Wrapping up its 2025-26 season of concerts in the Cathedral Concert Series this past Sunday afternoon, the Amadeus Concert Ensemble continued its exploration of the important nooks and charming crannies of music history, this time with a spotlight on Russian music from the 19th and early-20th Centuries. ACE Artistic Director Brian Salesky chose works from Mikhail Glinka, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Alexander Alyabyev. Along with the 41-member ACE orchestra, Salesky was joined by soprano Sunwoo Park.
Park’s light, soaring soprano voice was a perfect complement to the Cathedral’s acoustic, starting with Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise, the last of his Opus 34 14 Songs. Much more from the composer followed, including Francesca’s aria “Oh, do not cry, my Paolo” from the opera Francesca da Rimini.
Ms. Park returned for several Tchaikovsky songs and arias, including Lisa’s aria from The Queen of Spades. The Ballet Waltz and “Once Upon a Dream” from Sleeping Beauty served to set up a special dedication by Maestro Salesky to soprano Mary Costa, who was the singing and speaking voice of Princess Aurora in Disney’s 1959 animated classic of Sleeping Beauty. Ms. Costa was on hand to accept a substantial ovation and offer some poignant comments to the afternoon’s capacity audience of obvious admirers of all ages, including the participating S.O.U.L.S youth choir.
In addition to Ms. Park’s delightful contributions to the afternoon program, conductor Salesky and the ACE orchestra offered a number of deliciously satisfying works, starting with the fun and rousing opener, the Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmilla by Mikhail Glinka. Although I feared that Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee” (Act III interlude from The Tale of Tsar Saltan) might need a crisper venue than the Cathedral, it was marvelous, nonetheless. The “Three Wonders,” also from the opera, was an orchestral highlight.
Offering up rarely heard gems from music history has been one of ACE’s major contributions to the Knoxville music scene. This was the case with the finale selection,“The Nightingale” a song by Alexander Alyabyev, sung by Ms. Park and beautifully underpinned by Salesky and the orchestra.
ACE will return to the Cathedral Concert Series on Sunday, October 11, 2026, with more stops on its fun and edifying journey through the vast forest of music history. The Cathedral Concert Series is a presentation of the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Knoxville.
