Lewisville Lake Symphony 2012-2013 Season Opens With Return of Acclaimed Russian Pianist

Acclaimed international pianist Nikita Fitenko returns to Lewisville in September for two performances of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major. In addition to the Beethoven, the Symphony, under the baton of Maestro Adron Ming, opens its 29th season with audience-favorite Symphony No. 4 "Italian" by Felix Mendelssohn.

Fitenko’s playing has been called “magnificent” by Fanfare Music Review, and International Piano Magazine says his “dazzling playing has to be heard to be believed!”. This marks the native Russian's fourth appearance with the orchestra, following previous successes with works by Rachmaninoff and Beethoven. Fitenko, a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, is co-director of the Washington International Piano Festival. He records for Altarus Records, along with his wife Katerina Zaitseva, who hails from Moscow. The two met while in college in Dallas.

The concerts take place at the MCL Grand in Old Town Lewisville on Friday, September 21, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, September 23, 2012 at 2:30 p.m. There is plenty of parking around the Grand; most is on the City Hall side of the arts complex.

Tickets can be booked online at www.lewisvillesymphony.org and are $25 on Friday and $20 on Sunday. The Symphony provides a special $5 discount for seniors (60+). Student tickets are $10. Information is available at 972.874.9087

Beethoven wrote the Concerto No. 4 for himself as the soloist. His premier of the piece was his last public performance at the piano before his advancing deafness caused him to abandon his solo career. That performance was part of an agonizingly long concert in an unheated hall, so it was perhaps no wonder that it got little recognition and, in fact, was never performed again during Beethoven's lifetime. It was Felix Mendelssohn who recognized its brilliance and revived the piece nearly 30 years later. His efforts brought it back into the public eye where it has taken its place as one of the key central works of the piano concerto literature.

Unlike the stereotypical "starving artist" existence that many composers endured, Felix Mendelssohn grew up in a privileged environment. His father, a well-heeled and highly discriminating banker, saw to it that Felix got the best education money could buy. Such an education inevitably included mind-broadening travel abroad. At the age of only 21 he found himself in Italy. The sunshine and energy of Italy coupled with festivals, celebrations and the coronation of a pope drove Mendelssohn's creative energy into overdrive. The result was the ebullient, dance-like symphony tagged with the "Italian" subtitle as a nod to its inspiration.

The Lewisville Lake Symphony, according to the Dallas Morning News, is one of the most respected regional orchestras in Texas.

From a submitted report