Classical fare will provide a different kind of break during the working day in Valparaiso.
The South Shore Orchestra presents another installment of its Lunchtime Chamber Series at 1 p.m. Oct. 21 in the Memorial Opera House.
A piano quintet is scheduled to perform the “Trout Quintet” by Austrian composer Franz Schubert.
“It’s very listenable; it’s very rhythmic, intense,” said Troy Webdell, conductor and music director of the 11-year-old South Shore Orchestra.
“It’s something that will keep your attention for the whole time,” Webdell said of the Schubert work. “It’s a familiar piece to many.”
Performing the extended composition will be Lisa Kristina (piano), Pat White (cello), Nora Frisk (viola), Don Parker (upright string bass) and concertmaster Kamen Vatchev (violin).
Webdell said “Trout Quintet” tests musicianship. “It’s pretty difficult, actually. The rhythmic complexity makes it a challenge.”
According to background information from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Schubert composed “Die Forelle” (“The Trout”), from which the piano-quintet piece takes its name.
Basically light and upbeat, the five-movement “Trout Quintet” showcases the 19th-century music man “at his most natural, unaffected and carefree,” said the orchestra, terming it an “infectious piece.”
A Dec. 9 holiday-themed show will wrap up the 2015 lunchtime series, which offers intimate live music for retirees and those in the work force who are able to make it out.
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“It provides a nice afternoon experience,” Kirsten Renehan, publicist for the South Shore Orchestra, said. “It’s in a historic venue. The acoustics are very good too.”
Webdell said “Trout Quintet” is about 45 minutes long.
The relative brevity fits the part of the day that the lunchtime series takes place. “It’s a lovely amount of time; it’s short,” Renehan said. “It’s not a two-hour concert.”
She noted that the musicians provide an educational element to the performances. “They always want to impart some information about the composer,” Renehan said.
Schubert is often praised for the melodic sheen and strength of harmony in his writing. His works include the opera titled “The Devil’s Palace of Desire” and the 1816 symphony “No. 5 in B Flat Major.”
The experience garnered by playing the likes of Schubert serves the South Shore Orchestra well, as it is scheduled to embark on its fifth tour of China in December.
Bob Kostanczuk is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.
South Shore Orchestra Piano Quintet
Where: Memorial Opera House, 104 E. Indiana Ave., Valparaiso
When: 1 p.m. Oct. 21
Tickets: Adults $13; senior citizens (59 and older), students and military $11
Information: 219-548-9137, www.memorialoperahouse.com