"The gentle fragrance of love": Mahler's Rückert-Lieder
From among three choices, the members of the Seattle Philharmonic voted to close our season with Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, in its most famous orchestration by Maurice Ravel. These resplendent symphonic canvases will share the bill with three short works by Nicole Buetti — one for strings, one for winds and brass, and one for the entire orchestra spotlighting the percussion. Soprano Stacey Mastrian makes a welcome return engagement to our stage in the most exquisite and intimate of Gustav Mahler’s song cycles, the achingly beautiful Rückert-Lieder.
BUETTI |
• Restless Winds
• Sforza!
• Meet the Instruments: Fanfare
MAHLER | Rückert-Lieder
Soloist | Stacey Mastrian, Soprano
MUSSORGSKY | Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel)
May 30th
2 pm
Benaroya Hall
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Upcoming
"Joie de vivre, gaiety, brilliance": Shostakovich's Ninth
The Seattle Philharmonic has garnered enthusiastic renown for presenting Halloween-imbued concerts like no other orchestra. Our season opener will conclude with a suite of music from classic horror films from the 40s and 50s, as well as magician/illusionist Matthew Laslo sharing his wizardry accompanied by music specially written and arranged for him by Music Director Adam Stern. Adding to the program’s luster will be a celebration of the 80th anniversary of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No 9 (premiered November 3, 1945), and the U. S. premiere of Greek-New Zealander composer Briar Prastiti’s Ákri. Aaron Copland’s festive Outdoor Overture will begin this gala concert.
"The master of all masters": Handel's Water Music
The Philharmonic has effectively become THE Ruth Gipps orchestra of the United States, acknowledged as such both here and abroad. Having given the U. S. premieres of three of her five symphonies, the orchestra will present the fourth such premiere of her Symphony No. 1, a must-hear for lovers of 20th-century English music. In a performance featuring Seattle’s leading organist Joseph Adam, Benaroya Hall’s Watjen Concert Organ will give voice to Jeanne Demessieux’s Poéme for Organ and Orchestra, composed in 1949 and presented here in its U. S. premiere. A rousing version for modern symphony orchestra of George Frideric Handel’s Water Music will close the program.
"In such a night as this": Nocturnes
A nocturnal atmosphere hovers over this program bookended by two of the literature’s most famous pieces inspired by the magic and mystery of the nighttime hours: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik and Claude Debussy’s orchestral trilogy Nocturnes, the latter a collaboration with the acclaimed Seattle Girls Choir. The Philharmonic’s principal cellist Soohyun Juhn takes the solo spotlight in works by sisters Lili and Nadia Boulanger, including Lili’s Nocturne. A handful of shorter Debussy works and Franz von Suppé’s ever-popular overture to the operetta Poet and Peasant round out this unique concert.