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From the Studio: The Symphony's "Fantastique!"

James Lowe and Natasha Paremski preview the season's first Masterworks concert

For the final day of Symphony Week 2022, music director James Lowe returned to the SPR studio with pianist Natasha Paremski to preview the Spokane Symphony's first Masterworks concert of the season.

Titled "Fantastique!", the concert's program features Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 ("Emperor") followed by Jessie Montgomery's one-movement work for string orchestra, "Starburst." The program concludes with Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique.

Lowe describes the Symphonie fantastique as "the most elaborate pickup line in all of history," as it ultimately won the heart of its muse, the Irish actress Harriet Smithson.

The interview closes with Paremski performing "Scarbo" from Maurice Ravel's piano suite Gaspard de la nuit. The recording was captured live in SPR's performance space immediately prior to the interview.

The Masterworks concert takes place on Saturday, September 17 and Sunday, September 18 at the Fox Theaterin downtown Spokane.

Concert tickets and more information about the entire Masterworks series are available on the Spokane Symphony's website.

E.J. Iannelli is Spokane Public Radio's Arts & Music Direcor