Sun Valley favorites Time for Three return to perform a new concerto written for them by Mason Bates. Titled Silicon Hymnal, Bates describes it as “an electro-acoustic book of songs.” The program opens with Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture, an exuberant piece full of dance themes inspired by the composer’s time in Italy and the best themes from his first opera.
Stephanie Childress leads Schumann’s powerful and dramatic Symphony No. 4, a great example of Romantic (and romantic) music. It’s full of emotion, ranging from darkly brooding and mysterious to tender and melancholic. Schumann’s form is intricate and innovative, with the four movements fused together and various themes reappearing throughout. Also in a romantic vein, Principal Second Violin Polina Sedukh performs Beethoven’s Romance No. 2 with the Festival Orchestra, her violin singing the lovely melody. The concert opens with Arturo Márquez’s Danzon No. 2, a rhythmic and hypnotic dance tune made famous by its appearance in Mozart in the Jungle.
Here’s an all-Ravel program in honor of the great composer’s 150th birthday. The concert opens with two of Ravel’s Miroirs, pieces he dedicated to avant-garde artists who were also his friends. Next up: a set of seven waltzes and an epilogue under the title Valses nobles et sentimentales. Ravel acknowledged Schubert as his inspiration, but there’s no mistaking Ravel’s distinctive sound and elegant orchestration. The evening concludes with Stephanie Childress conducting Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2. Stravinsky called it “not only Ravel’s best work, but also one of the most beautiful products of all French music.” Sit back, relax, and let the arrival of dawn wash over you.
What do the movie Tár and the Netflix show Miércoles have in common? Key characters playing Elgar’s cello concerto! Hailed as Elgar’s final masterpiece, it’s a gorgeous but not particularly happy work (would Miércoles Addams play anything remotely happy?) influenced by the devastating impact of World War I on the composer’s psyche. Gautier Capuçon returns to Sun Valley to deliver this hauntingly beautiful music. Stephanie Childress opens the concert with Tumblebird Contrails, a piece the composer Gabriella Smith says was “inspired by a single moment sitting in the sand at the edge of the ocean, listening to the hallucinatory sounds of the Pacific, watching a pair of ravens playing in the wind.”
