The concert begins with the legendary Leonard Bernstein’s thrilling overture to Candide and his immensely popular Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. Opera singers Katarina Giotas and Kristian Lindroos are the soloists for Aaron Copeland’s always appreciated Old American Songs.
The evening’s main feature is Antonin Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World, which the Czech composer wrote during a visit to the United States. Dvořák was inspired by spirituals sung by enslaved African-Americans and by the traditional music of Native Americans. The symphony is his most played and best-loved work. It is a masterful composition that weaves Native American musical progressions and Czech musical tradition into a tapestry of hummable melodies.
Our conductor is the young Latvian rising star Aivis Greters, the multi-award-winning house conductor of the Göteborg Opera and assistant conductor of Orchestre de Paris.
