PAUL TERRACINI conductor
DANA LEE piano
MOZART Il Seraglio Overture
MENDELSSOHN Piano Concerto No. 1
BRUCKNER Symphony No. 4, Romantic
The composers of the two principal works on this program, Mendelssohn and Bruckner, provide examples of early, and fully developed, romanticism in nineteenth century music. Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4, the Romantic Symphony, was premiered in 1881, at the height of the Romantic movement in European art. It now enjoys a place in the repertoire as one of the great nineteenth century symphonies.
Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor was composed while Mendelssohn was traveling in Italy, around the same time as he was writing his Symphony No. 4, the Italian Symphony, and premiered in October 1831, in Munich. As one of the great pianists of his time, Mendelssohn lavished his score with passages of luminous virtuosity for the solo pianist. Performing the work in this concert is the brilliant winner of the 2016 Conservatorium High School Concerto Competition, Dana Lee.
The concert gets off to a rollicking start with music of Mozart, one of Mendelssohn and Bruckner’s greatest influences. In this case, his Overture to the opera, Il Seraglio.