French Masterworks

The curtain rises on Berlioz’s King Lear Overture, where Shakespeare’s tragic monarch storms to life in music that brims with nobility, passion, and fate. From there, pianist Barry Tan* steps into the spotlight with Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand — a work of shadowy brilliance and rhythmic fire, born from adversity and transformed into triumph. Dukas’ La Péri follows, opening with a glittering brass fanfare before unfolding into a ballet of enchantment, where legend shimmers just out of reach. The evening closes with Debussy’s La Mer, a masterpiece that captures the sea in all its moods — restless, radiant, and eternal.

Program:

Berlioz: Overture to King Lear, Op. 4, H 53

Ravel: Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, M. 82*

Dukas: La Péri

Debussy: La Mer

Financially, the orchestra relies on the generosity of audience members to offset concert and overhead costs, which average $35 per person per concert. The suggested donation of $30 per person can be contributed through Eventbrite on the next page.

Host or Publisher West Coast Symphony Orchestra