Spoiler alert: EVERYBODY DIES in the pieces we’re playing this concert. On the bright side, the music is fantastic! Plus it's our Diamond Anniversary Season (60 years) and you're invited to a party in the courtyard at intermission—everything on the house!
We’re playing a mélange of pieces that could be called pastiches and collages. First up, Verdi’s Overture to Giovanna d'Arco (Joan of Arc) which is, by definition, an opening collage introducing the melodies and themes of the, in this case opera, that follows. From lush melancholy to sweet tenderness to bombast, this piece has it all. And you know what happened to Joan.
Crank up the melodrama with Sibelius’ Pelléas et Mélisande Suite, a collage of incidental music to be performed during the theater play of the same name—about a love triangle that turns deadly (yes, they both die). The individual movements offer hauntingly lyrical musings on love and death. (This is all not to be confused with Claude Debussy’s opera of the same name!)
And then on to Berlioz’s Les Troyens Suite, a five-hour long collage of pieces! (Don’t worry, we’re only playing a bit of it.) The stately Overture (which is itself a collage), a Royal Hunt and Storm (nymphs! satyrs! torrential rains!), a Ballet (something about dancing girls?) and finally, the triumphal March of the Trojans, giddy about the huge horse those loser Greeks left behind (well, wasn’t the surprise on them really?). You’ll leave with your ears ringing!
The concert is free, but advance tickets are required. Come at 2:40pm for the pre-concert talk by Music Director Eric Hansen. Music lovers of all ages are welcome; families are encouraged to attend and introduce your children to live orchestral music in a lovely setting (we only ask that babies please cry in key).