Tuesday (3/1) on his Baltimore Sun blog Clef Notes and Drama Queens, Tim Smith writes, “ ‘Revolutionary women,’ including Joan of Arc and Harriet Tubman, will be showcased during the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s 2011-2012 season, which also packs in music by some relatively revolutionary men, too. BSO music director Marin Alsop, something of a revolutionary herself in a profession still dominated by males, will lead the orchestra in performances of Arthur Honegger’s rarely encountered 1935 oratorio ‘Jeanne d’Arc au Boucher’ (‘Joan of Arc at the Stake’) in November. ‘The impetus for this is that 2012 is thought to be the 600th anniversary of the birth of Joan of Arc,’ Alsop said. ‘She fascinates me in a number of ways. It seemed to be the perfect time to program the Honegger work, which is such a cool piece.’ … The struggles and aspirations of Harriet Tubman inspired ‘Chuphshah! Harriet’s Drive to Canaan,’ an orchestral work by Baltimore-based composer James Lee III that will receive its world premiere in September. … Alsop will tackle several hefty works from the standard repertoire, including Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, which will open the season. She’ll be on the podium for Prokofiev’s Fifth, Tchaikovsky’s Fifth and Sixth (‘Pathetique’) and Shostakovich’s Seventh (‘Leningrad’)” as well as other programs.
Posted March 2, 2011
