Utah Symphony brings Brahms, Grieg, and Tchaikovsky to St. George in Celebrity Concert Series
By Gerard Gibbs
October is the month when live concerts in St. George make their splash. And true to form, the Celebrity Concert Series opens the 2018–19 season in a big way with performances by the Utah Symphony and the BYU Ballroom Dance Company at the Cox Auditorium.
On Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m., The Utah Symphony, Utah’s own world-class orchestra, will return to St. George with a program of hearty “meat and potatoes,” sure to satisfy any classical music lover.
The program includes the charming and Grieg’s popular Peer Gynt Suite No. 1. Conceived as incidental music to the play by the equally famous playwright, Henrik Ibsen, Grieg’s suite has grown in popularity to outshine the play.
It’s followed by another work with literary inspiration, Tchaikovsky’s “Fantasy Overture ‘Romeo and Juliet.’” Written when the composer was 28, this work, which is less overture and more symphonic tone poem, did not meet with instant acclaim. But the test of time has seen it too grow into a stalwart of symphonic repertoire.
The program ends with the Brahms’s Symphony No. 2. Brahms always lived within Beethoven’s shadow. Ever the perfectionist, it took him 21 years to complete his first symphony. That work was immediately dubbed the “tenth symphony” in reference to the nine composed by Beethoven. The comparisons were always there, lurking in the shadows. But the second symphony turned out to be the most cheerful and bucolic of the four he composed, at least on the surface. Its lighthearted nature belies an introspective depth that has led some to call it his most elegiac and rearward-looking symphonic work. Even after some 130 years, this symphony still touches every human heart with its soaring melodies and rich, intricate tapestry of sonorities and counterpoint.
The orchestra is led by associate conductor Conner Gray Covington, whose contract with the orchestra was recently extended into the 2019–20 season. Covington, a graduate of the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, has worked with orchestras across the United States as well as across the globe to places such as Zurich and Copenhagen.
The Utah Symphony continues to make a strong impression internationally in the classical music world. During its 2016 performance in Carnegie Hall, the New York Times described its performance of a program of Haydn, Prokofiev, and Bartok as “…exciting, colorful and fervent.” Musical America labeled its performance of Haydn as being played with “…bold vigor, as well as the more subtly delightful…”
BYU’s Ballroom Dance Company, performing Oct. 12, is recognized both nationally and internationally as a treasured and unique dance ensemble. Its production “Swing ‘n’ Sway” is a spectacular show presenting ballroom dance in a theatrical environment with a contemporary point of view. Its innovative choreography is compelling, engaging, and just plain fun. Audiences will be mesmerized as couples dance a romantic waltz and feel the energy build as the company moves to the rhythms of Latin America. More surprises lurk throughout the performance making “Swing ‘n’ Sway” a family friendly show that should not be missed.
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