ConCert Guide

15-16SEASON

Be Transformed

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Be Transformed

INSIDE

Making music turns inspiration into transformation, emotion into action, and ideas into change. Music expresses how we think and feel about ourselves and our communities. It defines and connects us, moves and soothes us, and dares us to dream. Experience life with live music. Join us for a concert. Bring your imagination and your passion. Hear and know, here and now, with the HSO. Be inspired and be transformed!

Masterworks, POPS! and Sunday Serenades Series Subscriptions, Flex Cards, and single tickets are on sale now. Call 860-987-5900 or visit www.hartfordsymphony.org.

MASTERWORKS 2 – 6POPS! 7 – 10 BECOME A DONOR 10SUNDAY SERENADES 11 – 12SPECIAL EVENT 13FLEX CARDS 13PERFORMANCES AT A GLANCE 14

CAROLYN KUAN MUSIC DIRECTORPhoto by Jane Shauck

MASTERWORKS ∙ 2

New World VisionsOctober 1-4, 2015

MASterWorKS

15-16SEASON

Experience nine magnificent concerts in The Bushnell’s beautiful Belding Theater with works from Bach, Beethoven, Dvořák, Gershwin, Mozart, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, and more. Plus, Pulitzer

Prize-winning and contemporary composers, dynamic guest artists and HSO principal musicians. We are also proud to present a dramatic concert staging of Gluck’s most famous opera, Orpheus and Eurydice. In addition, you will help us select a new Assistant Conductor when

finalists guest-conduct as part of the selection process!Masterworks concerts are presented on Thursdays at 7:30pm,

Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm, and Sundays at 3:00pm.

The season opener features composers who were inspired by diverse musical traditions and genres to create visionary new works. John Adams’ score for string ensemble was named for both the sound of the strings “shaking” as they oscillate between notes, and the imagery of Shakers dancing to energetic music as they worship. Bruch’s most famous composition remains one of the most frequently performed of all violin concerti. The “New World” – Dvořák’s most popular symphony (and the recording Neil Armstrong took along for the first moon landing) – was influenced by the melodies of Beethoven and Schubert, as well as the rhythms of African-American spirituals.

ConCert SPonSorS Saunders Fund for Innovative Programming MASterWorKS SerieS SPonSor

AdAMS

Shaker LoopsBruCh

Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26

Dvořák Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, From the New World FeAturinG

Carolyn Kuan, conductorCaroline Goulding, violinChristopher Gerson, video and projections artist

3 ∙ MASTERWORKS

Bold BeethovenNovember 5-7,* 2015

Back by popular demand, guest conductor William (Bill) Eddins returns to conduct the HSO in an all-Beethoven program. The overture, inspired by von Collin’s play Coriolan and Shakespeare’s tragedy Coriolanus, contrasts a warrior’s bold resolve as he is about to invade Rome with the tender pleadings of his mother to desist. Beethoven’s third piano concerto pays homage to Mozart’s 24th in its melodies, rhythmic gestures and phrasings. His eighth symphony is light and humorous, contradictory (and perhaps conciliatory) to the composer’s circumstances during the summer of 1812, when he ended a romantic relationship in a famous letter written to his “Immortal Beloved.”* The 3pm matinee performance will be held on Saturday instead of Sunday for this program only, due to the Hartford Veterans' Day Parade taking place on Sunday. ConCert SPonSor

Beethoven

Coriolan Overture, Op. 62Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37

Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op.93FeAturinG William Eddins, conductor and piano

Joyful Voices with the Hartford ChoraleDecember 3-6, 2015

Let joyous music warm your heart and lift your holiday spirit, as the masterful musicians of the HSO are joined by the magnificent voices of the Hartford Chorale. 2010 Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Higdon describes the muse for her composition as being “blue like the sky, where all possibilities soar…and a cathedral, a place of thought, growth and spiritual expression.” Created almost certainly as a musical tribute to his father, Fauré’s Requiem is noted for its calm, serene and peaceful outlook. Handel’s oratorio Messiah is the most powerful telling of the Passion story – a soaring celebration of salvation and rebirth!

hiGdon

blue cathedralFAuré

Requiem Op. 48 hAndel Excerpts from Messiah

FeAturinG Carolyn Kuan, conductorHartford ChoraleRichard Coffey, music directorMatthew Worth, baritoneMelody Moore, soprano

MASTERWORKS ∙ 4

three FinAliStS Will ConduCt the hSo AS PArt oF the SeleCtion ProCeSS For the neW ASSiStAnt ConduCtor PoSition!

Battle of the BatonsJanuary 21-24, 2016

Here’s your opportunity to hear, see and play your part! After the performance, you’ll have the opportunity to voice your choice for Assistant Conductor, a new position that will assist Music Director Carolyn Kuan to extend the HSO’s community and educational outreach. During the first part of the program, each candidate will conduct an orchestral show piece, featuring HSO principal musicians. Each candidate will then conduct the full HSO in a tour-de-force, showcasing the orchestra’s might and delicacy under his or her leadership.

BotteSini Double Bass Concerto No. 2 in B minor, 2nd & 3rd MovementsSëjournë Concerto for Vibraphone and Strings, 1st MovementSaint-SaënS Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso Op. 28

MozArt Overture to Die Zauberflöte. K. 620 (The Magic Flute)deBuSSy Prélude à "L’après-midi d’un faune" (Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun)Borodin Polovtsian Dances from Prince IgorFeAturinG Edward R. Rozie, Jr., double bassRobert McEwan, vibraphoneLeonid Sigal, violin

Love NotesFebruary 11-14, 2016

Musical love tales and beautiful choreography take center stage in this program that will include Pas de Deux selections with featured dancers – human, puppet and digital. Wagner's transcendent opera will have you spellbound. Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” was likened to the romantic effect of the moon shining upon Switzerland’s picturesque Lake Lucerne. Bring your loved one – and share your own love notes – for a special Valentines’ night out!

WAGner

Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90: Prelude and LiebestodBeethoven

Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, First Movement, "Quasi una fantasia"Additional orchestral works to be announced

FeAturinG Carolyn Kuan, conductorUCONN Puppetry Program, directed by Bart RoccobertonDigital media by Tony® Award-winning 59 Productions

5 ∙ MASTERWORKS

Russian MastersMarch 10-13, 2016

Carolyn Kuan and the HSO interpret the red-hot and icy-cool works of two iconic Russian masters! Inspired by his conducting studies of Haydn and Mozart, Prokofiev’s first symphony is known as the “Classical” and remains one of his most popular and beloved works. Written while in a Soviet safe haven during World War II, Prokofiev described his fifth symphony as “a hymn to free and happy Man, to his mighty powers, his pure and noble spirit.” One of the best-known violin concerti in the repertoire, Tchaikovsky’s is widely considered as one of the most technically difficult works for the instrument.

the KoSKi MeMoriAl ConCert

ProKoFiev Classical Symphony, Op. 25 (Symphony No. 1)tChAiKovSKy Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35, TH 59

ProKoFiev Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, Op.100 FeAturinG Carolyn Kuan, conductorSimone Porter, violin

Orpheus & Eurydice: TransformedApril 7-10, 2016

The HSO transforms Gluck’s most famous opera with a dramatic concert staging of sumptuous sights and sounds. Orpheus & Eurydice is the exhilarating account of the mythical Greek hero’s descent into the underworld to rescue his true love. Its exceptional libretto and music – evocative choral passages, imaginative ballets, dramatic duets, and the hero’s famous lament – convey a timeless message of love’s power to triumph over all.

Orpheo ed Euridice (Orpheus & Eurydice)

FeAturinG Carolyn Kuan, conductorEric Sean Fogel, directorAdditional guest artists to be announced

MASTERWORKS ∙ 6

Romantic RachmaninoffMay 12-15, 2016

Wrote Sergei Rachmaninoff, "I try to make my music speak simply and directly, that which is in my heart." The public was already familiar with Rachmaninoff's second and third piano concertos before he revised his first, begun at age 18. Using an acquired knowledge of harmony, orchestration, piano technique and musical form, he transformed it into a spirited work that maintains its youthful freshness. Rachmaninoff's second symphony combines the intense emotions of opera with the luscious sounds of a full symphony orchestra. Although written more than 100 years ago, its sweeping melodies still speak to the hearts of audiences today (pop singer Eric Carmen even borrowed the melody for his hit, "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again!").

rAChMAninoFF

Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor (1919 version)Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27

FeAturinG Anne Manson, conductorAlexander Slobodyanik, piano (by arrangement with Price Rubin & Partners)

An American In Paris: World WindsJune 9-12, 2016

Our season finale is a “world-wind” tour of exotic international sights and sounds featuring our woodwind section! George Gershwin’s jazz-influenced symphonic poem evokes the energy he witnessed in Paris during the 1920s, and remains one of his best-known and most beloved compositions. Osvaldo Golijov's Rose of the Winds is a “bold yet seamless melding of musical resonances from Christian, Arabic and Jewish traditions, with ear-catching instrumental sounds and colors representing numerous points of the compass,” said the Chicago Tribune. Symphonic Dances was Rachmaninoff's last completed composition and is a stunning virtuoso showpiece for orchestra, combining energetic rhythmic sections with lush harmonies.

GerShWin

An American in ParisGolijov Rose of the WindsrAChMAninoFF Symphonic Dances, Op. 45

FeAturinG Carolyn Kuan, conductorKayhan Kalhor, kamanchehDavid Krakauer, klezmer clarinetCristina Pato, Galician bagpipeMichael Ward-Bergeman, accordion

7 ∙ POPS

PoPS!

15-16SEASON

Get ready for six Saturday nights of non-stop entertainment in The Bushnell’s grand Mortensen Hall. See Sheena Easton

performing “For Your Eyes Only” and all the James Bond hits…sing along as Goodspeed Musicals and the HSO celebrate the best of

Broadway…soar with the classic rock harmonies of The Music of the Eagles…be amazed by ukulele wizard Jake Shimabukuro…taste the fusion of fine cuisine and fantastic music when Playing with Food returns with a new menu…and experience Hartford’s most festive

family tradition, the Holiday Cirque Spectacular!

The Spy Who Loved Me with special guest Sheena EastonOctober 24, 2015 at 7:30pm

The name is Bond…James Bond. Dashing and debonair, his movie themes evoke international intrigue, glamour and suspense. Two-time Grammy® Award-winner Sheena Easton, the featured singer on the James Bond soundtrack For Your Eyes Only, will enchant, entice and seduce you into the world of Goldfinger, The Spy Who Loved Me, and Moonraker, plus “spy” songs from Mission Impossible, Get Smart, Austin Powers, and more, conducted by Laura Jackson. So, how do you like your martini?

PoPS! SerieS PreSentinG SPonSor

POPS ∙ 8

HSO & Goodspeed Celebrate the Best of BroadwayFebruary 20, 2016 at 7:30pmCome on along and listen to the lullabies of Broadway! Connecticut’s own Goodspeed Musicals is known the world over as the home of the American musical. Join the HSO, Goodspeed Resident Music Director and Conductor Michael O’Flaherty, and special guests as they celebrate 70 years of Tony® Award-winning music. This one-night-only, blockbuster performance will spotlight the best of Broadway through the years.

Holiday Cirque SpectacularDecember 19, 2015 at 3pm and 7:30pmHartford’s holiday concert classic just keeps getting more “Cirque-tacular!” Bring the entire family to enjoy your favorite seasonal music, as Carolyn Kuan conducts the HSO, while Cirque de la Symphonie performs on and above the stage. Breathtaking aerialists, mind-boggling contortionists, and jaw-dropping jugglers will have you awestruck. Experience the magic of this ultimate holiday extravaganza!

ConCert SPonSor

9 ∙ POPS

The Music of the EaglesMarch 19, 2016 at 7:30pmWith their ground-breaking sound, The Eagles flew up the charts with five number one singles, six number one albums, five American Music Awards® and six Grammys®, and created a legacy of timeless music. Popular guest conductor Brent Havens returns with a full rock band to join the orchestra and “Take it to the Limit” – capturing The Eagles’ impeccable riffs and timeless vocal harmonies on the classic hits, including “Heartache Tonight,” “Desperado,” “New Kid in Town,” and “Hotel California.”

The Music of The

Jake Shimabukuro’s Uke NationApril 16, 2016 at 7:30pmIn his young career, ukulele wizard Jake Shimabukuro has already redefined an under-the-radar instrument, been declared a musical “hero” by Rolling Stone, won accolades from the disparate likes of Eddie Vedder, Perez Hilton and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, wowed TV audiences on Kimmel and Conan, earned comparisons to Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis, and even played for the Queen of England! “Uke” can’t miss this chance to catch Jake live, backed by the big-band rhythms of the HSO conducted by Carolyn Kuan!

Playing with Food 4May 21, 2016 at 7:30pmThe HSO’s rave-reviewed, foodie fan-favorite event returns for a fourth season! Take a mix of great music, add some fabulous food, and blend! Special guest chefs representing a variety of global cuisines will share entertaining stories and demonstrate the cooking techniques behind their unique dishes, while Carolyn Kuan and the orchestra perform a delectable menu of music that inspires culinary creativity. Watch the whisks and the baton fly, as we whet your appetite for food tastings at intermission and after the show. Then…enjoy…mangia…bon appétit!

BECOME A DONOR and receive exclusive benefits, such as:

Player'S Club (Starting at $250)• Dining privileges at Bushnell Suite on 3rd floor of Belding Theater• Invitation to dress rehearsal with two guests

PrinCiPal’S Club (Starting at $500)All of the above, plus:

• Invitations to First Rehearsal & Nosh

ConCertmaSter’S Club (Starting at $1,000)All of the above, plus:

• Invitation to dress rehearsal and guest artist receptions• Access to private VIP ticketing line• 10% discount on single ticket purchases to HSO performances

maeStra SoCiety (Starting at $2,500)All of the above, plus:

• Voucher for two tickets to a Masterworks or POPS! concert

For a full listing of benefits, visit www.hartfordsymphony.org.

Contact jilliAn BAKer, Annual Fund Manager at 860.760.7302 or jbaker@hartfordsymphony.org for more information or to make your gift today.

11 ∙ SUNDAY SERENADES

Portraits in Sight and SoundNovember 22, 2015 at 2pm1pm Gallery Talk in Aspects of Portraiture with Susan Talbott, Director and CEO of the Wadsworth Atheneum 2pm Concert (Avery Court)

Inspired by Director’s Choice: Aspects of Portraiture and a selection of European works on paper, Artistic Director Leonid Sigal has chosen John Adams’ John’s Book of Alleged Dances and Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op. 44 to complement portraits that capture the core of human character from the 16th century to today. This concert is dedicated to Susan Talbott.

SundAy SerenAdeS

15-16SEASON

The Sunday Serenades chamber music concert series, now celebrating its 10th year, is presented in collaboration with the

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art as a musical counterpart to special exhibitions and the permanent collections. Concerts take place in the museum galleries and feature Concertmaster Leonid

Sigal and Hartford Symphony Orchestra musicians.

The Sunday Serenades Chamber Music Series is made possible, in part, by the Helen M. Saunders Charitable Foundation Music Endowment at the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Richard Avedon, Escudero, c. 1950, Black and white photograph, Gift of Janet and Simeon Braquin, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.

SUNDAY SERENADES ∙ 12

Darkness and Light: European Art ReimaginedFebruary 7, 2016 at 2pm1pm Gallery Talk with Linda Roth, Senior Curator of European Decorative Arts, and Oliver Tostmann, Curator of European Paintings and Sculpture 2pm Concert (Morgan Great Hall)

Surround yourself with art and music in the reinstalled Morgan Great Hall as you listen to François Couperin’s Leçons de Tenébres, Oswaldo Golijov’s Tenebrae and Camille Saint Saëns’ Septet in E flat major, Op. 65.

Romantic RealmsMay 22, 2016 at 2pm1pm Gallery Talk in Gothic to Goth with Lynne Bassett, Guest Curator 2pm Concert (Avery Court)

Explore the Romantic Era in music and in the exhibition Gothic to Goth: Romantic Era Fashion and Its Legacy. William Bolcom’s Introduzione e Rondo: Haydn Go Seek, Camille Saint Saëns’ Fantaisie, Op. 24 and Johannes Brahms’ Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 demonstrate how both art and music moved away from the order and rationality of the previous half century to embrace imagination and emotion, originality and vision.

Thomas Cole, View of Monte Video, the Seat of Daniel Wadsworth, Esq., 1828, Oil on wood, Bequest of Daniel Wadsworth, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.

Giovanni Paolo Panini, The Picture Gallery of Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga, 1749, Oil on canvas, The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.

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Flex CArdSSelect your shows and save!

Flex Cards now on sale! Call 860-987-5900

Monday - Friday, 10am - 5pm

10 Tickets for $309*You can use your tickets in any combination for the 2015-16 Masterworks and POPS! concerts of your choice.

Purchase your Flex Cards now! Seating is limited to certain sections of the theater.

*Prices include The Bushnell’s facility fees and HSO’s handling fees. All dates, programs and artists are subject to change.

Elijah with the Hartford ChoraleApril 14, 2016 at 7:30pmMortensen HallMendelSSohn

Elijah, Op. 70FeAturinG Richard Coffey, conductor

Hartford Chorale Music Director

Stephen L. Bryant, baritone Meechot Marrero, soprano Tamara Mumford, alto Joshua Kohl, tenor

ELIJAHMendelssohn’s

Richard Coffey, MUSIC DIRECTOR

Alan Mann, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

SPECIAL EVENT

For the first time in its 44 year history, the Hartford Chorale, in cooperation with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, presents Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah in The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts’ magnificent Mortensen Hall. This work is one of the great artistic masterpieces of the choral canon and will be the first full symphonic scale performance of this work in Greater Hartford in the last decade.

Elijah is a near-opera without staging, containing dramatic dialogue and MGM-like scenes. The backbone of the libretto comes from the fiery Old Testament Book of Kings and delivers tenderness, intrigue, contests, battles, wins, and losses. Moments of repose are followed by ferocious action with some of the most memorable music of all time.

thiS ProDuCtion iS maDe PoSSible, in Part, by The Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and The Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation.

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October ‘15MASTERWORKSnew World visionsOctober 1-4, 2015 POPS!the Spy Who loved mewith special guest Sheena eastonOctober 24, 2015

November ‘15MASTERWORKSbold beethovenNovember 5-7, 2015SUNDAY SERENADESPortraits in Sight and SoundNovember 22, 2015

December ‘15MASTERWORKSJoyful voices with the hartford ChoraleDecember 3-6, 2015POPS!holiday Cirque Spectacular2 shows!December 19, 2015

January ‘16MASTERWORKSbattle of the batonsJanuary 21-24, 2016

February ‘16SUNDAY SERENADESDarkness and light: european art reimaginedFebruary 7, 2016MASTERWORKSlove notesFebruary 11-14, 2016POPS!hSo & goodspeed Celebrate the best of broadwayFebruary 20, 2016

March ‘16MASTERWORKSrussian MastersMarch 10-13, 2016POPS!the music of the eaglesMarch 19, 2016

April ‘16MASTERWORKSorpheus & eurydice: transformedApril 7-10, 2016SPECIAL EVENT elijahwith the hartford ChoraleApril 14, 2016POPS!Jake Shimabukuro’s uke nationApril 16, 2016

May ‘16MASTERWORKSromantic rachmaninoffMay 12-15, 2016POPS!Playing with Food 4May 21, 2016SUNDAY SERENADESromantic realmsMay 22, 2016

June ‘16MASTERWORKSan american in Paris: World WindsJune 9-12, 2016

PerForMAnCeS At A GlAnCe15-16SEASON

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Saturday, April 2, 2016

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