once again solo in their special piece, with Michael Stern (a Curtis alum who also led the premiere in 2003) at the podium. The awesome Curtis Symphony Orchestra will also perform music of Bartõk and Sibelius. Words cannot describe the glorious, spine-tingling sound that this band makes; you have to be there.
Fri., April 29, 8 p.m., $5-$32, Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999.

—Peter Burwasser