"In the startled ear of night..."
In the tradition of the Philharmonic’s “Music’s Darkest Harvest” concerts of yore, we present a Halloween program that is all over the map, both geographically and stylistically. The concert is bookended by two French overtures: Louise Bertin’s Le Loup-garou, the first (and only?) opera ever written about a werewolf, and Jacques Offenbach’s ever-popular Orpheus in the Underworld, which climaxes in the rumbustious and once-scandalous can-can. America is represented by Bernard Herrmann’s personal favorite among his numerous film scores, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Edmond Dédé’s rollicking Méphisto Masqué, and Nicole Buetti, who will be on hand for the local premiere of her Odyssey Overture (inspired by, among other things, her fondness for Star Trek and Star Wars). The Philharmonic’s beloved concertmaster Luke Fitzpatrick will be heard in music of the Italian Baroque: Giuseppe Tartini’s “Devil’s Trill” Sonata, in a new version for violin and orchestra. Finally, we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Ralph Vaughan Williams with a rare performance of his overture to the comic opera about sorcery and necromancy, The Poisoned Kiss.
BERTIN | Le Loup-garou (The Werewolf): Overture
HERRMANN | The Ghost and Mrs. Muir: Suite
DÉDÉ | Méphisto Masqué
BUETTI | Odyssey Overture (Seattle premiere)
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS | The Poisoned Kiss: Overture
TARTINI | Sonata for Violin and Orchestra, "The Devil's Trill"
Soloist | Luke Fitzpatrick, Violin
OFFENBACH | Orpheus in the Underworld: Overture
October 29th
2pm
Benaroya Hall
Tickets
Video Intro
“In the startled ear of night…”
In this video, Music Director Adam Stern gives a delightful introduction to our opening concert of the 2022-2023 season!
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A Major U.S. Premiere: Gipps' Fifth
Beginning with our 2018 performance of her Symphony No. 2, the Philharmonic has been at the forefront of the revival of interest in the music of Ruth Gipps. Her final symphony, the Fifth, will simultaneously receive its U. S. premiere and its second-ever performance at this concert. We begin with the appropriately-titled Hullabaloo by Canadian composer Jocelyn Morlock, specifically intended as a rousing and lively program opener, and continue with incidental music that Felix Mendelssohn wrote for Jean Racine’s play Athalia. The orchestra then proudly presents the winner of the Philharmonic’s 2022 Don Bushell Competition, saxophonist Soren Hamm, in Jacques Ibert’s bubbly Concertino da Camera.
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!).