Bridgeport, CT - Greater Bridgeport Symphony closes out a spectacular 71st season at The Klein in Bridgeport on April 22 at 8:00pm with “GBS Celebrates Spring” featuring guest conductor Jonathan Yates of the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, who will solo on Bach’s iconic Keyboard Concerto In D Minor.
The evening begins with Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks, a concerto written in 1937 and named for the Washington D.C. estate famed for its gardens. Lively and beautiful, it evokes images of birds singing and flowers in bloom – the perfect music for a spring night on the town. Says Yates, “The music is incredibly fresh. It's clean but energetic, modern but very approachable, and just delightful. It's very virtuosic, too – a great showpiece for the fine musicians of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony.”
Then follows Maestro Yates’ performance of the Bach Keyboard Concerto In D Minor. “I love having Bach and Beethoven on the same program, arguably the two greatest musical giants of all,” Yates said. “If, with Beethoven, it's about every boundary he tore down, with Bach it's about just the sheer perfection of what he wrote. The D Minor keyboard concerto is one of my favorite works of his; I still have fond memories of hearing it for the first time, and just melting into the gorgeous slow movement. It's also always a particular treat to play and conduct at the same time, to get to share all sides of my own musical personality.”
The concert concludes with the famous “Pastoral” – Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony, familiar to millions from Disney’s Fantasia. This is the quintessential anthem of spring, and is the only Beethoven symphony with a program: each movement conveys a different scene in the country, replete with bird calls. Yates is excited about this performance, saying “What always remains shocking about Beethoven's symphonies is that each one breaks the mold of the previous one; you just can't gauge the distance he travels from the First to the Ninth in years alone. Personally, I just think this is his most beautiful symphony. It's certainly his most intimate; in it, he makes time stand still, while he takes our breath away.”
At this concert, the last of the 71st season series, the programs for next season will be announced. “We’re thrilled at the variety we’ll be able to present next season,” says GBS Executive Director Mark Halstead. “Eric Jacobsen will be back for his fourth season, and we’ve got some great music in store – Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Saint-Saens, and some real surprises.”
Tickets range from $15.00 to $59.00, and are available on the GBS website www.GBSO.org. For special Family Pack Deals, call the GBS office at (203)576-0263; parents get 15% off, and children (under 19) get seats for just $10.00 each.