Two powerful pieces of music make their return to the Victoria Symphony for its season opening performance on Monday (Sept. 17) at the Royal Theatre.
Maestro Christian Kluxen begins his second season as music director for the VS conducting a 74-piece orchestra performing Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 4.” Last played here more than 12 years ago, the piece reflects a short-lived spiritual period in the composer’s life and is a gentle and beautiful symphony to delight all. Additional horns, strings and brass musicians will take the stage to bring Mahler’s work to life.
Featured in the evening’s program will be Canadian soprano Leslie Ann Bradley, a veteran performer on both the operatic and symphonic scenes in North America. She will sing the final movement of Mahler’s Symphony as well as Alban Berg’s “Seven Early Songs,” which has not been performed by the Victoria Symphony since 1991.
Composed under Berg’s mentor Schoenberg in a structured formal manner, the pieces retain a lyrical, sensitive tone that comes across as haunting and other-worldly, as sung by Bradley.
The concert opens with Danish composer Hans Abrahamen’s “Nact und Trompeten,” a reflection and memory of both modern music and music from the past and how they interact and unravel in today’s modern society.
The performance gets underway at 8 p.m. Monday. Single tickets are on sale and run between $33 and $86. Call the Royal and McPherson box office at 250-385-6515, stop by either theatre during opening hours or visit victoriasymphony.ca to purchase tickets.
