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JOSHUA BELL PLAYS MENDELSSOHN | Premium
FRI, APR 21, 8 PM
ANNA RAKITINA, CONDUCTOR JOSHUA BELL, VIOLIN
ELLEN REID When the World As You’ ve Known It Doesn’ t Exist MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto ELGAR Variations on an Original Theme,“ Enigma”
You can always count on the superstar violinist Joshua Bell to perform Mendelssohn’ s deeply poetic concerto with“ huge tenderness, rendering the audience to jelly”( Bachtrack). The young Russian conductor Anna Rakitina navigates the mysteries and charms of Elgar’ s titillating Enigma Variations, and she introduces one of the most compelling voices in contemporary music: the Pulitzer prizewinning composer and sound artist Ellen Reid, who weaves the intimate tones of three wordless sopranos into a score that reflects on women’ s suffrage.
TCHAIKOVSKY PIANO CONCERTO
FRI, MAY 5, 8 PM
ROBERT TREVINO, CONDUCTOR KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI, PIANO
AUGUSTA READ THOMAS Prayer Bells TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances
Prepare to get goosebumps when the horns sound, the strings surge, and the wondrous Khatia Buniatishvili plays those first heroic chords that launch the spine-tingling ride of Tchaikovsky’ s Piano Concerto No. 1! The Grammy ®-winning composer Augusta Read Thomas charts a spiritually resonant journey in Prayer Bells, and conductor Robert Trevino returns to close the program with Russian Romanticism in Rachmaninoff’ s Symphonic Dances, a reflective look back from an unabashedly nostalgic composer.
TO AWAKEN THE SLEEPER
FRI, JUN 16, 8 PM
JAMES CONLON, CONDUCTOR RODRICK DIXON, NARRATOR
ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed ALVIN SINGLETON 56 Blows JOEL THOMPSON To Awaken the Sleeper( BSO Co-Commission) SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 10
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra revisits Adolphus Hailstork’ s reverent memorial to Martin Luther King Jr.( a work it premiered in 1980), and it touches the visceral hurt in Alvin Singleton’ s 1994 reaction to police brutality. Joel Thompson, a young composer who is revolutionizing concert music with his deeply moving stands on race and justice, adds a gripping meditation on the words of James Baldwin. Artistic Advisor James Conlon concludes with a fresh look at the selfreflective symphony Shostakovich wrote in the aftermath of Stalin’ s reign of terror.
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