Evanston Symphony Orchestra

ESO favorite Irina Muresanu returns in one of Prokofiev’s most lyrical inspirations, the Second Violin Concerto, which was composed while he was also working on his great ballet Romeo and Juliet. The program opens with Mozart’s effervescent Overture to The Marriage of Figaro and concludes with Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, whose huge orchestra and triumphant finale have led many to believe that it is the greatest of all first symphonies.

Program

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Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony is among his greatest works, and combines festive Russian folk tunes with a hidden program based upon Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and the struggle against fate. This symphony is fittingly preceded by the sunny 23rd piano concerto of Tchaikovsky’s favorite composer, Mozart, which features the ESO debut of rising star Hyejin Joo. Ludwig van Beethoven’s delayed birthday celebration continues with his overture to Egmont, which celebrates a Dutch patriotic hero.

Music by American and French composers comprise a program highlighting the virtuosity of Sophie Webber, formerly of the Music Institute of Chicago. She will perform both a pillar of the cello repertory by Saint-Saéns and a recent work evoking the river which flows through Cambridge, England by the popular American composer and conductor Eric Whitacre.