Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Performs East Coast Premiere of Dave and Chris Brubeck’s Ansel Adams: America

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Music Director Marin Alsop leads multimedia program including Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Hindemith’s Symphony Mathis der Maler

Music Director Marin Alsop will lead the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in a program that explores the artistic link between visual art and classical music on Thursday, February 11 at 8 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore and Friday, February 12 at 8 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The concert will feature the East Coast premiere of BSO co-commission Ansel Adams: America, a multi-media work created by American jazz pianist Dave Brubeck and his son, composer Chris Brubeck that celebrates Adams’ stunning photography of the early American West. The program also includes Hindemith’s Symphony Mathis der Maler, which is inspired by an altarpiece by the 16th-century painter Mathis Grünewald, and Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, as orchestrated by Maurice Ravel. The casual concert on Saturday, February 13 at 11 a.m. includes Ansel Adams: America and Symphony Mathis der Maler with no intermission. On Saturday, February 13 at 7 p.m., Maestra Alsop will explore Ansel Adams: America and Pictures at an Exhibition in depth as part of the Off the Cuff series.

Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck and his son, composer Chris Brubeck, created Ansel Adams: America as a multi-media celebration of American nature photographer Ansel Adams. The work combines Adams’ breath-taking imagery of the American West, which will be projected on a screen above the stage, with the power of a full symphony orchestra. Ansel Adams: America was co-commissioned by the BSO, along with the Abilene Philharmonic, Fresno Philharmonic, Monterey Symphony, Stockton Symphony, Temple University Symphony Orchestra, Meet the Composer and the James Irvine Foundation. The performance on Thursday, February 11 will mark its East Coast premiere.

Paul Hindemith composed Symphony Mathis der Maler between 1933 and 1934. He wrote the work while working on the libretto for his opera of the same name. Both works were inspired by the famous painter Mathis Grünewald. In Hindemith’s opera, the main character, Mathis, struggles to understand his role as an artist and the relationship between art and politics.

Modest Mussorgsky composed his virtuosic piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition in 1874. The piece was inspired by the artwork of his close friend and fellow Russian, Viktor Hartmann. On commission by the well-known conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Serge Koussevitsky, French composer Maurice Ravel orchestrated the piano suite in 1922. Ravel is famous for his genius in creating evocative and lush orchestral colors. His orchestration of Mussorgsky’s masterpiece has become the version known to orchestral audiences all around the world.

COMPLETE CONCERT DETAILS
Classical Concert: Pictures of Music
Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.—The Music Center at Strathmore
Friday, February 12, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.—Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

Marin Alsop, conductor

Dave and Chris Brubeck: Ansel Adams: America
Hindemith: Symphony Mathis der Maler
Mussorgsky/orch. Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition

Tickets range from $25 to $80 and are available through the BSO Ticket Office, 877.BSO.1444, 410.783.8000 or BSOmusic.org.

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