“Mention classical music and the average bloke will describe long-dead Europeans, maybe in knickers, powdered wigs or frilled shirts,” writes Kevin Lee in Wednesday’s (1/6) Lagniappe Weekly (Mobile, Ala.). “Exploding that classical music stereotype is one of the aims of the Mobile Symphony Orchestra’s American Masters series. On Jan. 16 and 17, MSO … will feature not just three of our most widely respected and loved musical artists but also contemporary talent.” Repertoire will include Copland’s El Salón México and Barber’s Knoxville, Summer of 1915, with soprano Julia Bullock as soloist. “The lush piece takes excerpts from [James] Agee’s prose poem of the same name, sets it to music and scores it for soprano or tenor. Its dreamlike depiction of an evening in the Deep South is tailor-made for Mobile sensibilities…. What might be most revelatory to Mobile audiences is the inclusion of works by American composers Christopher Rouse [Rapture] and Austin Wintory, [whose] work in video games has been groundbreaking…. His [music for the] 2012 game Journey resulted in a soundtrack album … and a Grammy Award nomination … The show promises to be one of the highlights of the cultural season. It’s auspicious, emboldening, varied and ambitious.”
Posted January 8, 2016
