When Reg Quiring and Rosemary O'Connor told Dale Barltrop, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra concertmaster, their upcoming show would be based on the moon, "he immediately said, 'Oh, something French!'" O'Connor recalled.
And, so, for their chamber recital at Coquitlam's Evergreen Cultural Centre on Friday, titled Over the Moon, the classical musicians have programmed two French composers: Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel.
"The moon has so many different associations for so many people such as mystery or romance and, thus, the French connection," O'Connor said.
O'Connor, a pianist, and Quiring, a VSO violist, will kick off the concert with three short lieder, with Barltrop reading the poetry. It starts with Brahms' May Night before continuing with a Debussy piece based on a poem called Clair du Lune by Paul Verlaine and ending with a Schumann number, titled Mondnacht that's matched with a poetry by Eichendorff.
The concert then switches gears to include Barltrop on violin, VSO violinist Jason Ho, Quiring and VSO cellist Olivia Blander for a string quartet called Half Wolf Dances Mad in the Moonlight, by the American composer Terry Riley. O'Connor and Barltrop take to the stage for the third part to play Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Piano with its famous jazz-inspired second movement. And, lastly, Barltrop, Quiring, O'Connor and Blander will end the evening with Brahms' Piano Quartet in G-minor, known for its rousing gyspy rondo conclusion.
Tickets for Over the Moon on Friday, May 25 at 8 p.m. are $35/$30/$15 through the ECC box office at 604-927-6555 or online at www.evergreenculturalcentre.ca.
