“Thierry Fischer is using as the Utah Symphony’s [2019-20] season’s backbone a Utah-inspired work by the late French composer Olivier Messiaen,” writes Sean Means in Tuesday’s (2/5) Salt Lake Tribune. The work is “Des Canyons aux étoiles… (From the Canyons to the Stars…).” “ ‘If one symphony should symbolically own the piece in America, it’s the Utah Symphony. Because it’s written in Utah,’ [says Fischer, the orchestra’s music director].… Four of the season’s Masterworks Series concerts will include a movement [from ‘Des Canyons], and four more will feature two movements each. The music will be accompanied by images of Utah natural wonders…. Other works … such as Gustav Holst’s ‘The Planets,’ Ludwig van Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ symphony, and Richard Strauss’ ‘An Alpine Symphony’—suggest natural beauty…. ‘¡Celebración Sinfónica!’ [led by Carlos Miguel Prieto] … will include works by Mexican composers José Pablo Moncayo and Carlos Chávez.… The symphony has been working to reach out to Utah’s Latino population…. The season’s … screening of the Disney/Pixar hit ‘Coco’ with live musical accompaniment, [is] set … to coincide with Dia de Muertos, the Day of the Dead.” The orchestra will perform four Beethoven symphonies and celebrate its 80th birthday with a concert featuring violinist Joshua Bell.
Posted February 7, 2019
