Eckart Preu’s Mahler First moving and thrilling

Apr 27, 2011

For Immediate Release

Contact: Annie Matlow 464-7071

SPOKANE— Music Director Eckart Preu has planned the Season’s last concert to bring out the best from the Spokane Symphony with a program that features Mahler’s First Symphony on Saturday, May  7 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 8 at 3 p.m. at Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox.  “Our orchestra plays at its very best when challenged,” says Preu. “Our season finale – the whole program – promises to be both deeply moving and thrilling.”   Both performances will include a post-concert celebration of the past season and a sneak peak of the surprises in store next season. There will be a pre-concert lecture in the hall one hour before each performance and an After-Talk from the stage featuring Preu and some musicians who will answer questions from the stage.

The concert will begin with the poignant theme written for Schindler’s List by John Williams, best known for his blockbuster movie scores and as a past conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra.  When Williams was first approached to compose the films score, he though the film was amazing but felt overwhelmed by the challenge, telling Spielberg, “You need a better composer than I am for this film.” Spielberg replied, “I know. But they’re all dead!” Despite his protests, the score garnered Williams his fifth Academy Award. In addition, Preu will conduct John Williams’ Academy Award-nominated rendition of Hatikvah from the film Munich, another collaborative effort between Williams and director Steven Spielberg.

The orchestra will also perform the second movement from Paul Ben-Haim’s Symphony No. 1 entitled Psalm. Ben-Haim was born in Munich and began his career as assistant conductor to Bruno Walter and Hans Knappertsbusch. He left Germany at the beginning of Nazi rule in 1933 and settled in Tel Aviv, where he devoted himself to teaching and composition, gradually establishing himself as the leading Israeli composer. His first symphony, which was inspired by the book of Psalms, was composed in 1939-1940 in the style of late-Romanticism, with a few Middle Eastern musical elements.

The concert concludes with Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, known as ‘Titan’. The name Titan comes from the fact that it began as a tone-poem based loosely on a novel of the same name, although in the process of revising the work Mahler dropped the name and discouraged any attempt to seek connections. Its originality lies in the innovative orchestration and harmonies and in the intensity of the emotions it conveys. For example, Mahler wrote for a massive orchestra, but did not use some instruments, especially those in the brass and woodwind sections, until the fourth movement. The work began with 5 movements, but was later distilled down to the four movements traditional in a symphony. Parts of the symphony, especially the bass solo at the opening of the third movement, are designed to shock the listener with its grittiness, in keeping with Mahler’s conviction that “The symphony must be like the world. It must embrace everything.” Indeed, in his first symphony you’ll hear love, heartache, triumph and horror, as well as extreme instrumental difficulties.

Tickets for either performance are $22, $32, $40, and $44. Tickets are available in advance at the Spokane Symphony Ticket Office, located at Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague, or by calling 509-624-1200. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.spokanesymphony.org Tickets are also available at all TicketsWest outlets or by calling 1-800-325-SEAT. 

CALENDAR LISTING:

Eckart Preu’s Mahler First, Eckart Preu conducts the Spokane Symphony, on Saturday, May 7, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 8, at 3 p.m. at Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox. There will be a pre-concert lecture in the hall one hour before each performance and a post-concert After-Talk from the stage featuring Preu and some musicians who will answer questions from the stage. Tickets are $22, $32, $40 and $44. Tickets are available in advance at the Spokane Symphony Ticket Office, located at Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague, or by calling 509-624-1200. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.spokanesymphony.org Tickets are also available at all TicketsWest outlets or by calling 1-800-325-SEAT.