Yonkers Philharmonic Presents: FREE Concert - Sibelius and Saint-Saens

The Yonkers Philharmonic celebrates early Spring with Mercy Rosen, cellist (http://www.marcyrosen.com/), performing Saint-Saens Cello Concerto followed by Sibelius' Symphony #2.

Marcy Rosen has established herself as one of the most important and respected artists of our day. Los Angeles Times music critic Herbert Glass has called her "one of the intimate art's abiding treasures." She has performed in recital and with orchestras throughout Canada, England, France, Japan, Italy, Switzerland, and all fifty of the United States.

Saint-Saëns broke with convention in writing this concerto. He often uses the solo cello here as a declamatory instrument. This keeps the soloist in the dramatic and musical foreground, the orchestra offering a shimmering backdrop. The music is tremendously demanding for soloists, especially in the fast third section. This difficulty has not stopped the concerto from becoming a favorite of the great virtuoso cellists.

Sibelius was one of the 20th century's greatest and most innovative symphonists, with a musical style evoking beauty, mystery, color and light. Influenced as much by a period of living in Italy as by his Finnish homeland, the Second Symphony marked a major step in his development as a composer, and remains one of his most popular works.