Fall Symphony Concert

Next the symphony plays “Cortege De Bacchus” by Leo Delibes (1836-1891) from his Sylvia Ballet Suite. Delibes is best known for his operas/operettas and ballets and was thefirst to craft a full-length ballet score.

Also in the program is Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B Minor “Unfinished,” a composition he started in 1822 but left with only two movements. And the last piece of the afternoon is another Schubert piece: Overture in the Italian Style No. 2 in C Major, D. 591. In 1817, in response to the Italian craze sweeping Vienna, the 20-yr old Schubert wrote two “Overtures in the Italian Style.” The second of these, “D. 591” is thought to best capture the essence of Gioacchino Rossini, who was hugely popular at the time.

Francine Passa, the soloist for the Fall Concert, will be playing one of her favorite pieces: The “Meditation” from the opera, “Thaïs,” on the violin, an instrument that has been a major part of her entire life. Passa started young. She was born in the Bronx and moved to San Francisco at age six with her family, where her father, Frank Passa, opened a violin shop. At age seven, she began violin lessons with Antonio d’Grassi, a “star” pupil of Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe.

Passa came to Lake County when her home in Santa Rosa burned down in the Tubbs fire. She lost a lot of personal possessions, including a special and valuable violin, but she got out safely and was able to start over at a new house in Lake County. She became a member of the Lake County Symphony after a chance meeting with conductor John Parkinson.