Saturday, January 29, 2011

Niagara Symphony presents Afternoon Delights

This weekend the Niagara Symphony season continues Sunday afternoon at the Sean O'Sullivan Theatre at the Centre for the Arts, Brock University, with the third Masterworks concert titled, appropriately enough, Afternoon Delights. The conductor will be Music Director Designate Bradley Thachuk and the soloist will be Austin Hitchcock, Principal Horn for the Niagara Symphony.

It seems like it has been forever since we last attended a Niagara Symphony concert; in reality the Christmas concert was only about 6 weeks ago, but with Christmas and New Year's and all the business over the holidays, it seems much longer. All the more reason to get down there and enjoy some great music and support the Niagara Symphony over the winter months when many head south for the winter.

Maestro Thachuk leads the orchestra in a performance of the much-loved Beethoven Symphony No. 6, the Pastorale, subtitled "Recollections of a Country Life." Anyone who has seen and loved the Disney film Fantasia will know this music well; however, that truncated version of the work doesn't really begin to to the work justice, lovely though the adaptation may be. The fully-fledged symphony is one of the most evocative works in the symphonic repertoire, and I am very much looking forward to hearing the Niagara Symphony perform the work tomorrow afternoon.

Also on the programme will be the Horn Concerto in E-flat major by Richard Strauss. This heroic work features Principal Horn player Austin Hitchcock, recently returned from an extensive tour with the Canadian Brass to Venezuela, working with that country's extraordinary outreach programme, El Sisterna. This is a difficult work to perform and not many recordings are currently available of it, so this will be a golden opportunity to finally hear the work live.

As always, I will be in the lobby before, after and during intermission with lots of great music for you to purchase, or to take your special orders. Be sure to stop by and say hello!

Tickets are still available through the Brock box office at 905-688-5550, ext. 3257, or in person tomorrow afternoon before the concert.

See you there!

January 29th, 2011.

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