2016-17 Season Brochures 2016-2017 Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Season | Page 16

MAY/JUNE Stravinsky’s Firebird Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks Markus Stenz, conductor David Fray, piano Markus Stenz, conductor Andrew Balio, trumpet Mendelssohn: Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major Stravinsky: The Firebird (Complete) Mozart: Symphony No. 29 Haydn: Trumpet Concerto Detlev Glanert: Frenesia (BSO Premiere) R. Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks Principal Guest Conductor Markus Stenz gives us a rare opportunity to hear the color and brilliance of Stravinsky’s complete score for The Firebird, the commission from Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes that catapulted him to fame in pre-WWI Paris. Years later, Paris was again the setting for Ravel’s popular jazz-inflected concerto, a perfect vehicle for the musical refinement and elegance of French pianist David Fray, who makes his BSO debut. Maestro Stenz is a master of both the classic and modern Austro-Germanic repertoire. Mozart’s graceful Symphony No. 29 is modeled after Haydn, who Mozart often called his teacher. Haydn’s own humorous and virtuosic trumpet concerto showcases Principal Trumpet Andrew Balio. Transforming the orchestral palette, Stenz introduces fun and frantic Frenesia, an ironic homage to Richard Strauss, whose own whimsical tribute to the medieval troublemaker Till Eulenspiegel makes for a rousing finale. THU, MAY 4, 8 PM FRI, MAY 12, 8 PM Gershwin and Prokofiev FRI, JUN 2, 8 PM SUN, JUN 4, 3 PM Christoph König, conductor Vadim Gluzman, violin Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2 Messiaen: Les offrandes oubliées Gershwin: An American in Paris DAVID FRAY VADIM GLUZMAN Four peer composers looked to France for inspiration with wildly different results. Christoph König opens with Ravel’s gentle memorial dedicated to friends lost in the war. The shift to fiery Prokofiev demands tremendous athleticism from the soloist, the superstar Ukrainian-Israeli violinist Vadim Gluzman. Olivier Messiaen’s deeply spiritual meditation takes us to an ethereal realm before Gershwin’s jazzy, raucous riff on Paris will have us humming into the night.