Monday, February 25

A switcheroo of note in Augusta: On leap day, Friday the 29th, the Augusta Symphony is performing Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto. The soloist was originally to be Van Cliburn Competition gold medalist Olga Kern. However, the Augustans have released her so she can celebrate the 50th anniversary of Van Cliburn's Tchaikovsky Competition triumph. She'll appear with the Augusta Symphony in March 2009. Soloing in the Rachmaninoff this week in her stead is another international star, Ukrainian-born pianist Valentina Lisitsa. (Check out the great blurbs on her website. She's also on MySpace and YouTube.) Friday, 7:30, First Baptist of Augusta, (706) 826-4705.

That infamously difficult Rachmaninoff Third Concerto occupies the final hour of Midday Music. Two concert connections in the noon hour involve high-profile Atlanta groups: we hear the Atlanta Symphony in Rimsky-Korsakov's technicolor Russian Easter Overture; on stage, they'll perform that Thursday through Sunday, alongside favorites by Khatchaturian and Mussorgsky. And we hear the ASO Chamber Chorus in music by Maurice Durufle, in advance of their Friday appearance at Morrow's Spivey Hall, when they'll sing Durufle's lovely, longer Requiem.

11 AM
  • Mendelssohn: Hebrides Overture ("Fingal's Cave"). New Philharmonia Orch, Atzmon. EMI 81788.
  • Fasch: Overture (Suite) in G major. La Stravaganza Koln. CPO 777 015.
  • Ginastera: Estancia, ballet suite, for winds. "The President's Own" United States Marine Band, Serebrier. Naxos 8.570727.
12 N
  • Glinka: Russlan and Ludmila Overture. Russian National Orch, Pletnev. DG 439 892.
  • Buxtehude: Duo Sonata in G, Op. 1/2. John Holloway, Jaap ter Linden, Lars Ulrik Mortensen.
  • Durufle: Four Motets on Gregorian Themes. Atlanta Sym Orch Chamber Chorus, Mackenzie. Telarc 80654.
  • Brahms: Waltzes, Op. 39.
  • Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Overture. Atlanta Sym Orch, Spano. Telarc 80568.
1 PM
  • Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3. Yefim Bronfman, The Philharmonia, Salonen. Sony 47183.
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