Join the Allen Philharmonic at 7:30pm on Saturday, April 12, 2014 at First United Methodist Church of Allen as we present a special concert performance that features the Allen Symphony Chorus and the Gold Medalist of this season’s Roger & Ella Jo Adams Concerto Competition. This concert performance, a contrast of light and dark, features the work of Mozart, Saint-Saens, and Rutter, legends in the orchestral and choral repertoire.
The opera The Marriage of Figaro is the first of Mozart's three collaborations with librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte. Figaro, first presented on the stage of Vienna's Burg Theater in May of 1786, was conducted from the keyboard by Mozart. The Marriage of Figaro Overturegives the listener a delectable foretaste of the mood of its opera: fleet, witty, often acerbic in its humor. Typically Mozart’s overtures would introduce themes appearing later in the work or its ending would fade into the opening measures of the opera. The Marriage of Figaro Overture does none of this; it is self-contained allowing it to be performed as standard orchestral repertoire.
Gold Medalist Jennifer Cho, a junior from Allen High School, will perform the first movement of Camille Saint-Saens’ Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor, her winning concerto. Written and dedicated to fellow composer-virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate, who performed as the soloist at its premiere in 1880, its melodic invention and impressionistic subtlety present interpretive opportunities for the soloist, making it a major work by Saint-Saens that is heard today.
John Rutter's musical career has been replete with a variety of musical compositions, from the most challenging works for choir and orchestra, to relatively simple works suitable for church choirs. O Clap Your Hands, in its first publication, was an anthem for choir and organ. The fully orchestrated version to be performed at this concert broadens the music’s jubilant text.
Te Deum, one of the most ancient and inspiring of Christian liturgical texts, is a hymn of praise. The title is taken from its opening Latin words, Te Deum laudamus, rendered as "Thee, O God, we praise." The music is jubilant, straightforward, and appealing.
Mozart’s Requiem, one of the giants of the choral/orchestral repertoire, is one of the most mysterious pieces of music ever written. Mozart’s impending death, and his firm belief that the Requiem was killing him, greatly affected the mood of this piece, allowing him to compose his most frightening and compelling masterpiece.
For tickets and information, please visit our website, www.allenphilharmonic.org. Special pricing for students in the performing and visual arts programs in all school districts as well as group discounts are available by contacting the office by e-mail: office@allenphilharmonic.org or by phone: 972.359.0656.