January and February performances include a once-in-a-lifetime Portland Symphony Orchestra Endowment Benefit concert with world-famous soprano Renee Fleming, an all-Mozart concert, a PSO Pops tribute to the music of World War II, and more. All concerts are presented at Portland’s Merrill Auditorium.
Tuesday Classical: “Shostakovich Tenth Symphony” – January 13, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
Maestro Moody leads the Portland Symphony Orchestra in a performance opening with George Gershwin’s Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra with Orion Weiss as soloist. Weiss returns to Portland after his acclaimed last-minute replacement performance during Moody’s second Music Director “audition” concert in November 2006. On the second half of this program, the PSO takes on Dmitri Shastakovich’s famously explosive and passionate Symphony No. 10 in E minor. Sponsored by Verrill Dana, the concert begins at 7:30 p.m. with a Concert Conversation at 6:15 p.m. in the Rehearsal Hall. This performance will be aired on the radio through Maine Public Broadcasting Network (MPBN) on January 28 at 8:00 p.m.
Sunday Classical: “All-Mozart Matinee” – January 25, 2009, 2:30 p.m.
Led by one of today’s foremost young conductors, Christian Knapp, and featuring guest soloist William Hudgins, principal clarinet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Portland Symphony Orchestra celebrates Mozart’s birthday (January 27) in high style. The concert opens with the Overture to Don Giovanni, and also includes Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A Major, considered among Mozart’s greatest works, as well as the Adagio & Fugue, K. 546; Masonic Funeral Music; and Symphony No. 35 in D Major, “Haffner.” The concert begins at 2:30 p.m., Concert Conversation with Maestro Knapp at 1:15. This performance will be aired on the radio through Maine Public Broadcasting Network (MPBN) on February 11 at 8:00 p.m.
PSO Endowment Benefit Concert: “An Evening with Renee Fleming” – February 17, 7:30 p.m.
For a once-in-a-lifetime event, the Portland Symphony Orchestra is proud to welcome world-famous soprano Renee Fleming in her Maine debut, following performances at the Metropolitan Opera (where she was the star performer on their Opening Night Gala), Washington Opera, and with orchestras and in recital around the world. One of the greatest sopranos of this, or any, era, Renee Fleming is at the peak of her powers. She will perform works from both the classical and popular repertoire under the baton of Robert Moody. This is an unprecedented opportunity to see one of the world’s greatest singers, in the intimate and acoustically superb Merrill Auditorium.
PSO Pops: “Radio Days” – February 21, 7:30 p.m. – February 22, 2009, 2:30 p.m.
Equal parts radio console and sound stage, audiences will be transported to a time when popular music came through radio tubes instead of YouTube, with music by Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and others, and segments from vintage serials, comedies, and quiz shows. Paying tribute to the vocal groups and big bands of the 1940s, the Portland Symphony Orchestra will be joined by guest ensemble Five By Design, one of the nation’s leading symphony pops artists and interpreters of the American popular song, and guest conductor Charles Latshaw, Music Director of the Bloomington (Indiana) Symphony Orchestra and the Columbus Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. -- www.portlandsymphony.com
