Canton Symphony Orchestra event featuring Soloist Sara Davis Buechner

At the end of last season, the Canton Symphony Orchestra set the stage for a special MasterWorks 3 Audience Choice performance The Maestro, Gerhardt Zimmerman , selected three overtures, three piano concertos and three symphonies for loyal season ticket subscribers of the symphony to vote on.

The winning entries will be performed on Sunday, December 2 at 7:30 pm at Umstattd Performing Arts Hall in Canton and will feature soloist Sara Davis Buechner on piano. The pieces selected are Gioacchino Rossini’s Overture to La Gazza ladra , Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in cminor , and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 1 in d minor .

La Gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie) was written for the Teatro alIa Scala in Milan and first performed there on May 31, 1817. Rossini introduced the elements of both tragedy and comedy into the score. Then, cognizant of the growing interest in German opera on the part of the Milanese, he paid particular attention to form, harmony and orchestration. As a result, La Gazza ladra is considered to be one of Rossini's greatest successes.

Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in c minor , K. 491 dates from 1786, and is noteworthy in that it is only one of two to be written by Mozart in a minor key, the other being the Piano Concerto No. 20 in d minor , K. 466. Notes John N. Burk in his book Mozart and His Music , “If Mozart could ever be said to have ignored his public in a concerto and followed completely his own inner promptings, it was here.”

Following the premiere of Sergei Rachmaninoff's First Symphony, composer-critic Cesar Cui wrote, “If there were a conservatory in hell, Rachmaninoff would certainly gain the first prize for his symphony, so devilish are the discords he has dished up before us.” For an early work, this Symphony is quite accomplished and impressive, and already present are indications of his mature compositional style. Moreover, hisuse of motto themes imparts to it a cyclic unity.

Tickets are available by calling the Symphony Box Office at 330-452-2094; ordering online at www.cantonsymphony.org ; in person at the Box Office in the Cultural Center for the Arts at 1001 Market Ave. N weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; or at the Umstattd Performing Arts Hall box office one hour prior to the performance. Prices are $20 to $45. Discounts are available for seniors & students.