Musical handoffs compare to football

A sports comparison often doesn’t come naturally in the classical music world, but it sounds pretty apt for the centerpiece of Chamber Music Amarillo’s next concert.

CMA’s annual concerto concert, “The Strength of Beethoven, The Passion of Strauss,” features Ludwig van Beethoven’s Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano, popularly known as the “Triple Concerto.”

It’s an athletic endeavor, said CMA artistic director David Palmer.

“Throughout the music, Beethoven writes sort of a hand off and picking up, if you will, of the football. By that I mean, the cello starts a line and the violin continues that line and the piano finishes that line, or we give it back to each other,” Palmer said.

The three featured instruments must work as a group, he said

“We’re sort of a single instrument, if you will, playing together and sharing ideas — three instruments combining as a solo instrument with the orchestra backing us up, accompanying us,” said Palmer, who’ll play the piano part.

Joining Palmer are two members of the Harrington String Quartet and Amarillo Symphony, violinist Rossitza Goza and cellist Emmanuel Lopez.

“It’s a piece that’s not often performed and is not as well-known, but it’s quintessential Beethoven,” Palmer said. “And it’s been just an enormous pleasure to work with Manny and Rossitza, two consummate professionals in the prime of their careers.”

The concerto requires the players “to share ideas in the music as we play,” Palmer said.

The concert, set for Saturday in the Amarillo Civic Center Grand Plaza, also will feature Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 6, “Le Matin,” as well as three songs by Richard Strauss, performed by soprano Carrie Anderson.

The concert also features CMA’s Amarillo Virtuosi chamber orchestra and conductor Michael Palmer.