William Eddins conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra Aug. 4 at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Photo courtesy of Jade Elizabeth.
While attendance seemed sparse last week, more people came for Yo Yo Ma on Friday, Aug. 5, and the orchestra playing the film score on Saturday for The Princess Bride. This week they play, among other works, Beethoven’s 5th, 3rd, and, for Saturday’s finale, the 9th symphonies.
On Friday, Angel Blue, the daughter of a pastor and Jewish mother, will, as SPAC says, “transport us to Knoxville: Summer of 1915 through Samuel Barber’s dream-like depiction of the world through the eyes of a child. Valerie Coleman creates an inspiring new work for voice and orchestra using texts by contemporary Philadelphia-based poets.
“Closing the evening Friday is Dvořák’s towering, triumphal Seventh Symphony. Cascading from brooding themes to the serenity of woodwinds to the overwhelming tragic grandeur of the finale, the work has astounded audiences since its April 1885 premiere in London.”
Schedule and tickets: https://spac.org/
Editor’s note: Supporting the arts at SPAC and other venues is a moral obligation! You owe it to yourself! Even if you don’t understand music (and much “classical” music is sophisticated and complex), you can be inspired and elevated just from being in the presence of this level of exuberant intensity and mentation. You will benefit! Be there!
