Passion Premier
Friday March 27, 2009 8:00PM
Saturday March 28, 2009 8:00PM
Description:
Orchestras Feeding America National Food Drive
1 in 8 American don't know where their next meal is coming from.
The Toledo Symphony will participate in Orchestras Feeding America, the first national food drive involving America's orchestras. The Toledo Symphony will be collecting non-perishable food items at performances on March, 27, 28 and 29 at the Peristyle. All food and cash donations will be given to the Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank, Inc. Collection boxes will be located at all Peristyle entrances and in the lobby.
For more information on what foods to donate, visit www.toledofoodbank.org.
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“An ecstasy is a thing that will not go into words; it feels like music.”
-Mark Twain
Explore the concept of ecstasy in all of its infinte variety in this exceptional event featuring principal harpist, Nancy Lendrim and a super-sized Toledo Symphony under the direction of guest conductor Christoph Campestrini.
One definition of ecstasy is the mental transport experienced while contemplating divine things. Valeri Kikta’s Frescoes of St. Sofia can be considered one of the inspirational products of such a state of mind. Written for harp and orchestra, the piece alternates sparse orchestral textures with increasingly complex harp ‘ornaments.’ The cathedral is one of the Ukraine’s oldest architectural landmarks; many of the frescoes referenced in the composition date from the eleventh century.
Romantic passion fuels the musical exploration of two iconic stories – Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and the medieval German romance, Tristan and Isolde. Tchaikovsky’s tone poem captures both the feuding families and the young lovers in music that combines some of his most heart-racing battle music with a lush love theme that showcases the cello section. The Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner’s most popular opera, Tristan and Isolde, brings together two of the most heartfelt moments of an intensely passionate score.
Points of interest:
· Tristan and Isolde is one of the most influential operas of the late nineteenth century. In fact, the very first chord of the piece is instantly recognizable to many musicians as the ‘Tristan chord,’ and has an almost iconic role in late-Romantic music. The ‘resolution’ of this dissonant chord to another dissonance seems to encapsulate the unfulfilled yearning and desire of the two lovers.
· If, while playing the popular video game The Sims, you turn up the volume on your speakers, you can hear the love theme from Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet if two of your virtual characters kiss.
Memorial concert in honor of Edward H. Schmidt
Program:
Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet 23'
Kikta Frescoes of St. Sofia Cathedral 22'
INTERMISSION
Wagner Overture to Rienzi
Wagner Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde 17'
Wagner Overture to Tannhäuser
WGTE - FM 91 broadcasts the Toledo Symphony on FM 91 In Concert. Tonight's concert will be rebroadcast Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. through the generosity of the Edward H. Schmidt Musical Arts Fund.
