“Our hearts measure time. We live beat by beat. Yet music has the power to transform time itself. No matter how crazy the day, a Brahms adagio brings us unhurried tranquility. A Beethoven finale makes our hearts rush. A live concert takes us even further. When the music pauses, a thousand people hold their breath together. Love is the only other thing that can move us in such a way, but when the passion flows, is there a difference between love and music?”
See what's coming up this season in our other concert series:
BMO Financial Group Masterworks
Saturday, October 11, 2008 at 8:00 p.m.
Beethoven Breaks Out
Chrysler Theatre
John Morris Russell, Conductor
Andrew McIntosh, Cello
Ludwig van Beethoven – Leonore Overture No. 2
Édouard Lalo – Cello Concerto
Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphony No.2
Instrumentally Speaking – pre-concert talk at 7:00 p.m.
Listen to an excerpt of Beethoven's Symphony No. 2
John Morris Russell continues his exploration of Beethoven’s symphonies. While the mighty Third was openly revolutionary, it was Beethoven’s Second that said farewell to the genteel elegance of Haydn and Mozart. The dramatic Leonore Overture is a touchstone to the romantic era, and leads to Lalo’s passionate embrace of the cello.
Saturday, December 6, 2008 at 8:00 p.m.
Russian Romance
Chrysler Theatre
John Morris Russell, Conductor
Alexander Mishnaevski, Electric Viola
Alexander Borodin – Prince Igor, Overture
Brent Lee – Ruck n’ Rill for Electric Viola + Orchestra
(world premiere)
Sergei Rachmaninov – Symphony No. 2
Instrumentally Speaking – pre-concert talk at 7:00 p.m.
Music may have no more passionate voice than that of Sergei Rachmaninov. He bathed his world in the lush harmonies of love. Equally passionate, in ways both electrifying and exciting, is our own Brent Lee, as interpreted by the Detroit Symphony’s principal violist, Alexander Mishnaevski.
Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 8:00 p.m.
Sacred & Profane
Chrysler Theatre
John Morris Russell, Conductor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Symphony No. 41
Felix Mendelssohn – Symphony No. 5, “Reformation”
Franz Liszt – Les Préludes
Instrumentally Speaking – pre-concert talk at 7:00 p.m.
Listen to an excerpt of Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5
Listen to an excerpt of Les Préludes by Liszt
Passion can set us free, or propel us to unforeseen destinies. Mendelssohn’s
spiritual masterwork, based on Martin Luther’s hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, opens windows on redemption. Liszt’s sense of eternity tells tales of the other side.
Mozart’s final symphony comes to us from the world beyond.
Saturday, March 7, 2009 at 8:00 p.m.
Brahms Requiem
Chrysler Theatre
John Morris Russell, Conductor
Miriam Khalil, Soprano
Tyler Duncan, Baritone
WSO Chorus, Timothy Shantz, Chorusmaster
University of Windsor Singers and Women's Chamber Choir, Timothy Shantz, Director
Charles Ives – The Unanswered Question
Johannes Brahms – A German Requiem
Instrumentally Speaking – pre-concert talk at 7:00 p.m.
Listen to an excerpt of the Brahms Requiem
Brahms’ bold and poignant German Requiem lovingly embraces remembrance while echoing a profound desire for completion. Quietly, Charles Ives’ solitary trumpet sweetly asks the same questions, but will he offer answers?
Saturday, May 2, 2009 at 8:00 p.m.
Fire + Ice
Chrysler Theatre
John Morris Russell, Conductor
Angela Cheng, Piano
Edvard Grieg – Piano Concerto
Jean Sibelius – Symphony No.2
Instrumentally Speaking – pre-concert talk at 7:00 p.m.
Listen to an excerpt of the Piano Concerto by Grieg
Listen to an excerpt of Sibelius' Symphony No. 2
The shimmering strings of Finland’s Sibelius, the chattering winds of Norway’s Grieg resonate in our Canadian hearts. Deep within these icy mountains lies passionate warmth. Here, we celebrate a special season of music, coming together in a glorious finale of sunlit brass.