Closing out the Utah Symphony season next weekend will be two artists with close personal ties to the orchestra — Pavel Kogan, who has been the symphony's principal guest conductor since 1998, and violinist and former music director Joseph Silverstein.
They will be together on the Abravanel Hall stage for Paganini's devilishly demanding but rarely heard Concerto No. 2 in B minor.
During a telephone interview from Moscow, after a performance with his Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Kogan said that he and Silverstein have known each other for years but have never appeared together. "I am looking forward to making music with him," he said, adding that he feels deep admiration for Silverstein. "I respect him as a wonderful musician and as a friend."
Silverstein is equally enthusiastic about working with Kogan and equally effusive in his praise of Kogan's musicality. "He is a fabulous musician and a wonderful accompanist," Silverstein said by phone from his home in western Massachusetts.
Kogan and Silverstein have somewhat similar backgrounds. Like Silverstein, Kogan began his career as a violinist. But unlike the former music director, Kogan put his violin down at an early age to concentrate on conducting. However, that doesn't diminish Silverstein's esteem for Kogan as a violinist. "I would think that if Pavel were to pick up his violin now, he would impress us with his violin playing," Silverstein said.
He added that it was he and Kogan who decided that he should play the Paganini Second at next weekend's concerts. "Pavel and I decided on the Second because this was going to be an Italian program," Silverstein said. "And since this will be the last concert of the season, we wanted a large work for full orchestra."
Kogan said that as far as he knows, this will be the first time the Second will be played in Utah. "Joey and I will introduce this brilliant and bravura piece to Salt Lake City."
And Silverstein will be making a debut of sorts with this work. "I've never played the Second before. This will be my first go at it. It's been a lot of work learning it, but it's been rewarding. And it's nice to be able to play a work the audience isn't familiar with."
Silverstein said that the Second, which is nicknamed "La Campanella," is a better concerto than the First. "It's more imaginative, and the orchestration is more sophisticated. And it's also more demanding than the First."
He added that Paganini didn't supply a cadenza for this concerto. "The cadenza I'm playing was sent to me by Pavel. It was written by the great Russian violin teacher (Izrael) Yampolsky. It's a well-put-together cadenza, very effective."
Even though the Second Concerto is almost never played, audiences might be familiar with its third movement, a set of bravura variations known as "La Campanella" ("The Bells"), for which the entire work is named. "We usually hear a truncated version of it," Silverstein said. "You hear it either in Liszt's keyboard transcription, or in a transcription for violin and piano by Kreisler. However, Kreisler eliminated one of the variations — the one that has all the difficult left hand pizzicati and double stops."
Except for the Paganini concerto, the program at next weekend's concerts will feature popular and familiar music by Rossini and Respighi. A set of four overtures by Rossini opens the concert — "Il barbiere di Siviglia," "Il Signor Bruschino," "La Gazza ladra" and "Guillaume Tell." The concert will conclude with Respighi's "The Pines of Rome."
"I think this will be a wonderful concert," Kogan said. "These are virtuoso pieces that show off the orchestra extremely well."
This weekend will also mark Kogan's last appearance with the Utah Symphony as its principal guest conductor. He said that he looks back fondly to the past six years. "I have really always been extremely touched by how the people in Salt Lake City have treated me, and how well I have always been received.
"I am also especially happy how I was treated in the community and by the orchestra. I am pleased to know that I have many friends in the community and in the orchestra."
If you go . . .
What: Joseph Silverstein, Pavel Kogan, Utah Symphony
Where: Abravanel Hall
When: Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.
How much: $16-$47 ($8 student rush tickets)
Phone: 355-2787 or 1-888-451-2787
E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com