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Cameron Carpenter MN orch - makes 'Twin Cities 5 best classical concerts' / Minneapolis Star Tribune

There are revolutionaries in music-and then there's Cameron Carpenter. This Minnesota Orchestra program pairs Carpenter's take on Rachmaninoff's "Paganini Rhapsody" (originally written for piano) with Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony, this Fri. & Sat., April 20, 21 at Orchestra Hall. 

The program offers the best of Russia's musical riches, from lush Romantic melodies and rich harmonies to triumphant cries of survival in the face of oppression. Rachmaninoff's Paganini Rhapsody is one of the most recognizable pieces of Romantic keyboard music, newly adapted for organ from its piano original by Carpenter. Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 dates from the height of the Soviet Union's Stalinist terror. Writing in fear for his life, Shostakovich created his most powerful music, and the ovation at the premiere lasted half an hour.

Carpenter's signature International Touring Organ uses sophisticated technology to reproduce the sounds of many different American pipe organs at the touch of a button. Carpenter's recent Washington concert drew praise from the Post for his "blazing technique, wit and enthusiasm for the organ [that is] nothing short of contagious."

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