Camerata Pacifica: Brahms, Ginastera, Paul Dean

Three eclectic and deeply inspired works are featured on Camerata Pacifica’s November program beginning with Paul Dean’s clever Suite for Clarinet and Cello. The Australian composer says he wrote the work in 2019 for his “two favorite instruments” and that “the first movement is a tribute to one of my heroes…

Sergei Prokofiev,” the second movement a “humble tribute to Gustav Holst,” and the final movement a fun and humorous tribute to “the world of Vaudeville.” The program continues with Ginastera’s fiery Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 49, a grand and virtuosic work rooted in Argentine folk music that he composed in 1979 for his gifted young cellist wife Aurora Natola. It concludes with Brahms’ touching Clarinet Trio in A Minor, Op. 114, written in 1891, shortly after he announced his retirement at the height of his powers. It was the musical prowess of one of the great clarinetists of his time that inspired the piece and his brief return to composing.

Three virtuosic artists appear on the program: Camerata Pacifica’s Principal Clarinet Jose Franch-Ballester, a captivating performer of “poetic eloquence” (The New York Sun); Principal Cello Ani Aznavoorian, whose “scorchingly

committed performances…wring every last drop of emotion out of the music” (The Strad); and award-winning Principal Piano Irina Zahharenkova.

Camerata Pacifica presents the program in four Southern California locations: Tuesday, November 7, 7.30 pm, at The Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall in San Marino; Thursday, November 9, 8 pm, at Zipper Hall in Downtown Los Angeles; Friday, November 10, 7.30 pm, in Hahn Hall at Santa Barbara’s Music Academy; and Sunday, November 12, 2023, 3 pm, at Thousand Oaks’ Janet and Ray Scherr Forum.

For tickets ($75 at The Huntington, Hahn Hall and Zipper Hall; $80 at Janet and Ray Scherr Forum) and information, visit www.cameratapacifica.org.