Event Details
The Concord Orchestra presents “The Heavenly Life” at 8:00pm on Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17 at 2:30pm at the Performing Arts Center at 51 Walden. The orchestra, conducted by Music Director Zeke Fetrow, performs Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with Ann Moss as soprano soloist. A pre-concert talk is scheduled for 7:15pm on Saturday.
Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 is a comparatively short work, lasting less than an hour. The final movement of the symphony is a song “The Heavenly Life”with orchestral accompaniment, sung by a soprano. The words, which come from German folk poetry, are about a child’s naïve view of heaven.
In the three movements that lead up to this song, there are many pleasant tunes and the cozy sound of sleigh bells, but there are disquieting passages as well. For example, the second movement is a lively scherzo, but the principal violin plays an eerie solo that represents the devil’s fiddle. The moving third movement contrasts the serenity of heaven with the struggles of earthly life.
Soprano Ann Moss is an acclaimed recording artist, chamber musician, and champion of living composers. She has been a featured soloist with San Francisco Symphony, SF Chamber Orchestra, UC Berkeley Symphony, SF Contemporary Music Players, Music of Remembrance, and the Ives, Alexander, Lydian and Hausmann String Quartets.
Tickets for adults and seniors are $25. Admission for youth under 18 is free. For tickets and information, call 978-369-4967 or visit https://www.concordorchestra.com/heavenly-life.