Two of classical music’s most romantic Russian composers share the stage in this concert that also presents Enrico Chapela’s high-flying “Rotor”, with its intensity and emotion paving the way for more ardent musical expression as the program unfolds. Both Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky are treasured by music-lovers for their deeply felt works that epitomize the heights and depths of human yearning and heroism. Russian-born pianist Natasha Paremski guests.
Take a sneak peek at the PROGRAM BOOK
An American in ParisOur season finale offers audiences an infectious array of American musical genius. Award-winning pianist Michelle Cann takes center stage performing the Piano Concerto in One Movement by groundbreaking American composer Florence Price. The concert also includes brilliant 21st -century works by Brian Nabors and Nan Schwartz, along with Duke Ellington’s swinging “Harlem” and George Gershwin’s foot-tapping “An American in Paris.” We will send you out dancing!
Audiences will enjoy the Classical Series fun and elegant evening surrounded by the Terrace’s dazzling fountains, live ensemble in the lobby, pre-concert talk to gain greater knowledge on the evening programming, and the ability to “Sip & Enjoy” in the concert hall.
Carmina BuranaIn this powerful evening of extremes, audiences will be transported by compositions that cross the span of times. Anticipate a highly-charged, exhilarating evening at the Terrace Theater when the symphony embarks on a thrilling musical pilgrimage through Ana Lara’s passionate terrain of fire and ice (listen here); and then, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, or “songs of Bavaria,” sets 24 poetic texts from the Germany of a millennium ago to paint a vivid picture of medieval life, including religious verses, social satires, and bawdy drinking songs. This exhilarating presentation will include three soloists, the Long Beach Camerata Singers, the South Bay Children’s Choir, and returning to Long Beach, the acclaimed Silver-Garburg Piano Duo. Expect an exuberant orchestral panorama of Orff’s pulsating musical journey. ~ See artist bios at the bottom of this page. Watch the video here:
Audiences will enjoy the Classical Series fun and elegant evening surrounded by the Terrace’s dazzling fountains, live ensemble in the lobby, pre-concert talk to gain greater knowledge on the evening programming, and the ability to “Sip & Enjoy” in the concert hall.
Beethoven’s 5th
Music Director Eckart Preu and the Long Beach Symphony launch the 2022-2023 season with a trio of beloved classical masterworks. Opening the concert is Sergei Prokofiev’s ebullient Classical Symphony, among the composer’s most popular works. Next, Concertmaster Roger Wilkie steps into the spotlight in Mendelssohn’s passionate Violin Concerto. The program concludes with the world’s most famous symphony, which may make you jump from your seat as it opens with perhaps the most iconic phrase in the classical repertoire: the majestic “bum bum bum BUM” of Ludwig van Beethoven’s richly triumphant Symphony No.5.
Get an early start on enjoying this concert by reading the Program Notes:
Symphony No. 1 “Classical” (Prokifiev)
The Four Seasons
Take a peek at the Program Book and learn more.
Music For All Seasons: On this spectacular evening, Long Beach Symphony, under the direction of Maestro Eckart Preu, will rouse audiences with Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, a group of four violin concertos embodying each season of the year. Each of the seasons will be exquisitely presented by Long Beach Symphony’s own stellar lead violinists Roger Wilkie, Agnes Gottschewski, Chloé Tardif, and Chyi-Yau Lee. Vivaldi’s best-known work, Four Seasons (1725) is the world’s most popular and recognized pieces of Baroque music. Audiences will recognize the evolving sounds from movies like Tin Cup, Spy Game, A View to Kill, What Lies Beneath, White Chicks, Saved!, Pacific Heights and The Other Sister; and they will be reminded of many wedding ceremonies attended.
Over 60 years later, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart would compose Symphony No. 40 in G minor, one of only two symphonies he wrote in minor keys reflecting the “Storm and Stress” artistic movement and showcasing darker and stronger emotions.
Audiences will enjoy the Classical Series fun and elegant evening surrounded by the Terrace’s dazzling fountains, live ensemble in the lobby, Pre-Concert Talk to gain greater knowledge on the evening programming, and the ability to “Sip & Enjoy” in the concert hall.