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Welcome to E-Notes from the Erie Philharmonic, brought to you by newline Creations. 2007-2008 Presented by In this Issue
2007-2008
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This Saturday evening's symphonic series concert highlights four notes that define one of classical music’s greatest pieces: Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. On Saturday, November 10, at the Warner Theatre, The Erie Philharmonic presents Beethoven’s Iconic Fifth with special guest conductor Victor Yampolsky and one of America’s top virtuosos on the horn, William Purvis. Yampolsky, who was personally invited by the Erie Phil's new Music Director Daniel Meyer, serves as Music Director Emeritus of the Omaha Symphony, Carol F. and Arthur L. Rice Jr. University Professor in Music Performance at the Northwestern University School of Music, Music Director of the Peninsula Music Festival in Door County, Wisconsin, as well as the Honorary Director of the Scotia Festival of Music in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Yampolsky has conducted over 65 professional and student orchestras throughout the world. French horn soloist William Purvis has pursued a multifaceted career in the U.S. and abroad. Purvis, a chamber musician, conductor and educator, is a passionate advocate of new music and has recently performed premieres of horn concerti by contemporary composers. Purvis will play two contrasting pieces to showcase his skill and versatility on the horn. The concert will feature Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Horn Concerto No. 4, K. 495, E-flat major and R. Strauss’ Horn Concerto No. 2, E-flat major. Tickets prices for the show range from $15 - $47. Discounts are available for students, groups, and seniors, and $10 Rush Tickets will be available 15 minutes before show time. Doors open at 7 p.m. Call 455-1375 extension 4 for ticket information or visit www.eriephil.org. The 2007-2008 inaugural season of Daniel Meyer is presented by Scott Enterprises. This concert is sponsored in part by WQLN, Jet Radio 1400, and The Talking Phone Book. 
Erie Phil Music Director and Conductor Daniel Meyer and Mary Persin and were recently married at Heinz Chapel in Pittsburgh. A reception at the Duquesne Club followed.
Daniel and Mary honeymooned in Italy.
GET YOUR PHIL THIS HOLIDAY SEASON 
"Our holiday concert's hometown flavor will surely please audiences," Executive Director Eric Borenstein said. "We'll be joined on stage by some of Erie's favorite music and dance groups." Joining Conductor Daniel Meyer and the Erie Phil musicians for this Hanes Erie Pops concert are the St. Paul Cathedral Children's Choir, the Penn State Behrend Choirs, members of the Lake Erie Ballet and the Erie Phil Chorus. Intermission treats will be provided by our friends at Wegmans. This event is sponsored in part by Hanes Erie, PNC Bank, WJET TV and Classy 100. Purchase your tickets to the Holiday Pops by December 1 and receive a chance to win two tickets to the December 16 Clay Aiken concert at the Civic Center. Call today for tickets at 455-1375, ext. 4 or visit www.eriephil.org.
VIENNA, Austria - Did someone kill Beethoven? A Viennese pathologist claims the composer's physician did - inadvertently overdosing him with lead in a case of a cure that went wrong. Other researchers are not convinced, but there is no controversy about one fact: The master had been a very sick man years before his death in 1827. Previous research determined that Beethoven had suffered from lead poisoning, first detecting toxic levels of the metal in his hair and then, two years ago, in bone fragments. Those findings strengthened the belief that lead poisoning may have contributed - and ultimately led - to his death at age 57. But Viennese forensic expert Christian Reiter claims to know more after months of painstaking work applying CSI-like methods to strands of Beethoven's hair. He says his analysis, published last week in the Beethoven Journal, shows that in the final months of the composer's life, lead concentrations in his body spiked every time he was treated by his doctor, Andreas Wawruch, for fluid inside the abdomen. Those lethal doses permeated Beethoven's ailing liver, ultimately killing him, Reiter told The Associated Press. "His death was due to the treatments by Dr. Wawruch," said Reiter, head of the Department of Forensic Medicine at Vienna's Medical University. "Although you cannot blame Dr. Wawruch - how was he to know that Beethoven already had a serious liver ailment?" Nobody did back then. Only through an autopsy after the composer's death in the Austrian capital on March 26, 1827, were doctors able to establish that Beethoven suffered from cirrhosis of the liver as well as edemas of the abdomen. Reiter says that in attempts to ease the composer's suffering, Wawruch repeatedly punctured the abdominal cavity - and then sealed the wound with a lead-laced poultice. Although lead's toxicity was known even then, the doses contained in a treatment balm "were not poisonous enough to kill someone if he would have been healthy," Reiter said. "But what Dr. Wawruch clearly did not know that his treatment was attacking an already sick liver, killing that organ." Even before the edemas developed, Wawruch noted in his diary that he treated an outbreak of pneumonia months before Beethoven's death with salts containing lead, which aggravated what researchers believe was an existing case of lead poisoning. But, said Reiter, it was the repeated doses of the lead-containing cream, administered by Wawruch in the last weeks of Beethoven's life, that did in the composer. Analysis of several hair strands showed "several peaks where the concentration of lead rose pretty massively" on the four occasions between Dec. 5, 1826, and Feb. 27, 1827, when Beethoven himself documented that he had been treated by Wawruch for the edema, said Reiter. "Every time when his abdomen was punctured ... we have an increase of the concentration of lead in the hair." Such claims intrigue others who have researched the issue. "His data strongly suggests that Beethoven was subjected to significant lead exposures over the last 111 days of his life and that this lead may have been in the very medicines applied by his doctor," said Bill Walsh, who led the team at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago that found large amounts of lead in Beethoven's bone fragments. That research two years ago confirmed the cause of years of debilitating disease that likely led to his death - but did not tie his demise to Wawruch. "I believe that Beethoven's death may have been caused by this application of lead-containing medicines to an already severely lead-poisoned man," Walsh said. Still, he added, samples from hair analysis are not normally considered as reliable as from bone, which showed high levels of lead concentration over years, instead of months. With hair, "you have the issue of contamination from outside material, shampoos, residues, weathering problems. The membranes on the outside of the hair tend to deteriorate," he said, suggesting more research is needed on the exact composition of the medications given Beethoven in his last months of his life. As for what caused the poisoning even before Wawruch's treatments, some say it was the lead-laced wine Beethoven drank. Others speculate that as a young man he drank water with high concentrations of lead at a spa. "We still don't know the ultimate cause," Reiter said. "But he was a very sick man - for years before his death." The Beethoven Journal is published by the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies at San Jose State University in California. (OK, now that you've read the article, go back up to Beethoven's picture. What's wrong with it? Be one of the first three repondents to this email with the correct answer and win a pair of tickets for an upcoing Erie Phil concert.)
The Junior Philharmonic is experiencing yet another successful (and busy) year! The orchestra has 65 student musicians, ranging from grades 6 through 12, with 25 younger students in the Prelude and Intermezzo Strings. These young musicians come from 30 school districts in the tri-state region, plus the Home School Program. The ensembles and orchestra rehearse every Tuesday evening in the auditorium of Fairview Middle School. In addition to performing at the October Youth Concerts with the Erie Philharmonic at the Warner for 4000+ school students, they have several upcoming performances. On November 18, they will present a program for the residents of The Regency at South Shore. The Winter Concert will be held on Tuesday, December 4, at 7:30 pm at Fairview Middle School. The Ensembles Concert is Thursday, December 6 at 7:30 pm in the Hirt Auditorium of the Blasco Library. Another date of note is Friday, December 14, when the Jr. Phil. will be involved in a funraising event at Barnes and Noble. The next auditions are scheduled for Thursday, January 3. Interested musicians should call the Philharmonic office to schedule an audition.
HANG WITH YOUR GANG AT THE PHIL Looking for a special evening out with a group of friends, family members or co-workers? Gather a group together and enjoy an Erie Phil performance. Purchase your group's tickets by December 21, 2007 for one of the remaining concerts this season and receive a Flex 4 Package for next season. (That's 4 tickets that can be used for your choice of performances -- valued at over $130!) Come as an employee group, a club, a circle of friends, a birthday celebration, or treat a group of clients. . . and enjoy these benefits:
In addition, you may choose to: • Host a cocktail party for your group in at the Warner pre- or post-concert. • Plan a group tour of the Historic Warner Theatre. • Arrange for conductor to visit with your group prior to the concert date. • We’ll give your group special attention to ensure your experience is a memorable one. Also, gift certificates make great holiday gifts. Pick one up at this Saturday's concert or call the box office at 455-1375, ext. 4.
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