Event Details
REDWOOD SYMPHONY OPENS 42ND SEASON WITH “THE AMERICAN SPIRIT"
An exhilarating opening-night program brings Bernstein, Copland, Higdon and Rachmaninoff to the stage October 10.
The season opener brings together four remarkable works that capture unique sides of the American experience – tales with energy, optimism, adventure, personal loss and sheer musical exuberance.
Opening night begins with Leonard Bernstein’s Danzón from Fancy Free, a work bursting with the youthful energy of wartime New York City. Bernstein’s 1944 ballet portrayed three sailors enjoying shore leave in a city that Bernstein himself described as “a helluva town.”
We then head west with Aaron Copland’s Suite from Billy the Kid. Copland’s music brings the Old West vividly to life, capturing the excitement of the original ballet with wide-open landscapes, dances, narrow escapes, gunfights and barroom brawls.
Jennifer Higdon’s Blue Cathedral offers a striking contrast. Written as a memorial to Higdon’s younger brother, the piece is at once intimate, luminous and profoundly moving.
The evening concludes with one of the great showpieces of the piano repertoire: Sergey Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, featuring pianist Julia Greer.
Written after Rachmaninoff had emigrated from Russia and established a new life in America, the Rhapsody combines dazzling virtuosity with irresistible musical wit.