Symphony welcomes guest pianist for ‘Love Hurts’ program

The Spokane Symphony’s upcoming Classics program goes by the title “Love Hurts,” and several of its pieces deal with adoration, heartbreak or loss in one way or another. You’ll hear Richard Strauss’ opus about storied womanizer Don Juan and selections from Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet of “Romeo and Juliet,” as well as Jennifer Higdon’s “blue cathedral,” inspired in part by the death of the composer’s brother.

But the big showstopper on the evening’s program is Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20. The piece exudes a sense of romantic anguish – it could be the soundtrack to a particularly tempestuous relationship.

The Israeli pianist Alon Goldstein will be performing the Mozart concerto with the symphony this weekend, and he said the key to the impact of the piece is, well, its key.

“The key is like color to a painter,” Goldstein said. “When you see a painting, even subconsciously, you immediately see the color – that’s a very dark piece, or that piece is full of life. In this particular piece, the key of D minor is a very tragic key.”

Mozart’s 20th concerto premiered in 1785 when the great composer was only 29. Certain musical themes from the piece were later incorporated into future Mozart compositions – his opera “Don Giovanni,” for instance, and the Requiem Mass – and the concerto was said to have inspired a young Beethoven. (One of the improvised cadenzas Goldstein will be performing in this piece was actually penned by Beethoven.)

“It’s like a miniature opera,” Goldstein said. “Here the characters are the woodwinds, the piano, the strings. We argue sometimes, we sing together, we have a whole story. It’s a very profound, very deep piece.”

Goldstein is based in Maryland, where he often plays with a small chamber orchestra, but he frequently tours the world performing with various symphonies.

“I try to balance my performing schedule between being a soloist with an orchestra, like what I’m going to do in Spokane, and being a soloist without an orchestra,” Goldstein said. “As a soloist, you’re at the center of the stage, the orchestra is around you, and eyes are on you. There’s a different level of pressure than when you play chamber music with two other colleagues and it’s a shared responsibility.

“But I think the star is the music. And when you play with an orchestra, especially when you play with a wonderful conductor like Eckart (Preu), you always find something new in the music.”

And he plans to stay busy while he’s in Spokane this weekend: On Friday afternoon, his schedule includes a radio interview, visits to a local school and a retirement home, and a free master class at the Fox theater.

“I became a citizen of this country in 2008, and once I was given that privilege, I thought, ‘Now what I can give?’ ” Goldstein said. “I gave myself a mission to do community outreach every place I go. … It gives one a great sense of purpose. I think life is very limited if you only stay in your hotel before going to the concert.”