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CONLON CONDUCTS THE VERDI REQUIEM
THU, JAN 19, 8 PM
JAMES CONLON, CONDUCTOR MICHELLE BRADLEY, SOPRANO YULIA MATOCHKINA, MEZZO RUSSELL THOMAS, TENOR MORRIS ROBINSON, BASS THE WASHINGTON CHORUS EUGENE ROGERS, DIRECTOR
VERDI Requiem
When Verdi, the king of Italian opera, turned his talents to the Latin mass for the dead, he created a Requiem of unrivaled drama and power that has shattered the norms for sacred music. Drawing on a cast of today’ s vocal stars, Artistic Advisor James Conlon brings potent new insight to this musical meditation on faith and perseverance.
FLORENCE PRICE AND SHOSTAKOVICH
THU, JAN 26, 8 PM
EVA OLLIKAINEN, CONDUCTOR MICHELLE CANN, PIANO
BRITTEN Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes PRICE Piano Concerto in One Movement SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5
Shostakovich’ s transcendent Fifth Symphony uses the coded language of musical irony that was off limits in the repressive Soviet regime. The trailblazing Finnish conductor Eva Ollikainen conducts this nuanced score with characteristic thoughtfulness, and her steady hand navigates the turbulent scenes from Britten’ s dark tale of social isolation. Michelle Cann, a leader in the revival of Florence Price’ s long-overlooked canon, is known for delivering a“ stirring and authoritative performance” that maximizes the“ technical sparkle and probing humanity” of Price’ s action-packed concerto( The Philadelphia Inquirer).
MAHLER AND KLEZMER
THU, MAR 9, 8 PM
FABIEN GABEL, CONDUCTOR NOAH BENDIX-BALGLEY, VIOLIN
NOAH BENDIX-BALGLEY / ADLER Fidl-Fantzye: A Klezmer Concerto MAHLER Symphony No. 5
Mahler floods the ear and heart with every conceivable human emotion in the inexhaustible Fifth Symphony, a work he himself described as a“ foaming, roaring, raging sea of sound.” Violinist Noah Bendix-Balgley, the first concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic, shows off another talent as the composer of a Klezmer fantasy filled with the wailing cries and stomping dances of this intoxicating folk style. The French maestro Fabien Gabel guides the way through an uber-emotional program with sure-handed grace.
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