Marin Alsop Leads Baltimore Symphony in Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto 4-3 featuring Time for Three

By -

Program also includes selections from Brahms’ Hungarian Dances and Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4

Baltimore, Md. (July 24, 2009)—Music director Marin Alsop leads the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto 4-3 featuring Time for Three, Brahms’s Hungarian Dances Nos. 1, 3 and 10 and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 on Thursday, September 24 at 8:00 p.m. and Friday, September 25 at 8:00 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and Saturday, September 26 at 8:00 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore. These concerts will launch the season’s celebration of the diverse folk and ethnic traditions that have enriched and inspired classical music over the centuries. Please see below for complete program information.

Time for Three first gained attention when they provided entertainment after a lightning strike caused the lights to go out in the middle of a Philadelphia Orchestra concert. The classically trained members of Time for Three combine elements of American jazz, rock and folk music in their highly energetic performances. Time for Three joins the BSO to perform Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto 4-3, inspired by the bluegrass music of her childhood home in eastern Tennessee. The piece, which plays off the Time for Three name, was written specifically for the group and highlights the group’s chemistry and virtuosity.

A German composer, Brahms fostered a love of Hungarian gypsy music, which influenced many of his works. Hungarian Dances were originally piano improvisations on gypsy themes he heard while traveling central Europe. Of the 21 dances, Brahms orchestrated only three of them himself: Nos. 1, 3 and 10. Hugely popular, Hungarian Dances served to be his most profitable composition.

Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony opens in an ominous fanfare, representing Fate, a force he feels poisons and suffocates all happiness. Tchaikovsky orchestrated the piece following his disastrous marriage, and Fatum’s fanfare is echoed throughout the work, signifying despair. Despite the presence of Fatum in the last movement, however, the music is joyous and hopeful. Drawing upon his roots, Tchaikovsky incorporates a Russian folk song a recurrent the theme.

Tickets for these concerts range from $28 to $90. Tickets are available starting on September 1, 2009 through the BSO Ticket Office, 877.BSO.1444, 410.783.8000 or BSOmusic.org.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Role of Music in Opera

By -
There are numerous books on the topic, and every composer, librettist, director, singer and audience member has their opinion as to what role the music should play in an opera. In a play without music, the words ought to support the meaning behind a character's actions. However, in the case of action movies, often times the action is what tells the story and there aren't words, just images to forward the plot. We might hear music to accompany action, build tension, but the action tells the story. Musicals tend to speak until the emotion of the moment just "has" to break out in song - unless it's something like "Mama Mia" where the dialog is the rails we travel on between songs; the songs themselves, written before the concept of the musical, are the focus of the production, while the story is secondary. Operas are a different beast. The music provides emotion to the words spoken, but it also plays the role of ambience when there is only action. In &quo
Read more

Acclaimed Fauré Quartett returns to Deutsche Grammophon with their first recording of Brahms

By -
Image
The Fauré Quartett continues to add authoritative recordings to the chamber music catalog with their new recording of two Brahms quartets, available from Deutsche Grammophon on January 12, 2010. These large, some say symphonic, works test the limits of technical and musical capabilities, and the Fauré Quartett once again proves why they are one of the most acclaimed ensembles performing today. Within a short period of time the Fauré Quartett has conquered the great concert halls of London , Paris , Berlin , Amsterdam , Brussels , Geneva , Hamburg , Frankfurt, Milan , Buenos Aires , Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere. “They attract superlatives wherever they go,” wrote The Strad following a concert at London ’s Wigmore Hall, while the Süddeutsche Zeitung praised them for a performance that “brought tremendous pleasure by highlighting interpretative details that had scarcely ever been heard before”. The Fauré Quartett strives to achieve a unique sound for Brahms (as indeed for every work)
Read more

Episode 210b: Joyeuse le départ

By -
Image
Podcast:  Play in new window  |  Download Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts  |  Android  |  Google Play  |  Stitcher  |  TuneIn  |  RSS Provost Cunningham has Transmigrated, but to where! What is Dr Sage going to do with his body? And how can she bring home her friends, Abigail and Erasmus, without also bring home Cunningham? What are they going to say when they find the “skeleton” she’s hiding in her closet? Cast: Eddie Louise Clark  as Dr Sage Chip Clark  as Professor Savant Justin Bremer  as the Narrator Emily Riley Piatt  as Abigail Entwhistle, Calypso & Dean Stewart Written by  Eddie Louise Theme music by  Unwoman Sound Design by  Chip Michael
Read more