La Jolla Symphony & Chorus

Saturday Concerts at 8 PM
Sunday Concerts at 3 PM
Mandeville Auditorium, UCSD

A program resplendent with many colors! Scriabin scored Prometheus for piano, chorus, orchestra, and what he called a “color organ.” Inspired by the interactive light-show artists of the late ‘60s rock scene, acclaimed young video artist Ross Karre reshapes Scriabin’s original color organ part into a concerto grosso of light, color, image and shadow. Our multi-media presentation will be framed by two works full of color on their own, Bernstein’s sassy Candide Overture and Mahler’s mighty First Symphony.

One of the great spectacles of the early 19th century, the Missa Solemnis was written for the installation of Beethoven’s pupil and friend Archduke Rudolf as an archbishop. From out of his deafness, Beethoven created a masterpiece of solemn strength and heartfelt expressiveness, requiring four powerful soloists, a huge chorus, and a full orchestra.

A study in very sharp contrasts–works by Debussy frame much more recent music. The concert opens with Debussy’s final orchestral work, his wry ballet Jeux, about love and tennis, and closes with his nocturnes Nuages and Fêtes, each a study in orchestral color. In between we offer the premiere of Phil Kline’s A Dream and Its Opposite, featuring Real Quiet (Felix Fan, Andrew Russo, David Cossin), and Iannis Xenakis’ Metastasis, a work shaped by Einstein’s concept of time and Le Corbusier’s theories of architecture.
Please note the Sunday matinee is at 1:00 p.m. for this performance only.

We observe the Easter season with one of the great monuments of music, Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion, which calls for two orchestras, vocal and instrumental soloists, and a radiant role for the Evangelist.  Almost operatic in its spectacle and impact, this music was crucially important to Bach, who took special care to preserve his manuscript–-he wanted this music to survive.  And it has, magnificently. Three performances.

A program that explores the music of Haydn and the meaning of classicism. David Chase leads Brahms’ salute to Haydn and an earlier era, and the orchestra’s assistant conductor Nicholas Deyoe conducts Shostakovich’s neoclassical First Symphony.  The concert concludes with Haydn’s final mass, the resounding Harmonie-Messe for soloists, chorus, and orchestra.