St. Louis Symphony Music Director David Robertson conducted the final concert of his orchestra’s 2012-2013 season on May 12 and a special concert for the League of American Orchestras Convention on June 18. Since then, he has traveled the globe and has conducted concerts on four different continents while also encountering some familiar faces. “I got to see a number of the St. Louis musicians who also in the summer do anything but keep their instruments in the case,” said Robertson. “There were some in Aspen, Colorado and some in Sun Valley and actually a number of others even going as far afield as the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, so it was a busy summer for all of us.”
But Robertson and his musicians were happy to be reunited in Powell Hall earlier this week for the first rehearsal of the new season in preparation for opening night on September 20. Robertson explained to Cityscape host Steve Potter the rationale for the opening weekend’s program which begins with two American works, Three Places in New England by Charles Ives and Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait. Wintley Phipps will serve as narrator for the Copland work.
“This should be a case of really being able to hear in this anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, of the March on Washington and the Gettysburg Address how this message continues to resonate through time for all of us.”
Renowned pianist Kirill Gerstein will be the soloist in the final work on the program, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Although composed by a Russian, the concerto received its premiere in Boston in keeping with the American theme of the program.
Other highlights of the first half of the 2013-2014 season include the St. Louis premiere of John Adams' Concerto for Saxophone on October 5 and 6 which will be recorded by Nonesuch to complete a compact disc release also featuring Adams' City Noir recorded last season; the return of noted cellist Yo-Yo Ma for the Symphony’s Gala on October 19; a concert version of Britten’s opera “Peter Grimes” on November 16 in Powell Hall and on November 22 in Carnegie Hall to celebrate the composer’s 100th birthday; and a number of holiday concerts. A complete list of concerts is available on the St. Louis Symphony website.
September 21 marks the beginning of the fourth season of St. Louis Public Radio’s live broadcasts of Saturday night St. Louis Symphony concerts. Listeners can hear the concerts on 90.7 FM or at stlpublicradio.org. A list of the broadcasts is available on the St. Louis Public Radio website.
Related Event
David Robertson Conducts the St. Louis Symphony and Pianist Kirill Gerstein
September 20 and 21, 2013
8:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
3:00 p.m.
Powell Hall, 718 N. Grand Blvd.
(314) 534-1700
St. Louis Symphony Website
