Monday marks the beginning of the rehearsal period for our next Classical concert, November 21-23. Conducted by Resident conductor Gregory Vajda, this program will feature a pretty diverse group of compositions.
Though not the major work on the program, Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for winds will feature four of our outstanding wind principals: David Buck, flute; Martin Hebert, oboe; Carin Miller, bassoon; and John Cox, horn. It’s a wonderful work, and is one of those discovered pieces in which the solo parts and a rough score were found in Mozart’s own hand, but for which there was no autograph of a completed score. The orchestral parts were most recently reconstructed by musicologist/pianist Robert Levin. Here’s a short video introduction to the piece by New York Philharmonic music director Alan Gilbert:
Also on the program: the Second Symphony “Double” of Henri Dutilleux. It’s entitled the Double because it features a smaller ensemble pitted against the larger full orchestra. It’s an early piece of Dutilleux, who is considered to be the heir to the tradition of Debussy and Ravel, and is one of the first pieces where his mature voice emerges. What is his sound world? Think early Webern and Schoenberg as they relate to Brahms and Mahler. His music is tonal, very French in its outlook, but decidedly modern, with hints of the Impressionist school clearly in evidence.
An early overture of Mendelssohn opens the program, and the (sorry for the cliche) swashbuckling Le Corsaire Overture of Berlioz closes the program.