Spokane Symphony ends season with celebration of romantic love

Apr 23, 2008

For Immediate Release

Contact: CONTACT: Annie Matlow 464-7071

One of the most forceful and constant of musical inspirations is romantic love. On Saturday, May 3 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 4 at 3 p.m., Eckart Preu and the Spokane Symphony will play Infinite Love, a selection of passionate musical expressions of romance. The concert will be at the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox. This concert is also part of the Symphony YES! series and there will be pre-concert activities for children 8-12 at Center Stage, across the street from the theater, from 2 to 2:30 p.m.

The concert begins with Tristan und Isolde, a tale of love's yearning as told by Richard Wagner. Based upon a Celtic legend, it is the story of Tristan, a noble Cornish Knight who must prove his loyalty to his uncle King Mark and bring peace between Ireland and Cornwall by convincing the Irish princess, Isolde, to marry Mark. Unfortunately, Tristan and Isolde fall passionately in love with each other. Tristan brings the princess back to Mark, but the two lovers continue a clandestine love affair that ultimately ends in their deaths. The orchestra will play two selections from the four-hour opera, a combination that sanctioned by Wagner during his lifetime. The first is the Prelude, a slow, bittersweet piece filled with dissonance that expresses the yearning of love and the frustration of its fulfillment. The second piece is Liebestod (Love-Death) Isolde's aria from the opera's final scene, which she sings to her dead beloved Tristan. It is in this piece that the music builds with increasing tension, which is only released with the death of Isolde and final union of the two lovers.

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet ranks as one of the greatest love stories of all time, and has given inspiration to composers as well as directors. Tchaikovsky wrote his Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy after breaking off a love affair with opera singer Desiree Artot. Fellow composer Mily Balakirev urged him to transform his heartache into music and suggested the Shakespearean classic as the perfect program to mirror his experience. The result was the exquisitely beautiful Overture-Fantasy, including his famous love theme, used in many a movie, and one of the most inspiring this melodist ever wrote.

The second half of the concert features Robert Schumann's Symphony No. 4 in D minor, opus 120, which was composed in 1841, shortly after his marriage to Clara he called it his Clara Symphony. However, it was not well received at its first performance, and was only published decade later after the success of his third symphony. The work is the most original of all Schumann's symphonies, unfolding in one continuous flow with no pause between movements. The composer also used a cyclical structure, radical at the time, introducing a few core ideas in the first movement, and reworking them in throughout the rest of the work.

This concert is possible by all those who give to the Spokane Symphony Annual Fund.
Tickets are $19, $29, $37, and $41. Tickets are available in advance at the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox Box Office, 1001 W. Sprague, or by calling 509-624-1200. Tickets are also available at all TicketsWest outlets or by calling 1-800-325-SEAT, or on line at www.spokanesymphony.org.

CALENDAR LISTING:
Infinite Love; Eckart Preu conducts the Spokane Symphony; May 3 at 8 p.m. and May 4 at 3 p.m. in the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox. Tickets are $19 to $41; Call the Spokane Symphony Ticket Office at (509) 624-1200; tickets are also available through all TicketsWest outlets or by calling 325-SEAT or 1-800-325-SEAT.