BPO Classics Series
NIKKI PLAYS BEETHOVEN
Friday, October 17 at 10:30 AM
Saturday, October 18 at 7:30 PM

JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Nikki Chooi, violin

The Classics Series is presented by the



The Coffee Concert Series is presented by

Nikki Chooi's performance is sponsored by Mark Chason and Mariana Botero Chason.

Our concert begins with Verdi at his most dramatic: the overture from his opera, La forza del destino. Don Carlo is in deadly pursuit of Don Alvaro, who has eloped with his sister and accidentally killed his father. Could this have a happy ending? The dark and powerful overture assures us that this is indeed a story doomed to end in tragedy. Tchaikovsky's tale is an Italian tragedy as well, drawn from a true story in Dante's Inferno. Francesca believes she is marrying Paolo, but at the last moment his brutal older brother substitutes himself at the altar. There is no hope for a happy ending here either, but the absolutely thrilling music of Tchaikovsky tells us a heartrending tale of love, betrayal, murder, and hell.

Heaven comes right after intermission when Nikki Chooi performs one of the greatest concertos for violin—Beethoven’s profound work that has become a defining landmark for the instrument. Thrilling to have our concertmaster center stage in this great masterpiece!