For the love of Mozart and Beethoven

NEWBURGH — The Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra, with Woomyung Choe conducting, will present works by Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven on both Saturday, March 16, at 7:30 p.m. in the Newburgh Free Academy High School Auditorium and Sunday, March 17, at 3 p.m. in the Sugar Loaf Performing Arts Center.

Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor will be performed by the virtuosa Alina Kiryayeva. That will be followed by Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E flat Major, “Eroica.”

The Piano Concerto No. 24 has long been considered one of Mozart’s greatest works; he wrote it for himself, not for his wealthy Viennese patrons. It was apparently studied by Beethoven, whose Third Concerto not only uses the same key but includes a theme that resembles Mozart’s.

Alina Kiryayeva
Kiryayeva has claimed top prizes and honors internationally and has toured her native Ukraine, as well as Russia, Mexico, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Holland, Japan and the United States. Completing her bachelor of music and master of music degrees as a scholarship recipient at the Juilliard School, she continues her education in the doctoral program at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

In 1787, the teenaged Beethoven visited Vienna and met Mozart, for whom he played. Mozart told the distinguished gathering, “Some day this young man will make a great noise in the world.”

Symphony No. 3 in E flat Major, Opus 55, “Eroica” was originally intended as a tribute to Napoleon Bonaparte, but Beethoven would retract the dedication and renamed it when Bonaparte crowned himself emperor. It remained, however, Beethoven’s favorite.

Essential information
The Shacklett Preview at 6:30 p.m. in Newburgh is a pre-concert introduction to the evening’s music by Gordon Shacklett.

Ticket prices are $25 for reserved seating, $20 for general admission, $15 for seniors, $10 for students, and children under 7 are admitted free of charge.

Tickets may be purchased at the door or reserved. Call 845-913-7157 or www.newburghsymphony.org.

Snow dates are Saturday, March 23, 7:30 p.m., in Newburgh and Sunday, March 24, 3 p.m., in Sugar Loaf.