By Claudia Jensen and Bradley Clem Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) What is the Verdi Requiem? This has been the question since the first performance, on May 22, 1874, which took place in a church, San Marco in Milan, and in the context of a religious service with an
by Bradley Clem and Claudia Jensen Janitzio (1933) Silvestre Revueltas Born: December 31, 1899, Santiago Papasquiaro, Durango, Mexico Died: October 5, 1940, Mexico City, Mexico Janitzio, by the Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, has been described as one of several “sophisticated picture-postcard” pieces (tone poems) he composed for the National Symphony
by Bradley Clem and Claudia Jensen In our celebration “Finland 100,” all roads, in a sense, lead to Sibelius. As the music critic Tom Service wrote, the rich and vibrant musical culture of Finland, “which has produced more world-class composers and performers per capita than any
by Dr. Memmi Ochi, based on materials provided by Mr. Yoshiyasu Hisamatsu, the chief editor for Yamada’s music at Craftone Inc. in Tokyo. Symphony in F “Triumph and Peace” Composed: June 25, 1912-November 18, 1912 (Berlin) Premier: December 6, 1914 (Teikoku Gekijo, Tokyo) U.S. Premier: January 24, 1919 (Carnegie
by Bradley Clem and Claudia Jensen For our opening concert this season, Director Julia Tai has given us a deceptively simple title: “At the Japanese Garden.” We may think we know what this means, but through this title, Julia is asking us to delve into the
February 26, 2017 Sergei Prokofiev (1891 – 1953): Peter and the Wolf, Op. 67 Although the two composers on our program, Sergei Prokofiev and Maurice Ravel, are worlds apart in their musical styles and experiences, both take a similar approach in their works for children. They use strong
November 20, 2016 Wolfgang Mozart (1756 – 1791): Don Giovanni Overture Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni has had an immense impact on Western culture—artists, philosophers, and musicians have revered the work for its complexity, its beauty, indeed, for its perfection. Don Giovanni premiered in Prague in 1787, the result
October 23, 2016 Gioachino Rossini (1792 – 1868): La gazza ladra (overture) Philharmonia Northwest begins its 41st season quite literally with a drumroll—the opening of Rossini’s overture to La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie). This was one of four (!) operas by Rossini that premiered in 1817, and
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904): Nocturne in B Major, Op. 40 Antonín Dvořák’s Nocturne, Op. 40, began its life as the middle section of a single-movement string quartet written early in his career. Although Dvořák eventually discarded the quartet, he kept the haunting central section, which he had originally