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The
Classics
Working Vacations
October 4, 2008, 8PM
Sovereign Performing Arts Center
Beethoven: Overture to Corolian
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35
Elena Urioste, soloist
Brahms: Symphony #2 in D, Op. 73
How do you spend your vacation time? For both Brahms and
Tchaikovsky, time away from hectic urban life was sometimes
spent creating masterworks. In this concert, we’ll hear the
results of two memorable vacations: Tchaikovsky’s 1878 visit
to Clarens, on the shores of Lake Geneva, gave the world his
immortal Violin Concerto—one of the most popular works in
the classical repertoire. Brahms chose a trip to the
Austrian Alps in the summer of 1877, and returned with his
Second Symphony—another exceptionally popular work, noted
for its great orchestral color. We begin the season with
Beethoven’s Overture to Corolian, written as a prelude to
Heinrich Joseph von Collin’s 1804 tragedy.
The Wild Ones
November 15, 2008 8PM
Sovereign Performing Arts Center
Borodin: Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor
Michael Daugherty: Hell’s Angels
Stravinsky: Suite from Petrushka
Get ready for a wild evening—unlike anything you’ve seen at
the regular RSO concerts. Would you believe four
leather-clad bassoon players? The rumble of motorcycles? Not
much of a motorcycle fan? Then get swept away by the
Dionysian ecstasy of Prince Igor’s famed Polovetsian Dances,
or the striking dance rhythms of Stravinsky’s ballet
Petrushka? A bit unnerved? Don’t reach for your
Digitalis—you do meet the nicest people on a Harley (or
two)! Special note: If you are a motorcycle aficionado, be
sure to visit the Reading Public Museum’s related exhibit
around the time of this concert!
Common
Ingredients
January 17, 2009
Sovereign Performing Arts Center
C.P.E. Bach: Hamburg Symphony No. 4 in A major
Mozart: Piano Concerto K.488 in A major
Alon Goldstein, soloist.
Mendelssohn: Symphony No.3 in A Minor, Op. 56 “Scottish”
A common ingredient for Mozart and Mendelssohn? It’s folk
and popular music. While classical concerts today may seem
light-years removed from popular music downloads, the gap
wasn’t always so great. Mozart drew upon hugely popular
comic opera (and its wild excesses) as inspiration for parts
of this piano concerto—yet the touching melancholy of the
second movement is a marked contrast (and a favorite of
pianists). Mendelssohn drew upon Scottish folk melodies
(from an 1829 visit) in his third symphony—inspiring the
gratitude of its dedicatee, Queen Victoria. We’ll also hear
one of the six “Hamburg” symphonies of Carl Philipp Emanuel
Bach, second son of the immortal Johann Sebastian Bach.
C.P.E. Bach is known as one of the creators of the
“classical” style of music.
Heaven and Earth
March 14, 2009
Sovereign Performing Arts Center
Ravel : Le Tombeau de Couperin
Christopher Theofanidis: Rainbow Body
Dr. Mario Livio, NASA Speaker
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F, Op. 68 “Pastoral”
Christopher Theofanidis’ Rainbow Body will be a strikingly
beautiful, multi-media presentation—incorporating image
projections from the Hubble Space Telescope, descriptions
from the stage, and haunting melodies based on a work of
medieval mystic Hildegard of Bingen. The title, Rainbow
Body, is based on a concept in Tibetan Buddhism which says
that when an enlightened being dies, his or her body doesn't
decay, but instead is absorbed back into the universe as
energy and light. Dr. Mario Livio of NASA will show how a
dying star’s energy is also absorbed back into the
universe--a fascinating parallel! Somewhat similarly,
Maurice Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin uses motifs from
Francois Couperin—a commemoration of the great Baroque
composer—to honor friends lost in the First World War. It’s
a modern homage that returns to its late Renaissance roots.
Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony is a programmatic work that
moves from peaceful times in the countryside, merrymaking, a
great storm, and then the return of calm. Here are the
cycles of nature, manifest in three strikingly different
works.
“For the Complete
Story…”
April 18, 2009
Sovereign Performing Arts Center
Smetana: “Sarka” from Ma Vlast
Dvorak: “The Wood Dove” from Four Tone Poems
Janacek: Suite from The Cunning Little Vixen
Smetana: “Die Moldau” from Ma Vlast
Jon Spelman, Storyteller
Confused by the classics? Sometimes it’s helpful to have a
guided tour. For the first time this season, the RSO
combines an evening of masterworks and a master story
teller—it’s all here in one concert. Get ready for a
narrative journey through two sections of Smetana’s
monumental work Ma Vlast (My Homeland): “Sarka” and “Die
Moldau”, music that’s immediately recognizable and
thoroughly enjoyable. We’ll also hear “The Wood Dove” from
Dvorak’s Four Tone Poems, written in 1896-7 (a few years
after The New World Symphony). Opera lovers may remember the
Metropolitan’s highly successful revival of Janacek’s The
Cunning Little Vixen; this concert offers a suite of the
opera’s best orchestral selections.
Outrageous
Fortune
May 16, 2009
Sovereign Performing Arts Center
Kodaly: Suite from Hary Janos
Orff: Carmina Burana
Baltimore Choral Arts Society
Berks Classical Childrens Chorus
Richard Troxell, Tenor
“O Fortuna!” begins Carmina Burana, one of the great modern
masterpieces. The season ends with a triumphant roar—Karl
Orff’s massive work combines the full orchestra with huge
choral forces on stage. This cantata is based on twenty-four
medieval Germanic poems—though not exactly the material we
read in high school language class! These are ribald satires
of the Church and village life—risque as Chaucer--matched by
Orff’s infectious rhythms and pulsating choruses. It’s a
sonic experience, the match of a Beethoven 9th Symphony. The
evening’s program opens with Zoltan Kodaly’s suite from the
opera Hary Janos, which matched dialog to folk-derived
singing. Another Hungarian musician, Eugene Ormandy, made
the first recording of this orchestral suite, and later
performed it often with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
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