The Phoenix Symphony Orchestra performs two weeks of Classics concerts featuring the music of Johannes Brahms with performances on October 18-20 and October 25-28 at Symphony Hall in downtown Phoenix. Both weeks highlight the music of Brahms as part of The Phoenix Symphony’s Composer Narratives that focus on the music of three composers selected each season.
The 2007-08 Composer Narratives explore the music of Leonard Bernstein, Osvaldo Golijov, and Johannes Brahms. The upcoming concerts in October include two of Brahms’s greatest masterpieces including his passionate Fourth Symphony and haunting German Requiem which features the Phoenix Symphony Chorus alongside baritone Nmon Ford and soprano Celena Shafer.
The first program of concerts led by Resident Conductor Lawrence Golan October 18-20, features Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture and a talented American violinist performing Robert Schumann’s Violin Concerto. Heralded by critics across the globe, American violinist Jennifer Frautschi will make her debut with The Phoenix Symphony. The Boston Globe declares Frautschi "a vigorous and colorful player, at once exact and exciting. In a world where it is impossible to distinguish between one young violinist from another, Frautschi has found a compelling voice." The concert concludes with Brahms’s majestic Fourth, and final, Symphony. Thursday’s concert begins at 7:30 p.m. The Saturday evening concert begins at 8 p.m. and is sponsored by Cigna Healthcare of Arizona. A Friday morning coffee concert begins at 11 a.m. and features one hour of music selected from the week’s evening performances.
The second program of Classics concerts, Brahms’s German Requiem October 25-28, features contrasting requiems by Benjamin Britten and Johannes Brahms under the direction of Michael Christie. While Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem was composed at the beginning of World War II for orchestra alone, Brahms’s German Requiem includes the monumental collection of orchestra, chorus, soprano and baritone soloists. Soprano Celena Shafer and baritone Nmon Ford, both internationally recognized for their superb performances in opera houses and concert halls, will join the orchestra and the Phoenix Symphony Chorus as soloists for the weekend performances. Thursday’s concert begins at 7:30 p.m. The Friday concert begins at 8 p.m., and the Sunday matinee begins at 2:00 p.m. -- www.phoenixsymphony.org
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