Elgar Cello Concerto
A concert of differing moods from composers writing nearly a century apart. Elgar’s introspective Concerto reflects with intensity his despair about the world after the Great War that destroyed millions of lives. You’ll hear echoes of Bach, a sublime Adagio, and a finale conveying profound emotions. Beethoven, feeling nearly rambunctious in his sun infused Fourth Symphony, sends you home on an uplifting note.
January 4-7, 2024
Prokofiev Symphony No. 5
Prokofiev’s most popular Symphony, composed before the end of World War II, found the composer — hounded by Stalin’s Central Committee of the Communist Party — watching his back. Fiery harmonies reveal 20th century sensibilities, where big climaxes alternate with haunting melodies, brass and percussion explosions with exquisite lyricism, tragedy with triumph, sweeping you towards the gripping conclusion. DSO Principal Flute David Buck solos in Nielsen’s Concerto, showcasing not just the flute, but also in dialogue with “fellow instruments.”
January 11-12, 2024
Sibelius Violin Concerto
Sibelius’s stylistic strengths are on full display in a program opened by his adventurous tone poem En saga and technically challenging Violin Concerto. Of his late-Romantic work, Sibelius wrote: “I begin already dimly to see the mountain that I shall certainly ascend. God opens his door for a moment and his orchestra plays the Fifth Symphony.”
February 1-3, 2024
Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony
Showing off the power and majesty of “the king of instruments,” Bradley Hunter Welch is at the Lay Family Concert Organ when the DSO, led by Fabio Luisi, performs Saint-Saëns’s grand Romantic “Organ Symphony.” The composer told the commissioning body that it “will be terrifying, I warn you.” But do not be afraid; you’ll be safely guided to the blazing C Major chord that sets the last movement in motion.
February 22-25, 2024