The July 27 concert features Tchaikovsky and Britten masterpieces, plus Haydn Sinfonia starring four soloists
Nature’s forces charge off the stage in several forms of orchestral brilliance during the National Repertory Orchestra’s upcoming July 27 Britten’s Storm and Tchaikovsky’s Strings performance. In the midst of the musical fury, several musicians get a chance to shine.
Waving a mighty flag for the NRO’s 2024 Elements of Nature theme, the program begins with modern American composer Michael Abels’ powerful “Global Warming.” Written in 1990 as an ode to warming international relations following the end of The Cold War and dismantling of the Berlin Wall, the piece has taken on new meaning in the wake of Climate Change.
Next comes Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s famed Serenade for Strings in C major. Written in 1880, NRO Music Director Michael Stern calls the piece “a marvelous example of Tchaikovsky’s craft.”
Perhaps the Russian composer’s most famous work, Serenade is a piece that moves its performers as well as audiences.
“The Tchaikovsky requires a special sensitivity for each phrase from every musician,” says NRO violinist Janice Hu. “It’s a piece that holds many fond memories for me and likely most of the orchestra who have experience playing it in the past. Each movement warmly embraces and serenades listeners with welcoming, expressive melodies.”
The performance ends with English composer Benjamin Britten’s “Four Sea Interludes,” written for his 1945 opera, Peter Grimes.
“These four excerpts from Britten’s masterpiece are incredibly evocative for the story of the opera – involved and dark,” Stern says. “It’s brilliantly written with a tremendous, stormy ending.”
Before this grand finale, however, comes Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante in B-flat major. Written in 1792, the piece will showcase, as Stern says, “the virtuosity of our musicians.” Four NRO musicians will step forward as soloists: Hu on violin, cellist Christine Kao, oboe player Anish Raj Pandit and bassoonist Nathan Muz.
“The Haydn Sinfonia is a piece full of vitality and enthusiasm,” says Muz, for whom Saturday’s performance will mark the first ever orchestra solo. “I find it very moving that this piece, written towards the end of Haydn’s life, still carries a youthful sense of vigor, excitement, and wonder. One of the challenges of this piece is that while technically demanding, it needs to appear almost effortless to preserve that exuberance. Another deeply rewarding aspect of this performance is sharing the front of the stage with such wonderful friends and colleagues. Putting together this piece has been an absolute joy.”
“In the case of Haydn’s work, it is interesting to see how the sounds of the four soloists’ different instruments blend together and to hear the particular sounds of the different instruments,” Kao says. “Therefore, it is a test of the soloists’ coordination and communication in their playing skills.”
“The four soloists are constantly engaged in exciting interplay with each other and the orchestra. There’s a vibrant spirit to every interaction. There’s humor, tenderness, mischief, an abundance of life and characters,” Hu adds. “This is a very special opportunity to express the joy and life I find through music alongside my talented peers. It’s not every day you can perform with multiple soloists, each with unique voices of expression through their instruments.”
The July 27 performance begins at 6 p.m. at The Riverwalk Center in Breckenridge. Tickets start at $20 for adults and $5 for children. A portion of concert proceeds benefit local nonprofit High Country Conservation Center.
Photo: Michael Stern conducts the NRO on the Lake in 2024. by Elaine Collins.