INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Brevard Symphony Orchestra will open the Indian River Symphonic Association’s 22nd Season on Sunday, Nov. 23, at 7:30 p.m., at the Community Church of Vero Beach.
The concert will feature Romanian Composers, Ivanovici, Porumbescu and Enescu and Russian masters, Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky. The Brevard Symphony Orchestra is under the direction of Christopher Confessore.
The program’s first half provides an overview of Romania’s great contributions to 19th and 20th Century romantic music, featuring Daniel Szasz, violin soloist. Born in Romania and winner of numerous national and international competitions in the U.S., Romania and Italy, Szasz performed his first solo recital at age eight, and his first concerto with a professional orchestra at age 13. Szasz has been concertmaster of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra since 1997.
The program’s second half features two of Russia’s most renowned Ballet Suites. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Suite from Swan Lake, Op. 20a, is widely considered the greatest classical ballet of all time. However, when first performed by the Bolshoi Ballet in 1877 some reports termed it a “disaster,” while others discerned the genius of Tchaikovsky’s new score. Leonard Bernstein called Swan Lake “both romantic and classical, both narrative and abstract.”
In 1909 Igor Stravinsky, at age 27, composed Suite from the Ballet, The Firebird. Although some were critical of its glaring dissonances and rhythmic complexities, the music was hailed by critics for its “incandescent orchestra effects, its viscerally exciting rhythms, and for its irresistible lyrical beauty.” The Firebird was Stravinsky’s first masterpiece and served to launch his international career.
For tickets to all 2014-15 Season concerts, please contact Indian River Symphonic Association at (772)-778-1070 or www.IRSymphonic.org.