The Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia opens its 48th season on Saturday, September 24, 8:00pm, at Old Cabell Hall on the Grounds of the University of Virginia and Sunday, September 25, 3:30pm, at Charlottesville High School’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Performing Arts Center.
The program includes something for every musical taste. Franz Schubert’s Rosamunde Overture gives no clue to the long-forgotten plot of “Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus” – but remains a charming standard in the orchestral repertoire. Elizabeth Roberts, the orchestra’s Principal Bassoon, is the soloist in Johann Hummel’s Bassoon Concerto in F Major. Hummel was a child prodigy and a young pupil of Mozart in Vienna. Charm prevails over grandeur in this seldom-heard work.
Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres) is one of American composer Missy Mazzoli’s signature works. She describes it as “music in the shape of a solar system…a collection of small loops of material that combine to form bigger loops of material” – all meant to illustrate the elliptical motion of planets in their orbit. Ten harmonicas join the orchestra on this cosmic journey.
Benjamin Rous has selected three – Nos. 6, 14 and 5 from a set of Johannes Brahms’ 21 Hungarian Dances, lively and jubilant dances based mostly on Hungarian folk music. This diverse program ends with the “Bacchanale” from French composer Camille Saint-Saëns opera Samson and Delilah. Bacchus was the mythological god of wine and fertility. Following the biblical story, Delilah dances a wild and percussion-driven showpiece to taunt Samson, resulting in his destruction of the Philistine temple.
In-depth program notes by Program Annotator Laurie Shulman are posted on the orchestra’s website, www.cvillesymphony.org, two weeks prior to each Masterworks concert.
Currently, wearing masks is optional at Old Cabell Hall.
Free parking is available in the UVA Central Grounds Parking Garage, located on Emmet Street South. The Charlottesville Free Trolley stops at McCormick Road near the UVA Amphitheater, in close proximity to Old Cabell Hall which is wheelchair accessible.
Tickets are $10-$45 for adults and $10 for students, and may be purchased at the University of Virginia Arts Box Office, (434) 924-3376, 12:00-5:00pm, Tuesday through Friday in the lobby of the UVA Drama Building at 109 Culbreth Road, or online at www.artsboxoffice.virginia.edu.
All University of Virginia employees (faculty and staff of all UVA departments and professional schools) are entitled to a 20% discount on tickets to individual performances. This offer does not apply to subscriptions, the December Family Holiday concerts or previously purchased tickets.