In Sunday’s (2/24) Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock; subscription required), Eric E Harrison writes, “The Arkansas Symphony plans some big musical blasts for its final season in Little Rock’s Robinson Center Music Hall before the building is to undergo a two-year overhaul starting in the fall of 2014. Plans include: A performance of Igor Stravinsky’s titanic ballet The Rite of Spring in the Sept. 21-22 season opener; Guiseppe Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with massed choirs next March; Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 next April on a program that also will include the world premiere of a piece the orchestra has commissioned from its 2013-14 composer of the year, Christopher Theofanidis. … ‘It’s a blockbuster season,’ said Philip Mann, who conducts the orchestra and put together the season lineup, his third as music director. Orchestra officials announced it to concertgoers Saturday night at Robinson. ‘It’s set up to continue building and re-energizing the audience.’ ” Guest artists include violinist Jennifer Frautschi, on a program that also features Theofanidis’s Rainbow Body, as well as pianist Norman Krieger and cellist Inbal Segev.
Posted February 27, 2013
