It’s hard to go wrong with Mozart when you’ve got an appetite for a triple whammy of classical immersion. Continuing its 2014/15 season – its 55th – at the grand old Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie, on Saturday the Hudson Valley Philharmonic will be serving up two of the best-loved symphonies from the peak of Mozart’s composing years: No. 35 in D major (the “Haffner”) and No. 40 in G minor.
Sandwiched in between will be his Piano Concerto No 23 in A major, spotlighting the formidable keyboard skills of Vadym Kholodenko. A native of Ukraine, Kholodenko won the coveted Gold Medal at the 14th Van Cliburn International Competition in 2013. He is currently partnering with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra to record the complete Prokofiev piano concertos for Harmonia Mundi.
Amadeus Live! will transpire under the baton of the up-and-coming young conductor Leif Bjaland, who doubles as the artistic director/conductor of Florida’s Sarasota Orchestra and music director of Connecticut’s Waterbury Symphony. Bjaland made his debut at the 2003 Ravinia Festival, conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a program titled Bernstein on Broadway. The guest conductor will present a free pre-concert talk at 7 p.m., one hour before curtain time on March 28.
Ticket prices for Amadeus Live! range from $32 to $54; subject to availability, student rush tickets go on sale for $20 one hour prior to the concert. Tickets can be purchased at the Bardavon box office at 35 Market Street in Poughkeepsie, (845) 473-2072; the Ulster Performing Arts Center box office at 601 Broadway in Kingston, (845) 339-6088; or via TicketMaster at (800) 745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, visit www.bardavon.org.
Amadeus Live! with Vadym Kholodenko, Saturday, March 28, 8 p.m., $54/$32/$20, Bardavon, 35 Market Street, Poughkeepsie; (845) 473-2072, www.bardavon.org.
Join the family! 
