by Tom Wachunas
A particularly edifying component of the MasterWorks Concerts from the Canton Symphony Orchestra are the “Performance Preludes,” presented one hour before the program. Traditionally, these 30-minute sessions are lectures by guest speakers, often accompanied by recorded segments of music used to elucidate aspects of the upcoming program. [Read more…]
by Tom Wachunas
In his program comments celebrating the 80th season of the Canton Symphony Orchestra, Music Director Gerhardt Zimmermann wrote, “Why do I love conducting this wonderful orchestra?…The CSO is that rare gem of orchestras that conductors seek to make music with. Their playing is committed, heartfelt, powerful, and above all, exciting.” For the season-opening concert on October 14, that rare gem dazzled with exceptional brilliance, beginning with Samuel Barber’s Essay For Orchestra No. 2, composed in 1942. [Read more…]
by Tom Wachunas
Composed in 1873-74, Giuseppe Verdi’s Messa Da Requiem (Requiem Mass) poses a wondrous irony. Verdi was openly disdainful of organized church worship. His wife, Giuseppina, once characterized him as, “…not an outright atheist, but a very doubtful believer.” It might seem, then, counterintuitive that this acclaimed champion of worldly opera — who had not composed any conventional sacred music since his youth — would render a work of such profound religiosity. [Read more…]
by Tom Wachunas
The March 25 program by the Canton Symphony Orchestra, titled “Beethoven and His Contemporaries,” began with the Overture and Turkish March, the most often performed sections from the incidental music that Beethoven composed in 1811 for a play called Die Ruinen Von Athen (The Ruins of Athens). [Read more…]
by Tom Wachunas
The three works on the February 25 program from the Canton Symphony Orchestra couldn’t have been more diverse in emotive content. The Overture from Camille Saint-Saëns’ light-hearted operetta, La Princesse jaune (The Yellow Princess) ranks among the composers’ most charming if not most often neglected creations. Projecting an infectious exuberance, the orchestra successfully delivered all of the work’s breezy melodies and delightful rhythms imbued with a distinctly Japanese ethereality. [Read more…]
by Tom Wachunas
On one level, the January 28 concert by the Canton Symphony Orchestra, billed as “A Night in Vienna,” was unarguably a dazzling homage to Strauss family waltzes and polkas. But on quite another, it was an unprecedented occasion for some memorable shenanigans on the part of music director Gerhardt Zimmermann. [Read more…]
by Tom Wachunas
At one early point on the blustery evening of November 19, the opening lines of the holiday classic Let It Snow crossed my mind a few times while driving: “Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful…” We did indeed have a place to go — Umstattd Hall — and a fire to gather ‘round, provided by the Canton Symphony Orchestra. [Read more…]
by Tom Wachunas
On the evening of October 29, while the Cleveland Indians were playing the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in game four of the World Series, the Canton Symphony Orchestra wasted no time setting a festive mood right here in Umstattd Hall. From the rear of the house, all the CSO members — many wearing Indians caps or jerseys — strutted happily down the aisles and up on to the stage, all to boisterous cheers from the audience. Then Gerhardt Zimmermann led orchestra and audience in a stirring sing-along of Take Me Out to the Ball Game. [Read more…]
by Tom Wachunas
The October 1 concert by the Canton Symphony Orchestra was billed as “You Asked For It!” Last year, concertgoers were given a list of three works in three categories from which to choose for this season’s opening program. As Music Director Gerhardt Zimmermann reminded us at evening’s start, we chose well. I’m also happy to report that Zimmermann asked his colleague, Eric Benjamin, to compose a new work for the occasion. [Read more…]
by Tom Wachunas
Everything about the March 19 Canton Symphony MasterWorks program, billed as “Scenic Moments,” was thoughtfully designed to take us on an exhilarating journey, starting with Mikhail Glinka’s brilliant Overture to Russlan and Ludmilla. Just as the music tells of Russlan’s enchanted adventure to win the hand of Ludmilla in marriage, so too music director Gerhardt Zimmermann was clearly on a mission to claim our unqualified affections for his ensemble’s thrilling versatility. And that he did. [Read more…]