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Tucson Symphony Orchestra  Masterworks Series José Luis Gomez, conductor PROGRAM Franz Liszt: The Black Gondola (arr. John Adams) Richard Wagner: Siegfried Idyll Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 40 Nov. 6, 7:30 P.M.,  CFHS Auditorium REVIEW Credit where credit is due. The Tucson Symphony Orchestra , under José Luis Gomez’ direction, is in a real groove of great programming, and he and the players are performing their socks off. Everything has a purpose. We’re not “mixing old and new”, or playing “warhorses” because they’re popular, or playing contemporary music as a wink to post-modernity. Pinnacles of historical European symphonic repertoire have been singled out, like Mozart’s 40th Symphony this weekend, with renditions based on a very studied understanding of how they were performed when written. That means with Mozart, as with Beethoven, substantially faster tempos than most of us are used to. In the case of Mozart’s 40th, the swift tempos end up highlighting, in an u...

Tucson Symphony Orchestra Masterworks Series José Luis Gomez, conductor PROGRAM Franz Liszt: The Black Gondola (arr. John Adams) Richard Wagner: Siegfried Idyll Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 40 Nov. 6, 7:30 P.M., Nov 7, 2:00 P.M., CFHS Auditorium ============== A Few Mozartian Forethoughts... MOZART: SUPERHERO! As a little kid growing up during the so-called "Age of Affluence and Assassinations", I had three heroes: a local basketball player, the world record holder in the mile run, and a Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart composed the 'Rondo Alla Turca' -- the coolest music by far! -- and I was obsessed. I played the Rondo, very badly, and wanted to know everything about Mozart. In 4th grade I went to the big public library in my hometown and checked out three biographies of Mozart. Much was beyond my comprehension, mostly learning that his father, Leopold, was by far the greatest influence on Wolfgang’s life and music, and the fulcrum of all of his activities t...

PROGRAM Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Bassoon Concerto Richard Strauss: Duet-Concertino Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 3 José Luis Gomez, conductor Martin Kuuskmann, bassoon Dario Brignoli, clarinet 2 & 3 October 2021 Catalina Foothills High School Auditorium ========== All composers, especially a great master at peak of her/his creative powers, will occasionally compose music which rises above their own high standards, reaching beyond their own tendencies. Such as the case with Johannes Brahms Third Symphony. BEETHOVEN'S LONG SHADOW Under the weight of expectations that his compositional career would rival that of Beethoven, Brahms spent 21 years from start to finish, composing his First Symphony. His Second was composed in less than one year. Six years later, then well established as a great musical master, he composed his Third Symphony in one Summer. Known for exploring and delineating the inner life of the human experience, including rather dark moments, his Third Symphony burst...

Savage Sublimity and Sublime Savagery A quick take on Tucson Symphony Orchestra's return to the TCC Music Hall stage. Program FESTIVE OVERTURE, Grant Still, 1944 THE FOUR SEASONS OF BUENOS AIRES, Astor Piazzolla, 1970 SYMPHONY #4, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, 1878 HIGHLIGHT NOTE: Lara St. John is a complete MADWOMAN with a violin and bow in hand. The type of stage performer who goes into a trancelike state of melding with the music through her instrument, she possesses off-the-scale virtuosity and delivers full fire at furious tempi. Both the most savage and sublime passages that a composer could imagine, were sculpted under intense shut-eyed concentration, with complete technical ease. This sublimely crazed virtuoso, Ms. St. John, occasionally glanced out to the audience while performing, toying us slightly with a devil's knowing look of the unknowably advanced and savage artistry she was laying down. Absolutely SPECTACULAR. >>> A recording link of Lara's insane encore...