SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE( TALES OF POE)
Kendall’ s Knife of Dawn. He has also conducted Kurt Weill’ s Lost in the Stars with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the world premiere of Giorgio Battistelli’ s opera, Wake for the Birmingham Opera Company.
Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Jonathon studied conducting at the Boston Conservatory of Music and London’ s Royal Academy of Music. In 2023, he was named a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music; an honour reserved for Academy alumni.
Francesca Dego
Italian American violinist Francesca Dego is celebrated for her versatility, compelling interpretations, and flawless technique.
Her 2024 – 25 season included debuts with London and Dallas Symphony Orchestras with the violin concertos of Mendelssohn and Beethoven, respectively. She also performs with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana,
Francesca Dego
Sinfonica di Milano, Vancouver, Detroit, and San Diego Symphony Orchestras, and Orchestre de Cannes. In recital she appears at the Wigmore Hall with Alessandro Taverna, and Belfast International Chamber Festival and Dubai Opera with Francesca Leonardi.
Recent and forthcoming highlights include appearances with NHK Symphony Orchestra, Washington National and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras, and Orchestre de Champs Elysées, as well as debuts with Swedish Radio Symphony, Bergen and London Philharmonic, West Australian, and
Queensland Symphony Orchestras. She has also appeared with the Tokyo Metropolitan and Symphony Orchestras, the orchestra of the National Arts Centre Ottawa, and at St. Petersburg’ s renowned Stars of the White Nights Festival. Recent European highlights include at La Fenice; with Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice; Oviedo Philharmonic; Orquestra de Sevilla; and at the Teatro Regio di Torino. U. K. highlights include the BBC Symphony, Ulster, Philharmonia, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras.
Signed exclusively to Chandos Records, her most recent recording of the violin concertos of Busoni and Brahms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Dalia Stasevska was released in 2024. Her complete Mozart violin concertos with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Sir Roger Norrington received unanimous critical acclaim.
Francesca is based in London and plays a rare Francesco Ruggeri violin( Cremona 1697).
NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
By Paula Maust
Mark Simpson
Born: September 26, 1988 in Liverpool, United Kingdom; Residing in the U. K.
ISRAFEL [ 2014 ]
Edgar Allan Poe’ s beloved poem“ Israfel” is about the archangel who will blow the trumpet signaling the end of the world in the Islamic tradition. Poe’ s colorful prose describes the archangel as one“ whose heart-strings are a lute” and asserts that“ none sing so wildly well as the angel Israfel.” Nearly two centuries later, Poe’ s evocative musical imagery in“ Israfel” sparked inspiration for British composer Mark Simpson’ s 2015 orchestral work by the same name. Simpson writes that Poe’ s“ poem perfectly conjures up the myriad of emotions I wanted to take the listener through” in Israfel.
In just twelve minutes, Israfel explores a wide range of instrumental timbres, textures, and registers( high and low pitches). The piece is divided into two main sections, with the first containing a variety of melodies that rapidly shift between instruments. Beauty, triumph, chaos, sadness, and finally rage push us into the second section, which features driving rhythms and profound intensity. Israfel ends with a coda that Simpson describes as“ bittersweet,” just like the way Poe’ s poem concludes with the author wondering if he could perhaps make an even better melody than Israfel if they were to switch places.
Instrumentation: Three flutes( second and third doubling piccolo), three oboes( third doubling English horn), three clarinets( third doubling bass clarinet), two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets( first doubling piccolo trumpet), three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, side drum, chimes, whip, crotales, pitched gongs, tam-tam, vibraphone, glockenspiel, harp, piano, and strings.
Sergei Prokofiev
Born,( 1891-04-27) 27 April 1891 Sontsovka, Russian Empire Died: March 5, 1953 in Moscow, Soviet Union
VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 2 [ 1935 ]
Sergey Prokofiev fled his home in Russia after the October 1918 Bolshevik Revolution. He spent several years in the United States before moving to Europe, where he began collaborating with the French violinist Robert Soetens. In 1935 they embarked on an extensive tour together, during which Prokofiev composed his Second Violin Concerto. The composer later reminisced that he had written the first movement’ s theme in Paris, the second movement’ s theme originated in Voronezh, and the concerto’ s orchestration was completed in Baku. Soetens premiered the
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