Music of the Americas

In yet another unique and adventurous program, the Philharmonic performs works by composers from five different countries of the American continent. Mexico’s José Pablo Moncayo, one of his country’s most revered composers, is represented by his festive Sinfonietta. Canadian composer Jean Coulthard’s Prayer for Elizabeth, written to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, is a heartfelt meditation in the manner of Barber’s Adagio for Strings. From Brazil, we sample the evocative music of Camargo Guarnieri, as one of the Philharmonic’s dearest friends, the dynamic pianist Sophie Lippert, performs his Piano Concerto No. 1. Following intermission, we turn to the hauntingly beautiful Mediodía en en Llano (Afternoon on the Plain) by Venezuela’s Antonio Estévez. The concert ends on U. S. soil with the Concerto for Orchestra by Morton Gould, a work that deftly combines classical, popular, and jazz elements (including a rip-roaring boogie-woogie finale!).

MONCAYO | Sinfonietta

COULTHARD | A Prayer for Elizabeth

GUARNIERI | Concerto No. 1 for Piano & Orchestra

Soloist | Sophie Lippert, Piano

ESTÉVEZ | Mediodía en el Llano

GOULD | Concerto for Orchestra

2pm

Benaroya Hall

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Upcoming

"The Sounds of Primitive Magic": Orff's "Carmina Burana"

Premiered in 1937, Carl Orff’s “scenic cantata” Carmina Burana lost no time establishing itself as the most popular choral work of the 20th century. The Philharmonic’s much-anticipated 2020 Carmina had to be delayed due to COVID, and we are thrilled to finally be able to offer it to our audiences again, in a performance featuring three superb vocal soloists and two of the region’s finest choirs. Ukrainian composer Victoria Vita Polevá has cited her religious faith and “love of humanity” as principal inspirations for her creations. The Philharmonic celebrates this major contemporary composer with the U.S. premiere of her symphonic poem Null, a work of staggering power in which time seems to stand still. The program begins with Morton Gould’s stirring Fanfare for Freedom, and guest soloist Mark Robbins brings his glowing artistry to Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4.

2 pm

Benaroya Hall

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"Passionate and Fascinating": Schumann's Fourth

This festive program opens with the U.S. premiere of the sparkling Suite para Orquestra by Spanish composer Rosa García Ascot. Violinist Tokuji Miyasaka, winner of the Philharmonic’s 2024 Don Bushell Competition, is the dazzling soloist in the Violin Concerto No. 1 by Niccolò Paganini, the composer/performer whose legendary virtuosity caused contemporaries to suspect him of an alliance with The Devil. We conclude with Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 4, a work in which the composer displays amazing structural unity wedded to his characteristic rhapsodic intensity.

2 pm

Benaroya Hall

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"Completely Novel and Ingenious": Brahms' Fourth

The critic Eduard Hanslick was ecstatic in his praise of Brahms’ fourth and final symphony, lauding its “craftsmanship, strength, unbending consistency, and earnestness…” This simultaneously lyrical and robust symphony caps the Philharmonic’s season in a blaze of romantic vigor. Noted Seattle-based actress Sydney Maltese joins the orchestra for the U.S. premiere of Australian composer Jenny McLeod’s colorful setting of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Emperor and the Nightingale, preceded by a performance of Percy Grainger’s rumbustious take on the English folk song Green Bushes.

2 pm

Benaroya Hall

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