A pair of the musicians join the North Carolina Symphony next month for a colorful concert program, “Firebird.” Led by guest conductor Joana Carneiro and featuring soloist Johannes Moser on cello, the orchestra performs the 1945 version of Stravinsky’s legendary Firebird Suite, alongside wartime music by English composers Benjamin Britten and Edward Elgar.
The performances take place at Lee Auditorium at Southern Pines’s Pinecrest High School on Thursday, Feb. 9 and Meymandi Concert Hall, in downtown Raleigh’s Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10-11. All three concerts begin at 8:00 p.m.
About the artists: "Noted for her vibrant performances in a wide variety of musical styles, Portuguese conductor Joana Carneiro has attracted considerable attention as one of music’s outstanding young conductors. She succeeded Kent Nagano as music director of the Berkeley Symphony and has since worked with the world’s finest orchestras and opera companies."
"She is joined at center stage in Raleigh and Southern Pines by German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser. He performs Elgar’s haunting Cello Concerto, a reaction to World War I that remains a deeply moving contemplation on the forces that drive nations to war."
"Powerful emotions underscore the entire evening, as the Symphony’s program opens with Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from the opera Peter Grimes. Inspired by the composer’s opposition to World War II, Peter Grimes premiered to great success in 1945, a symbol of England’s wartime resilience."
"The Four Sea Interludes connect the opera’s four acts with evocative depictions of the North Sea and a fishing community at work."
"Closing the concert is music from Stravinsky’s legendary ballet The Firebird, the work that skyrocketed the Russian composer into international prominence. Stravinsky wrote three orchestral suites based on the ballet. The Symphony will perform the third and longest of these remarkable efforts, offering North Carolina concertgoers a rare immersion into one of the groundbreaking scores of the 20th century."
“We normally hear the 1919 version [of the Firebird Suite],” says Symphony Music Director Grant Llewellyn. “This version is a little bit more substantial. There will be a few surprises for the audience: much larger orchestrations and really spectacular music that we don’t often get to hear.”
Regular tickets to the Duke Medicine Classical Series Raleigh performances of “Firebird” on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10-11 range from $33 to $63, with $30 tickets for seniors.
Regular tickets to the Southern Pines Series performance on Thursday, Feb. 9 range from $27 to $42.
Students receive $10 tickets in both venues.
For tickets, visit the North Carolina Symphony website at www.ncsymphony.org or call North Carolina Symphony Audience Services at 919.733.2750 or toll free 877.627.6724.
Meymandi Concert Hall is located in the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. South St., in Raleigh.
Lee Auditorium is located at Pinecrest High School, 100 Pinecrest School Road, in Southern Pines.
Beyond the Stage
Pre-concert talks and “Meet the Artist” events are held before Symphony concerts across the state. These engaging conversations offer a unique perspective on the evening’s featured composers, the chance to ask questions and hear the inside story on what to listen for.
For “Firebird,” Josiah Stevenson will host “Meet the Artists” in the Pinecrest High School band room on Thursday, Feb. 9 at 6:45 p.m.
In Raleigh, Dr. Randolph Foy of North Carolina State University will present pre-concert talks in the Swalin Lobby of Meymandi Concert Hall on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10-11 at 7:00 p.m.
About the North Carolina Symphony
Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony performs over 175 concerts annually to adults and school children in more than 50 North Carolina counties. An entity of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, the orchestra employs 67 professional musicians, under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Grant Llewellyn, Resident Conductor William Henry Curry and Associate Conductor Sarah Hicks.
