Art comes to life. The great orchestra showpiece Pictures at an Exhibition started out as an extended piano suite in 10 movements by Mussorgsky. That is until a half-century later, when Maurice Ravel had the good sense to see its true potential for a full orchestra. His orchestration has been a showstopper ever since. With a heady, cinematic feel, Korngold’s Violin Concerto pulls from his career as a staff composer for Warner Brothers, where he wrote music for 22 films and won two Oscars. Rounding out the program is Paul Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler, inspired by 16th-century artist Matthias Grünewald.

These audio program notes include music excerpts.

Masterworks 12 of the 24/25 Season
Performances April 26 & 27, 2025

Is it possible to find someone who cannot hum a bit of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons -- arguably one of the most enduring works of all time? Vivaldi presents a musical travelogueof spring, summer, autumn and winter, complete with bird songs, shimmering creeks, a thunderstorm, peasant’s dance and a freezing ice storm. It’s exuberant and captivating every time. Another masterpiece on the program is Mozart’s Symphony No. 39, one of three symphonies that he completed in just six weeks in the summer of 1788. The opening has been described as “so majestic that it so surprised even the coldest, most insensitive listener.”

These audio program notes include music excerpts.

Masterworks 11 of the 24/25 Season
Performances April 4 & 5, 2025

This program spotlights an unusual instrument for a classical program: the saxophone. For Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, the tenor saxophone makes a rare appearance in a symphony orchestra with the theme representing Juliet. Of Prokofiev’s nine ballet scores, this is his finest – even though he originally wrote a happy ending to Shakespeare’s tragedy. An “altered” version was performed, however. The saxophone is front and center for A Kind of Trane Saxophone Concerto, written as an homage to the great jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. The concert begins with John Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine, a four-minute jaunt inspired by a terrifying ride in a Ferrari.

These audio program notes include music excerpts.

Masterworks 10 of the 24/25 Season
Performance Mar 30, 2025

Beethoven composed his Violin Concerto in 1806, when he was deaf. From the onset, the music unfolds with a sense of spaciousness, its character more graceful than frenetic. This work is not about power and bravura but poise and spirituality. At nearly 45 minutes, it also requires a lot of stamina for the soloist. Also on the program are Šárka and Die Moldau from Smetana’s Ma Vlast, a set of six tone poems depicting life and nature in Bohemia. Die Moldau is Smetana’s most-performed work, as it so perfectly captures the flow of a great Bohemian river. The concert ends with Janáček’s Taras Bulba, which relies on contrasting sonorities, and his use of dissonance embraces rather than repels – no small feat.

These audio program notes include music excerpts.

Masterworks 9 of the 24/25 Season
Performances March 14, 15 & 16, 2025

For some listeners, Tchaikovsky’s evergreen Piano Concerto No. 1 is overplayed and overwrought. For others, it never fails to thrill with its embraceable tunes and striking rhythmic flourish. No, Tchaikovsky wasn’t subtle, and this piece is supercharged with pulsating sentiment. Meanwhile, the music of English composer William Walton is seldom heard in American concert halls, so a performance of his Belshazzar’s Feast is a treat. This brilliant cantata for orchestra, chorus and baritone soloist is based on the Book of Daniel and Psalm 137 that results in an epic, dramatic showstopper.

These audio program notes include music excerpts.

Masterworks 8 of the 24/25 Season
Performances Feb 22 & 23, 2025

A concert immersed in the sea. It opens with Garth Neustadter’s Seaborne, a film with stunning images of the sea set to music, performed by the Percussion Collective. The work explores water from the air, surface and underwater vantage points. Then the concert flows to Sibelius’ The Oceanides, which has been described as “the finest evocation of the sea that has ever been produced in music.” In Debussy’s La Mer, he pays tribute to the sea in a lavish three-movement masterpiece that doesn’t depict it in a literal sense, but through an interplay of light, shadow and sheer orchestral force.

These audio program notes include music excerpts.

Masterworks 7 of the 24/25 Season
Performances Feb 7 & 8, 2025

Variations on a Rococo Theme is the closest Tchaikovsky ever came to writing a cello concerto. Scored for a reduced orchestra, the Variations assume a chamber-like texture and balance the sweetness of the classical style with a romantic warmth, the soloist never leaving the spotlight − much less having a moment to rest. The program opens with the tone poem Elegia Andina by Gabriele Lena Frank. She was born hearing impaired, yet the Washington Post recently named her one of the 35 most significant women composers in history. Kodaly’s began collecting tunes for his Dances of Galánta while living in the town of Galánta, and the music captures the boisterous nature of the dances that came from them. Rounding out the program is Bizet’s Carmen Suites Nos. 1 & 2. The tunes are played in reverse order of the opera, but no matter − their infectious charm works in any arrangement.

These audio program notes include music excerpts.

Masterworks 6 of the 24/25 Season
Performances Jan 24 & 25, 2025

Felix Mendelssohn’s best-loved work has to be his radiant Violin Concerto. It is loaded with good tunes. In particular is the finale, a puckish movement full of sparkle and bravado. One of the most significant African-American composers of the 20th century, William Dawson seamlessly wove folksong into works such as the Negro Folk Symphony. Quotes from American spirituals simmer throughout the work, which ends in an explosion of rhythms inspired by the composer’s trip to Africa. Composer Georges Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody is an amazing orchestral showpiece. What makes it so exciting is the ever-increasing tempo, the orchestra gaining speed and momentum in an exhilarating crescendo that ends with a knock-out punch designed to bring an audience to its feet.

These audio program notes include music excerpts.

Masterworks 5 of the 24/25 Season
Performances Jan 11 & 12, 2024