Next week is all about two American masters: George
Gershwin
and Aaron
Copland
. To help the Louisville Orchestra and Teddy Abrams celebrate the music of these and other musical greats are two equally dazzling solo artists, soprano Storm Large and pianist Kevin Cole.
One of the concert’s centerpieces, Gershwin’s
New York Rhapsody
, is a must-see if for no other reason than because it is tragically underperformed--certainly more so than a certain blue sister. It’s a fantastic score the sketches for which Gershwin intended to use for the 1931 film,
Delicious
. If you have any doubts of the work’s superiority, take it from the composer himself who once remarked, “
In many respects, such as orchestration and form, it is the best thing I have written.” Pianist Kevin Cole takes center stage as soloist.
Also on the menu is Kurt Weill’s
Seven Deadly Sins
. Premiered in 1933, this
ballet chanté
(sung ballet) follows two sisters as they travel around the country in search of fortune to send back to their family in Louisiana. Each movement between the bookending prologue and epilogue represents a different American city and seemingly corresponding deadly sin. Rock singer Storm Large takes us on the journey with her.
Not to be forgotten, dependable fan favorites to be pe
rformed are Richard Rodgers’ overture to
Oklahoma!
and Aaron Copland’s
Rodeo
suite. So there you have it: two pieces you’re sure to enjoy and two pieces your humble correspondent knows you’re going to.
There will be two performances of this concert. The first is at 10:30 am on Thursday, September
25th
and the second is at 8 pm on Friday, September
26th
. Both are in Whitney Hall at the Kentucky Center. Tickets start at $15 and can be purchased online here [4]. Also be sure to check out the various 2014-15 subscription packages [5] offered by the Louisville Orchestra.
Connect with me on Twitter: @rackoflambert [6]!