Redwood Symphony to perform Mozart, Beethoven at Cañada College

Mozart “was in such a rush to get it ready that he left out a lot of left hand,” Kujawsky said. “What Timo Andres has done is he puts in a very modern-style addition — the style is all over the place, from jazz to very modern to romantic — so, it covers a lot of styles by adding this left hand. It reminds me of the Steve Martin film ‘All of Me’ where his body gets cut in half with Lily Tomlin. It’s like the left hand is doing its own thing, and doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.”

The night of classical favorites is the symphony’s finale for this season; it will start its 42nd season in a few weeks.

Louise Costigan-Kerns is playing a piano solo during the concerto, also known as Mozart’s Coronation Concerto, derived from its premiere at the coronation of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II in 1790. Costigan-Kerns will be doing both the right and left hands herself.

“I would be very happy if someone played left hand but I’m playing both hands,” she said. “The right hand is playing in a style popular around 1790, fairly tonal and within key and what you would recognize as easy to listen to. But the left hand goes everywhere from sometimes close to Mozart to all the way to gamelan, a far-eastern orchestra, to 21st century chords. So it’s not easy to imagine, but if you can, it’s quite a mix.”

Just after the symphony’s second rehearsal, Costigan-Kerns said that it gets more solid and a little better every day she practices it.

“I’m a little more comfortable. … So, I think it will go well. It will be very unusual and very important people understand it’s not a normal Mozart, it’s not a normal piece.”

Costigan-Kerns said it’s worth it to attend for the second movement in particular.

“I don’t want them to feel a little standoffish about the spanning of the late 1700s to 2021,” she said. “This second movement is especially gorgeous and it’s momentously, absolutely beautiful, calming and breathtaking. The first and third are fairly fast and have some strong chords in them. That’s something a little out of place so there’s that element, but the middle movement is very beautiful and calming. I want people to know it’ll be fun; it’s just an adventure.”

Kyle Baldwin will be conducting the piece.

The composer “refers to a lot of the 20th century composers, which embodies what makes this arrangement special, but its core is still Mozart,” he said, “and allows us to experience it in a new light.”

Baldwin added, “It’ll be a joy to work with Louise. I’m happy to be here and am really looking forward to it.”

Costigan-Kerns said this is her third time working with the symphony and her second Mozart concerto. Her last one was two years ago.

“So we have a good history together,” she said.

The concert will also feature Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1. Kujawsky said the composer wrote it at the age of 30 in 1800, as he was “trying to musically conquer as a young composer.”

“He wanted to write something that would be simple,” Kujawsky said, “demonstrating he was the equal of [Joseph] Haydn and the late Mozart who had died four years before, but he wanted to compose something new, daring and a little naughty to attract patrons.”

Just how was it naughty?

“Beethoven tended to do very sudden changes in dynamics, surprises that were considered just a bit daring,” Kujawsky said.

The concert will begin with Sergei Prokofiev’s “Overture on Hebrew Themes,” which he wrote in 1919 in New York at the request of a touring group of Jewish immigrant musicians, improvising based on a notebook of Jewish folk melodies.

The show will be 90 minutes with an intermission. Tickets are $35 for adults in advance, $30 for seniors and $15 for students, with children under 18 free with an adult or senior. They are available online at redwoodsymphony.org.