Overture Magazine 2019-20 BSO_Overture_Jan Feb | Page 33

ARETHA—A TRIBUTE
“Young Juliet”: Shakespeare tells us
that Juliet is not yet 14, and Prokofiev
charmingly shows her innocence and
frisky girlishness before she meets Romeo.
Two flutes sing her theme, revealing the
passionate depths of her nature.
“Masks”: Mischievous, rhythmically
intricate music for the arrival of Romeo
and his fellow Montagues, wearing
masks to disguise their identities, at the
Capulet ball.
“Friar Laurence”: In a little masterpiece
of musical characterization, a slow-moving
bassoon portrays the portly, benevolent
priest whose attempt to reconcile the two
families by marrying the lovers leads to
disaster. Cellos and then violins represent
Romeo and Juliet beseeching his help.
“Death of Tybalt”: This brutally
virtuosic sequence describes the two
contrasting duels that set the tragedy in
motion. First, a playful, scherzo-like fight
in which Juliet’s cousin Tybalt accidentally
kills Romeo’s prankster friend, Mercutio;
then, Romeo’s frenzied duel of vengeance
with Tybalt. Fifteen savage, short chords
mark Tybalt’s death. Brass cry out a
desperate version of the love theme as the
Capulets bear away his body.
“Romeo at Juliet’s Tomb”: This opens
with the heavy sorrow of Juliet’s funeral
cortege—her family and the hidden
Romeo unaware that she is still alive.
Romeo dances with Juliet’s lifeless body
to reminiscences of the love theme. As
Juliet’s theme sounds high in the violins,
Romeo drinks poison and dies.
“Juliet’s Death”: As Juliet awakens too
late, her theme soars in a heartbreaking
apotheosis in the violins and woodwinds.
A sharp dissonance marks her own
suicide. Music associated with the young
Juliet is whispered in the flute, and
Prokofiev uses it to build a soft, poignant
coda for the curtain’s close.
Instrumentation: Two flutes, piccolo, two
oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass
clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four
horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba,
timpani, percussion, harp, piano, celesta
and strings.
MUSIC CENTER AT STRATHMORE
Thursday, February 27, 2020, 8 pm
JOSEPH MEYERHOFF SYMPHONY HALL
Friday, February 28, 2020, 8 pm
Saturday, February 29, 2020, 8 pm
Sunday, March 1, 2020, 3 pm
Lucas Waldin, conductor
Capathia Jenkins, vocalist
Darryl Williams, vocalist
Various Aretha Overture
Don Covey “Chain of Fools”
Burt Bacharach & Hal David “I Say a Little Prayer”
Buddy DeSylva, Lew Brown
& Ray Herderson “Birth of the Blues”
Paul Simon “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
Carole Bayer Sager & Marvin Hamlisch “Nobody Does It Better”
Traditional
“What a Friend We Have in Jesus” /
“Climbing Higher Mountains”
Jimmy Webb “MacArthur Park”
Katherine Bates & Sam Ward “America the Beautiful”
Otis Redding “Respect”
INTERMISSION
Various Salute to Ray Charles
James Brown “I Got You (I Feel Good)”
Irving Gordon “Unforgettable”
Gerry Goffin, Carole King
& Jerry Wexler “(You Make Me Feel Like)
A Natural Woman”
Sam Cooke “A Change is Gonna Come”
Stevie Wonder “Isn’t She Lovely”
Harry Warren “At Last”
Harry Woods, Jimmy Campbell
& Reg Connelly “Try a Little Tenderness”
Traditional “Amazing Grace”
The intermission will last 20 minutes. The concert will end at approximately
10 pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 5 pm on Sunday.
This program features arrangements by Bill Holcombe, Sam Shoup, George Rhodes, Mort Stevens,
Matt Podd, Roger Holmes, Lee Norris, Kenneth Bernier, John Bachalis and Riley Hampton.
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Notes by Janet E. Bedell, © 2020

JA N – F E B 2020 / OV E R T U R E
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