The CGOA presents A Slavic Fantasy
March 7 @ 7:00 pm
The Columbia Gorge Orchestra Association presents
A Slavic Fantasy
March 7 at 7 PM and March 9 at 2 PM
Wy’east Middle School Performing Arts Center
3000 Wy’east Rd, Odell OR
From the profound romanticism of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, to Dvorak’s lyrical 8th Symphony to Prokofiev’s quirky and playful music for the movies, the Gorge Sinfonietta’s “Slavic Fantasy” concert has something for every music lover. Focused on composers from 19th century Russia and eastern Europe, the concert is heavy on melody, beauty and audience appeal.
Tchaikovsky’s Fantasy Overture on Romeo and Juliet was drafted when the composer was only 29, but the final version appeared ten years later. Highlighting some of the incidents and characters in Shakespeare’s drama, Tchaikovsky’s portrait contains what’s probably the single most recognizable love theme in all of classical music. Conductor Mark Steighner said “You could call it ‘radical Romanticism.’ That theme is over-the-top emotional, but we forget how striking it was at the time.”
Antonin Dvorak is best known for his New World Symphony, but that work’s immediate predecessor is even more tuneful and uplifting. “Dvorak’s 8th Symphony is by turns Romantic, dance-like, simple like a folk song and as exciting as a film score from Hollywood,” Steighner said. “It goes through many moods, but it’s always beautiful and easy to enjoy.”
The final selection on the Slavic Fantasy program is a suite by 20th century composer Sergei Prokofiev. “We don’t often think of composers like Prokofiev writing movie music, but many of them did.” His Lt. Kije Suite is a selection of music written for a 1934 film, a comic satire about Czarist Russia, with a lot of slapstick comedy and absurdity. Like the film, the music is playful and almost never serious. “I think my favorite section is the final movement,” Steighner said, “when Kije is dying and his life flashes before his eyes, represented by all the different themes sort of colliding in his head.”
The Slavic Fantasy concert is one of three programs presented by the Gorge Sinfonietta this season. The final concert, called “Vacation Time: Postcards from a Musical Journey” will be in June.
The Slavic Fantasy concerts will be Friday, March 7 at 7PM and Sunday, March 9 at 2PM in the Wy’east Middle School Performing Arts Center, 3000 Wy’east Rd, Odell. CGOA offers discounted tickets for SNAP card holders and free tickets for all students with ID.
Tickets and information about CGOA can be found at gorgeorchestra.org.
The Columbia Gorge Orchestra Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and presenting musical performances of the highest quality in the Columbia River Gorge region. With a commitment to artistic excellence and education, CGOA brings the joy of music to audiences of all ages.
