[Cancelled] Santa Maria Philharmonic presents Soaring Masterpieces: Fate and Destiny

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED

Santa Maria Philharmonic Society presents ‘SOARING MASTERPIECES: Fate and Destiny’

Feel the Music and continue the celebration of Beethoven’s 250th birthday! The Santa Maria Philharmonic will perform an extraordinary concert for the Santa Maria community, with music by Verdi, Beethoven, and Copland, with violin soloist Roger Wilke.

Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino – Overture” is regarded as the finest of all Verdi’s symphonic introductions. Translated as “The Power of Fate”, the overture creates an ominous and dramatic atmosphere of the opera, representing the tragic destiny of the story, incorporating the “Fate” motif that dominates the closing of the opera.

One of Copland’s most popular pieces, “A Lincoln Portrait” was commissioned during the beginning of WWII for a program of three new works by American composers. It is a one movement work with narration made up of quotations Copland collected from the speeches and letters of President Abraham Lincoln. According to Copland, “I hoped to suggest something of the mysterious sense of fatality that surrounds Lincoln’s personality.” This performance will be narrated by actor David Selby, who is best known for his performances on the series ‘Dark Shadows’ in the late 1960’s.

Beethoven’s Violin Concerto Op.61 is a work of beauty, lyricism, and depth, and in this work he broke from the earlier convention of concertos that were a display of virtuosity and technique. While the reviews of the first performance in 1806 were mixed, the later performance in 1844 by the great violinist Joseph Joaquim put it on the map as the ‘Queen of Concertos’. Soloist, Roger Wilke is concertmaster of Long Beach Symphony, and as concertmaster for legendary Hollywood composer/conductor John Williams, Wilke has served as top violinist for over 1,000 Hollywood films.

Be sure to arrive early for our free preconcert lecture at 6:50pm, to learn more about the program!