An Evening at Queen Marie's Salon Concert

Kevin Matheson and pianist Tim Fuller bring a program of Romanian classical music to the Seattle Public Library on Friday, November 6, from 7 PM to 8:30 PM. The recital is presented by the American Romanian Cultural Society (ARCS) and is titled An Evening at Queen Marie's Salon Concert.

The program centers on three Romanian works. Matheson and Fuller will perform George Enescu's Violin Sonata No. 3 in A minor, Op. 25, Ciprian Porumbescu's Balada, Op. 29, and Grigoraș Dinicu's Hora Marțișorului. The set draws on the repertoire favored by Queen Marie of Romania (1875–1938), who was a painter, writer, and musician in her own right, as well as a skilled violinist and singer.

Marie was a close friend of the celebrated Romanian violinist and composer George Enescu and his wife. She attended his recitals and admired his virtuosic compositions, which drew on Romanian folk tunes, dances, and old melodies. She nicknamed him 'Pinx' and wrote in her diary on November 25, 1928, about how much his violin playing impressed her. The evening's program is built around that connection, with those three Romanian works at its heart.

Tickets are $30, and the concert runs from 7 PM to 8:30 PM at the Seattle Public Library's Central Library Auditorium.