Paying homage
Fumiaki Miura will perform in NM Philharmonic’s final Popejoy concert
Violinist Fumiaki Miura considers his instrument his partner.
“I like to share any moments with her,” he said. “I also have to practice every day to make her happy.”
Miura will perform in the New Mexico Philharmonic’s final Popejoy concert Saturday.
When the violinist was just 3, his parents gave him his first instrument. Thirteen years later, he became the youngest ever winner of the Joseph Joachim Hannover International Violin Competition in 1999.
The Tokyo-based violinist will perform Saint-Saëns’ “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso” and Ravel’s dance-filled “Tzigane (Gypsy).”
The “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso” was written by Saint-Saëns in 1863 for the virtuoso violinist Pablo de Sarasate. The Ravel piece is a rhapsodic composition dedicated to the great Hungarian violinist Jelly d’Arányi. Although the piece uses no authentic gypsy melodies, the composer named it for the generic European term for Roma.
Conductor Roberto Minczuk will open the program with Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance.” The orchestra will pay tribute to the late Stephen Hawking with Holst’s galactic and dreamy “The Planets.” The seven-movement suite was written between 1914 and 1916. Each movement is named after a planet of the solar system. Holst intended to convey ideas and emotions associated with the influence of the planets on the psyche.