FABIO LUISI conducts
BRUCE LIU piano

SOPHIA JANI What do flowers do at night? (DSO Premiere)
SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Major, “Egyptian”
RESPIGHI Vetrate di chiesa (Church Windows)
RESPIGHI Le fontane di Roma (The Fountains of Rome)

A double helping of Respighi awaits you with music by this orchestrator extraordinaire. In The Fountains of Rome, he focuses on four magnificent aquatic landmarks “contemplated at the hour… in which their beauty appears most impressive to the observer.” Fish and fowl and mythological beings of all kinds are suggested — nymphs, naiads, sea horses, Neptune — with the score suitably splashy and noisy. In the final movement of Church Windows, “Pope Gregory the Great” Respighi pays homage to this powerful figure in the history of church music (i.e. Gregorian chant) and pulls out all the stops, including organ and bells. The Fifth Piano Concerto, inspired by the composer’s journey to Cairo, is a nice mix of “pseudo-Egyptian” exoticism (hence the nickname) and Saint-Saëns’ trademark flashiness. You’ll also enjoy the DSO premiere of the evocatively named What do flowers do at night? by Composer-in-Residence Sophia Jani.

Celebrating the DSO’s 125th Anniversary, this concert features the orchestra’s first performance of Respighi’s Fountains of Rome since 1922.