Three symphonic spectaculars are on the program for the New Westminster Symphony Orchestra concert this weekend.
The orchestra offers up its first concert of the year with a performance on Sunday, March 6 at 2 p.m. at the Massey Theatre.
The program chosen by maestro Jin Zhang features three stellar works by master composers: Hector Berlioz, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Peter Tchaikovsky.
The concert opens with Roman Carnival Overture, a work created by Berlioz out of the carnival scene from his huge stage work Roman Carnival.
Next is Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, known as his “tragic” symphony – composed when he had just lost an infant daughter.
The second half of the concert features one of Tchaikovsky’s most highly regarded works, Symphony No. 5 – a work that revived the composer’s then-shaky belief in himself when it was performed in Hamburg in 1889.
“According to historians, not only did the audience, critics and musicians laud the performance, but even the venerable Johannes Brahms put in an appearance to hear it while visiting his home town,” notes local arts promoter Tony Antonias. “Tchaikovsky was buoyed by his reception inHamburg, and his estimation of the Fifth Symphony (and of himself) once again shot up.”
Antonias suggests listening for the motto theme heard in each movement – particularly at the very end, when the trumpets and horns hurl it forth one final time.
Admission to the concert is by donation. The Massey is at 735 Eighth Ave.
See www.newwestsymphony.net for more details.
