Halen

Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 3pm
Presented by American Airlines

Hans Graf, conductor
David Halen, violin
Jonathan Vinocour, viola

PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 1, “Classical”
MOZART Sinfonia concertante, K. 364
STRAVINSKY Scènes de Ballet
BIZET Symphony in C

The influence of one’s forbearers may produce anxiety, but it also provokes great art. Bizet stands boldly in Mozart’s shadow. Young Prokofiev honors his musical ancestors as Stravinsky reflects on Tchaikovsky’s fiery romanticism. Mozart is purely himself, inventing a refined discourse between violin and viola.

McGegan

Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 3pm

Nicholas McGegan, conductor
Barbara Orland, oboe
Andrew Gott, bassoon
Alison Harney, violin
Melissa Brooks, cello
Laura Claycomb, soprano
Thomas Cooley, tenor
Saint Louis Symphony Chorus
Amy Kaiser, director

MENDELSSOHN Fair Melusine Overture
HAYDN Sinfonia concertante
HANDEL Ode for Saint Cecilia’s Day

One for the muses. If you’re called upon to make music for the Queen, you’d better bring your best stuff. Handel knew how to please a royal court, but for Cecilia, the patron saint of music, he writes to satisfy the divine. Mendelssohn and Haydn add to this extraordinary command performance.

Robertson

Sunday, December 14, 2008 at 3pm

David Robertson, conductor
Jessica Rivera, soprano
Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano
Steven Rickards, Daniel Bubeck
Brian Cummings, countertenors
Jonathan Lemalu, bass-baritone
Saint Louis Symphony Chorus
Amy Kaiser, director
The St. Louis Children’s Choirs
Barbara Berner, director

JOHN ADAMS El Niño

“The piece is my way of trying to understand what is meant by a miracle,” John Adams says of his nativity oratorio. Handel’s Messiah is indeed a model, but the shout of “Hallelujah” is propelled by a convergence of forces, as if orchestra and chorus were caught up in a whirlwind of history and myth, faith and doubt, memory and dream. Prepare to be blown away.

Ohlsson

Sunday, March 1, 2009 at 3pm

Jun Märkl, conductor
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
Todd Wilson, organ

LISZT Les Préludes
DVORÁK Piano Concerto
SAINT-SAËNS Symphony No. 3, “Organ”

“Chiaroscuro” means the contrasts between lights and darks in a picture or painting. It’s an effective word to describe this concert: Liszt’s tone poem of life and death; Dvorák’s concerto, with an interplay between soloist and orchestra like dappled light; and Saint-Saëns’ symphony of dazzling variations.

Mattila

Sunday, March 29, 2009 at 3pm

David Robertson, conductor
Karita Mattila, soprano
Anssi Karttunen, cello

WAGNER Parsifal, Good Friday Music
ZIMMERMANN Canto di Speranza
KAIJA SAARIAHO Mirage (US Premiere)
SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5

Tensions build. Worlds break open and take new form. Transformation— magical, mystical, spiritual, physical—is the theme here: contemplations of Good Friday, a cello song of the spirit, the mystery of things seen and unseen, and Sibelius’ wondrous evocation of swans in flight.

Murphy

Sunday, May 10, 2009 at 3pm

David Robertson, conductor
Heidi Grant Murphy, soprano
Jennifer Dudley, mezzo-soprano
Brandon Jovanovich, tenor
Jonathan Lemalu, bass-baritone
Saint Louis Symphony Chorus
Amy Kaiser, director

THOMAS ADÈS Asyla
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9, “Choral”

Beethoven, nearly deaf, must have been composing as if in a dream as he built the rugged grandeur of his final symphony. “All creatures drink joy!” it shouts ecstatically, and ecstasy (the emotion and the drug) is a theme of Thomas Adès’ Asyla. Music starts. Enter dream.