Baltimore Symphony Orchestra: Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique (Tales of Poe)
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra: Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique (Tales of Poe)
About the Event
Jonathon Heyward, conductor
Francesca Dego, violin
A selection of spirited and virtuosic works marks the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s (BSO) first performance of the season at The Clarice. Opening the program is Israfel, an invigorating orchestral work from the U.K.-based composer Mark Simpson, which premiered in Glasgow with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in 2015. The BSO continues with a powerhouse presentation of Sergei Prokofiev's intensely dramatic Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, featuring a masterful violin solo from virtuosic Italian-American instrumentalist Francesca Dego. Closing the performance is the cinematically enrapturing Symphonie fantastique, Hector Berlioz's first (and likely best known) major symphony. His somewhat autobiographical story of a heartbroken lover's mad opium trip established Berlioz at the forefront of the new progressive composers of his time and retains the power to astound nearly two centuries later. The evening closes with an on-stage discussion between Heyward and Stephanie Shonekan, dean of the University of Maryland College of Arts and Humanities.
This performance by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is presented in recognition of the visionary artistry of Clarice Smith on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.
View Program Book
Program
Mark Simpson: Israfel [based on Israfel by Edgar Allan Poe]
Sergei Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Afterwords with Heyward
Join us immediately after the performance for a lively conversation between University of Maryland College of Arts & Humanities Dean Stephanie Shonekan and BSO Music Director Jonathon Heyward.
Funding
This event is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council, the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and the University of Maryland’s Arts for All Initiative.
