The Harpsichord & Stravinsky’s Pulcinella
The harpsichord shines in this program embracing the old and the new. Leading harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani performs a world premiere work by Julian Grant for solo harpsichord and orchestra. Viet Cuong’s Extra(ordinarily) Fancy cleverly reinterprets the baroque double oboe concerto. The PSO performs Igor Stravinsky’s neo-classical ballet Pulcinella in its full version featuring three vocal soloists.
“Now he emerges as a superstar whose musicianship, imagination, virtuosity, cultural breath and charisma far transcends the ivory tower in which the harpsichord has traditionally been placed.” — The Times
Program
Viet CUONG / Extra(ordinarily) Fancy
Julian GRANT / Vaudeville in Teal for harpsichord and small orchestra WORLD PREMIERE
Igor STRAVINSKY / Pulcinella
Key Notes 
- Julian Grant, a resident of Princeton, has composed 20 operas. This will be his third orchestral work performed by the PSO.
- Listen for Viet Cuong’s use of multiphonics in the oboe parts in Extra(ordinarily) Fancy. Cuong writes: “Multiphonics are produced when the performer uses a technically incorrect fingering to create a distorted, complex sound with two or more pitches… I’ve always found them to be enchanting and, for lack of a better term, misunderstood.”
- The music for Stravinsky’s Pulcinella is drawn from works of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, giving it an eighteenth-century essence.
Performers
Rossen Milanov, conductor
Mahan Esfahani, harpsichord
Aubry Ballarò, soprano
Nicholas Nestorak, tenor
Joseph Barron, bass
