BEETHOVEN’S EROICA SYMPHONY

Michael Francis conducts the symphony that changed all symphonies, Beethoven’s monumental Third. No one had heard anything like it before. The work was originally called “Bonaparte” after Napoleon, but a disgruntled Beethoven hastily changed the title to “Eroica,” meaning heroic. Pianist Natasha Paremski returns to perform Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2, a glorious work that breaks free from the oppression of communist rule after the death of Stalin. The program starts with the evocative Chairman Dances: Foxtrot for Orchestra, composed by American John Adams and inspired by President Nixon’s trip to China.