Soprano Susanna Phillips to Perform Mozart Arias with Marin Alsop and Baltimore Symphony

By -

A Little Night Music and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 also on the November program

Baltimore, Md. (August 19, 2009)—BSO Music Director Marin Alsop will welcome soprano Susanna Phillips to the stage to perform selections of Mozart’s arias with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, November 8 at 3:00 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The program also includes Mozart’s lively Eine kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4.

Originally scored for a chamber ensemble, Mozart composed Eine kleine Nachtmusik while concurrently composing Don Giovanni. Though Mozart originally composed the piece in five movements, only four survive. Even in its diminished form, the tuneful melodies and simple harmonies make it a favorite among classical and non-classical audiences.

Of Mozart’s 60 arias, 35 were composed for soprano. Susanna Phillips will sing three that were composed in the later years of Mozart’s life: “Alma grande e nobil core,” K. 578, “Vado, ma dove? O dei,” K. 583 and “Bella mia fiamma—Resta, o cara,” K. 528. The last piece was composed for the Czech soprano Josefa Duschek, who reportedly locked Mozart in a room in order to convince him to write an aria for her. In turn, the piece is full of difficult leaps and surprising harmonic progressions. A relatively new artist, Ms. Phillips brings “warmth and suppleness, as well as an attractively dark tone to the soprano lines” (New York Times).

Gustav Mahler’s Fourth Symphony was inspired by a collection of German folk poems, Des Knaben Wunderhorn (“The Youth’s Magic Horn”). Based on one song from this cycle, “Das himmlische Leben” (“The Heavenly Life”), the symphony relays a child’s concept of heaven. This naïve “child’s vision,” along with its more modest, classical proportions and humorous nature, contributes to its posthumous reputation as one of Mahler’s more approachable works.

COMPLETE PROGRAM INFORMATION
Classical Concert Series: Mozart and Mahler
Friday, November 6, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. —Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall*
Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. — JMSH
Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. - JMSH

Marin Alsop, conductor
Susanna Phillips, soprano

Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Mozart: Alma grande e nobil core, K. 578
Mozart: Vado, ma dove? O dei, K. 583
Mozart: Bella mia fiamma—Resta, o cara, K. 528
Mahler: Symphony No. 4

*Classical Conversations is a free pre-concert lecture at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The program begins at 7:00 p.m. and is free to ticket holders.

Tickets for these concerts go on sale September 1, 2009, range from $28 to $90 and are available 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 ...
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

Teaching Composition – What are we trying to achieve

By -
In the process of learning composition I have spent time with a number of instructors who have encouraged me to write twelve-tone, pitch-class, electro-acoustic and other forms of experimental techniques. No matter how much I might understand and appreciate the work of other composers in the genres, these are not forms of music I resonate with. They are simply not forms of music I listen to and I struggle with the idea of writing them. However, in a Master Class by Libby Larsen she made the comment, “Learn them all, because all forms of music have something to offer.” This I very much agree. There are elements of each of the above mentioned forms (and others) that I do resonate with. Berg’s Violin Concerto is a beautiful twelve-tone work, although it is possible to look at numerous sections of the music with a “tonal” analysis. Another composer friend, Gary Bachlund commented that using these techniques can narrow the choices for how to compose a piece of work. If you look at ...
Read more