Originally published in The Moscow Times on May 5, 2000
Concert performances of opera and ballet have a knack for making audience members' imaginations work overtime to mentally reconstruct parts of the story. Some music lovers gifted with a good memory and well-attuned ears claim to even be able to conjure up the missing action in their heads. For the less capable, events this week will provide ample opportunity to practice their skill.
Begin with a giant of the genre, Amadeus Mozart's "Don Giovanni." On Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, the Pavel Kogan Orchestra performs the overture from the piece about a heartless womanizer from Seville.
At the Conservatory's Small Hall that evening at 7 p.m., Moscow pianist Viktoria Korchinskaya-Kogan, who won an honorary diploma at last year's International Tchaikovsky Music Competition, will join her audience in rediscovering L?o Delibes, the French composer known for his two romantic ballets, "Copp?lia" and "Sylvia," and for his opera "Lakm?."
On Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, the Vladimir Ponkin Orchestra will join forces with the Konakovo Choral Lyceum Boys' Chorus under the direction of Ponkin himself to produce an evening of ballet music. This inevitably means a great deal of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, including the overture from his "Romeo and Juliet."
For admirers of the unconventional, Monday has Igor Stravinsky. At the Conservatory's…
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