Verdi and Dvořák
Opera composers who wanted their works performed in nineteenth century Paris were often required to include a break in the action so that the house ballet dancers could make an appearance. Rather than consider this a necessary intrusion, Verdi capitalized on this opportunity to create music of great depth and drama in this ballet music from his opera Macbeth. Set in the witches’ cave in Act Three, Verdi’s music bubbles with the intensity of a hot cauldron. We then introduce trumpet virtuoso Mary Elizabeth Bowden, playing music of French composer Claude Debussy. Bowden will bring some of the composer’s most famous piano works to life in colorful transcriptions for solo trumpet and orchestra, and then she will perform a brand new concerto for trumpet and orchestra by Canadian composer Vivian Fung, receiving its world premiere in this concert. The concert concludes with the rich, dance-filled Eighth Symphony by Czech composer Antonin Dvořák. A work imbued with Bohemian culture and spirit, Dvořák’s Eighth is a symphony of incredible invention and beautifully-drawn melodies.
Daniel Meyer conductor
Mary Elizabeth Bowden trumpet
Verdi Ballet Music from Macbeth
Debussy Three Transcriptions for Trumpet and Orchestra
Fung Trumpet Concerto (world-premiere)
Dvořák Symphony No. 8
