BSO Presents Tchaikovsy's Symphony No. 1 & Sibelius' Violin Concerto with Benjamin Beilman

Music Director and Principal Conductor Christopher Confessore leads the Brevard Symphony for the Orchestra's second subscription concert of the 2015-2016 season on Saturday, November 21, 2015, at the King Center for the Performing Arts in Melbourne. This upcoming concert includes a few firsts for the BSO including the Orchestra's first-ever performance of Tchaikovsky's First Symphony - a charming work by one of symphonic music's most beloved composers. The concert begins with an audience choice selected by BSO patrons and fans last spring.

The audience choice will be revealed the week of the performance and is also a first time performance of the piece for the BSO. The orchestra will be also be joined for the first-time ever by violinist and Avery Fischer Career Grant recipient Benjamin Beilman for Sibelius' Violin Concerto, a favorite concerti of Maestro Confessore's. Performance begins at 8:00pm at the King Center for the Performing Arts in Melbourne. For tickets, call the King Center Box Office at (321) 242-2219 or purchase online at www.brevardsymphony.com.

About the Artist:

Twenty-five year old American violinist Benjamin Beilman is winning plaudits in both North America and Europe for his passionate performances and deep rich tone. Beilman has received several prestigious awards including a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship in 2014, and an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a London Music Masters Award in 2012. Beilman has played with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Tonhalle, Basel Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic orchestras and in North America the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, San Francisco Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Detroit Symphony and Los Angeles Chamber orchestras amongst others. Beilman studied with Almita and Roland Vamos at the Music Institute of Chicago, Ida Kavafian and Pamela Frank at the Curtis Institute of Music, and Christian Tetzlaff at the Kronberg Academy. He plays a Peter Greiner violin (2004).

About the Works:

Begun in 1903, Sibelius' Violin Concerto received its first performance on February 8, 1904, in Helsinki. Dissatisfied, he significantly reworked the piece and its second premiere was given in Berlin with Richard Strauss as conductor and Czech violinist Karel Halir as soloist. Although the first movement, Allegro moderato, is bleak in mood, it is nonetheless one of the most sublimely beautiful openings in all the repertory. Over the hushed murmuring of the muted strings, the violin sings the broad and haunting principal theme in gentle dissonance and against the beat. The ensuing Adagio di molto is equally ardent, with the violinist extending a long, lyrical theme followed by soloist and orchestra working up to a dramatic and exciting climax, and then back to the opening theme and melancholy mood of the opening. The final movement, Allegro ma non troppo, is a dazzling technical tour de force for the soloist, with vibrant rhythmic energy from the orchestra.

Composed in 1866, the Symphony No. 1, Winter Dreams, was not only Tchaikovsky's first venture in the genre, but it proved to be of some historical significance, counting as the first major and viable symphony written by a Russian composer. Contrary to Tchaikovsky's Little Russian or Polish Symphonies (Nos. 2 and 3), whose subtitles were conferred by critics, the Symphony No. 1 was named Winter Dreams by the composer. Additionally, in the score, he gave titles to two of the symphony's four movements, dubbing the first, "Dreams of a Winter Journey," and the second, "Land of Desolation, Land of Mists."

Framed by austere, hymn-like passages for strings alone, the second movement - "Land of Desolation, Land of Mists" - contains an especially lovely main theme, announced by a soulful oboe over muted strings, and then building to a deeply expressive climax with full orchestra. Notwithstanding the composer's own subtitle, the music sounds not so much desolate or bleak, but rather deliciously melancholic.

The ensuing Scherzo is decidedly more upbeat than the first two movements, proceeding in a lively and rustic manner. The internal trio is especially buoyant and gives us Tchaikovsky's first major orchestral waltz. It presages the composer's later ballet masterpieces, including Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake.

In the finale - marked Andante lugubre-Allegro maestoso - Tchaikovsky opens and almost closes with the Symphony's darkest and most ominous moments. It seems to recall the despair and suffering that the composer endured during its creation. The introduction is based on a Russian folk song, which provides the material for the main themes of the central Allegro. The orchestration is brilliantly realized for such a young composer (in his mid-twenties) and looks forward to the symphonic masterpieces of his maturity. This section contains the work's most joyous and vibrant music. When the music of the Andante returns near the end, it casts off its gloom and ushers in a fast coda that concludes the symphony in a blaze of grandeur and triumph.

For more information, contact the Brevard Symphony Orchestra at (321) 242-2024 or visit our website at BrevardSymphony.com

This concert is sponsored by U.B.S. Financial Services - Indian River Wealth Consulting Group.

The BSO is Brevard's premier professional orchestra. For over 60 years, the Brevard Symphony Orchestra has brought quality performances, educational programs and outreach events to the community. Our mission is to entertain and enrich individuals and communities, by creating exceptional, live symphonic music. The BSO is orchestra-in-residence at the King Center for the Performing Arts in Melbourne, Florida.

General information on the Brevard Symphony Orchestra can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the organization's website: www.BrevardSymphony.com.

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