Knowing what we know about Felix Mendelssohn and his artistic attractions and interests, it is exceedingly likely that he would have been superbly delighted with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s adventure into A Midsummer Night’s Dream on this past weekend’s Masterworks concerts. Not only did the evening include Mendelssohn’s amazingly mature A Midsummer Night’s Dream concert overture, Op. 21, written when he was 17 years old, but also his Op. 61 incidental music for the play composed 16 years later that includes parts for two sopranos and choirs. Maestro Aram Demirjian didn’t stop there, though, adding excerpted Shakespearean text delivered as a clever narration plus the visual feast of ballet storytelling. The KSO’s partners in all this were Laura Beth Wells as the Narrator, sopranos Jacqueline Brecheen and Tori Franklin, the Webb School of Knoxville Chamber Singers, Pellissippi State Community College Variations, and 27 members of the Appalachian Ballet Company choreographed by Amy Morton Vaughn.
Review: KSO Charms with Mendelssohn’s “Italian”, Respighi, and Ligeti
BY ALAN SHERROD When the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra announced its four-month hybrid season of limited-audience plus livestream performances beginning in February, even the most eager listeners, admittedly anxious for a return to the concert hall, probably visualized a large…
KSO This Week: Ligeti, Respighi, and Mendelssohn’s ‘Italian’ Symphony
BY ALAN SHERROD Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Masterworks Thursday, April 22nd, 7:30 p.m. | TICKETS Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street, Downtown Knoxville Mendelssohn — Symphony No. 4 (“Italian”) Respighi — Trittico Botticelliano Ligeti — Romanian Concerto At some…
Review: An Exciting Circle – Conductor Eric Jacobsen and Pianist Gabriela Martinez Join KSO For “Schumann’s Circle of Friends”
By Alan Sherrod It begins and ends the same way, simply enough, with four chords from woodwinds building onto each other. Yet, that four chord progression is one of the most magically captivating in all of music history and…
In the ‘Mercury’: Review of KSO’s ‘Mozart and Mendelssohn’
Last weekend’s Knoxville Symphony Orchestra concert featured Rossini’s Overture to William Tell, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major (pianist Conrad Tao), and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 in A Minor (“Scottish”). The guest conductor was James Feddeck. My review of…
Preview: KSO Visits Rossini, Mozart, and Mendelssohn’s ‘Scottish’ Symphony
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Masterworks “Mozart and Mendelssohn” Thursday and Friday, March 19, 20, at 7:30 p.m., Tennessee Theatre Conductor: James Feddeck Rossini: The overture to William Tell Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, K. 503; Conrad Tao, piano Mendelssohn:…