Pines of Rome
Daniel Meyer conductor
Edgar Meyer double bass
Beethoven Leonore Overture No. 3
Meyer Concerto for Double Bass
Bottesini Concerto for Double Bass
Respighi Pines of Rome
This 2019-20 Season marks the fourth and final year of our Beethoven 4/4 celebration, honoring the life of the great composer through a retrospective of his most important works for orchestra. His ‘Leonore Overture No. 3’ bears a strange moniker (does one opera really need three overtures?), but contains some of the most mysterious, inventive, and ultimately heroic music Beethoven ever wrote. This overture perfectly encapsulates the dramatic sweep of the opera, coming to a triumphant close that points towards the same energy he will accumulate in his epic ‘Ode to Joy’ Symphony that closes our season.
We then welcome Edgar Meyer to the Warner Theatre stage. Widely-acknowledged as one of the leading virtuosos of the double bass, Meyer’s career has featured brilliant performances of the classical repertoire, including works of his own that capitalize on his genius as a performer and composer. We will highlight both facets of his artistry in November as he performs Italian bass virtuoso Bottessini’s concerto alongside one written by Meyer himself.
The evening will come to a triumphant close with Respighi’s vibrant celebration of the sights and sounds of Italy’s most famous city in Pines of Rome. A four-movement work that evokes the history and grandeur of this great city, Pines of Rome is a stunning display of how completely a piece of music can capture the spirit of this ancient metropolis.
Edgar Meyer, double bass
In demand as both a performer and a composer, Edgar Meyer has formed a role in the music world unlike any other. Hailed by The New Yorker as “…the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively un-chronicled history of his instrument”, Mr. Meyer’s unparalleled technique and musicianship in combination with his gift for composition have brought him to the fore, where he is appreciated by a vast, varied audience. His uniqueness in the field was recognized by a MacArthur Award in 2002.
As a solo classical bassist, Mr. Meyer can be heard on a concerto album with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra conducted by Hugh Wolff featuring Bottesini’s Gran Duo with Joshua Bell, Meyer’s own Double Concerto for Bass and Cello with Yo-Yo Ma, Bottesini’s Bass Concerto No. 2, and Meyer’s own Concerto in D for Bass. He has also recorded an album featuring three of Bach’s Unaccompanied Suites for Cello. In 2006, he released a self-titled solo recording on which he wrote and recorded all of the music, incorporating piano, guitar, mandolin, dobro, banjo, gamba, and double bass. In 2007, recognizing his wide-ranging recording achievements, Sony/BMG released a compilation of The Best of Edgar Meyer. In 2011 Mr. Meyer joined cellist Yo-Yo Ma, mandolinist Chris Thile, and fiddler Stuart Duncan for the Sony Masterworks recording “The Goat Rodeo Sessions” which was awarded the 2012 Grammy® Award for Best Folk Album.
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