Franco Mannino was born in Palermo, Italy, in 1924. He is an accomplished pianist and conductor as well as composer. He toured both Europe and the United States as a pianist and conducted extensively in the Far East, Europe, and South America. As a composer Mannino is extremely prolific, having written numerous operas and instrumental works (this concert presenting the Cello Concerto from 1974), which reveal a traditional Italian style spiced with various modern devices.

The Respighi festival with the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra is in full swing, this time with the little-heard Adagio con variazioni for Cello and Orchestra written in 1920. Interestingly, this work is an orchestral arrangement of an earlier work of his written for cello and piano. Like so many works of Respighi, this is one that is not heard often enough in the worldÕs concert halls, but certainly deserves to be.

Penderecki, Krzysztof (born 23 November, 1933). Polish composer. Studied with Skolyszewski, Malawski and Wiechowicz at the Krakow conservatory, blah, blah, blah ...

These dry facts don't convey the energy and appeal that this great composer has forged with the general public. He began his career by winning all three first prizes in a national competition. His Threnody for the victims of Hiroshima (1960) is at once one of the most well known contemporary compositions and one of the most adventurous in terms of advanced string effects. He usually takes on dramatic and momentous subjects, presenting them with violent contrasts and exploring the most advanced sonic resources. This is a major reason why he is today considered by many to be the greatest living composer.

The work on this program, the Symphony No. 2 Christmas, was composed in 1980. On a personal note, I had the great pleasure of joining him for lunch years ago and found him to be extremely modest, quiet, and very kind towards this young, admiring composer.

Program for Tuesday December 22