“Superb performances … have characterized the Springfield Symphony Orchestra’s 75th Anniversary Celebration,” writes Clifton Noble Jr. in Wednesday’s (5/8) Republican (Springfield, MA). Music Director Kevin Rhodes will conduct the final 2018-19 concert on May 18, “pairing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, Op. 95, in E minor, ‘From the New World,’ and introducing Overtura Rocambolesca, composed for the occasion by SSO Principal Bass Salvatore Macchia…. Violinist Yevgeny Kutik returns to the stage of Symphony Hall as guest soloist in the Tchaikovsky…. … Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 ‘From the New World,’ was on the very first Springfield Symphony program conducted by founder Harold Alexander Leslie on March 5, 1944…. Salvatore Macchia translates the title of his Overtura Rocambolesca, dedicated to Kevin Rhodes and the musicians of the SSO, as an ‘incredible’ or ‘adventurous’ overture. These adjectives, Macchia writes in his program note, refer to the incredible and adventurous 75-year journey of the Springfield Symphony. The piece begins buoyantly, passes through what Macchia describes as a ‘slower and somewhat moody middle section, which celebrates our new principal flute (Ann Bobo) and bassoon (Yeh-Chi Wang) players, and concludes with a brief return of the opening material.’ ”
Posted May 14, 2019
