Soprano Julie Ludwig, tenor Ryan Fitzgerald, and bass Jeremy Ludwig join forces with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra and the Windsor Symphony Orchestra Chorus this weekend for a musical exploration of Night in an evening billed as Transfigured Night. Music Director Robert Franz will lead the audience through the many variations of Night – calm and still, sad and painful, joyful and happy.
The program includes Mozart’s witty and elegant Serenata Notturno, Schubert’s lyrical Mass No. 2 in G, and Arnold Schoenberg’s emotionally-charged Verklärte Nacht.
Serenata Notturno is a late-18th-century “evening piece” — the Serenade — like its close relatives, the Divertimento, Cassation and Notturno, was music for entertainment. Such compositions were ordered by the wealthy of Mozart’s time along with the catering and the party decorations for their wedding receptions, family reunions, dinner parties and other festive gatherings, and were performed as background music to the meal (as a sort of 18th-century Muzak), or to accompany the promenading of the guests as they exchanged pleasantries, or to provide the centerpiece of the occasion’s entertainment.
The Mass in G-Major was written in 1815 and was intended for a performance in the parish church of Lichtental.
Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), Op. 4, is a string sextet in one movement composed by Schoenberg in 1899 in just three weeks. It was inspired by Richard Dehmel ‘s poem of the same name, combined with the influence of Schoenberg’s strong feelings upon meeting Mathilde von Zemlinsky (the sister of his teacher Alexander von Zemlinsky ), whom he would later marry.
Friday, Feb. 16, 7:30 p.m. at St. Andrew’s United Church, Chatham
Saturday, Feb. 17, 7:30 p.m. at Leamington United Mennonite Church, pre-concert talk one hour prior to performance.
Sunday, Feb. 18, 2:30 p.m. at The Heritage Auditorium, University of Windsor, pre-concert talk one hour prior to performance.
Chatham-Kent tickets available from St. Andrews Church, Chatham, 519-352-0100, standrewschatham.org. Leamington and Windsor tickets: Advance: $35 Adult & $30 Senior, At the door: $39 Adult & $32 Senior. Student discounts available. Purchase by phone at 519-973-1238, online at www.windsorsymphony.com, or in person at the WSO Box Office – 121 University Ave. West, Windsor.
Why does erectile dysfunction occur
