A couple of weeks ago, Mark and I were fortunate enough to be offered tickets to a performance by the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini at Milan's Teatro dal Verme (picture above taken from their website). The program was a performance six pieces by Maurice Ravel, the French composer and pianist.
Ravel is known for his inventive Impressionist and Expressionist pieces but also famous for mixing in elements of jazz. His most famous composition, perhaps, is Bolero, once called "a piece of orchestra with no music."
The orchestra performing Ravel's music was formed and named after legendary Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini. Toscanini had achieve fame by the 1920s and was one of the more vocal Italian opponents to Mussolini and facism. After refusing to play the facist hymn, Giovinezza, Toscanini was beaten by fascist supporters and subjected to harassment by the government until world outcry forced the improvement of his treatment.
While the Teatro dal Verme is no La Scala, it's a lovely performance venue with great acoustics. All of the soloists were extremely talented, much like the rest of the orchestra. While the finale of Bolero was a treat (mostly because it was the only piece I actually recognized), I found that I really enjoyed the performance of Rhapsodie Espagnole (Spanish Rhapsody). While I'm not certain if we'll end up like many of my colleagues with series tickets to certain performances, we are grateful for the opportunities that come up and hope to take advantage of Christmas concerts and performances during this holiday season.
programma
Tzigane per violino e orchestra
Concerto in sol maggiore per pianoforte e orchestra
Rhapsodie Espagnole
Pavane pour une infante defunte
Alborada del gracioso
Bolero
Ravel is known for his inventive Impressionist and Expressionist pieces but also famous for mixing in elements of jazz. His most famous composition, perhaps, is Bolero, once called "a piece of orchestra with no music."
The orchestra performing Ravel's music was formed and named after legendary Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini. Toscanini had achieve fame by the 1920s and was one of the more vocal Italian opponents to Mussolini and facism. After refusing to play the facist hymn, Giovinezza, Toscanini was beaten by fascist supporters and subjected to harassment by the government until world outcry forced the improvement of his treatment.
While the Teatro dal Verme is no La Scala, it's a lovely performance venue with great acoustics. All of the soloists were extremely talented, much like the rest of the orchestra. While the finale of Bolero was a treat (mostly because it was the only piece I actually recognized), I found that I really enjoyed the performance of Rhapsodie Espagnole (Spanish Rhapsody). While I'm not certain if we'll end up like many of my colleagues with series tickets to certain performances, we are grateful for the opportunities that come up and hope to take advantage of Christmas concerts and performances during this holiday season.
programma
Tzigane per violino e orchestra
Concerto in sol maggiore per pianoforte e orchestra
Rhapsodie Espagnole
Pavane pour une infante defunte
Alborada del gracioso
Bolero
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