Spoleto Festival USA 2013 Line Up - Classical Music
Since
its founding in 1977, Spoleto Festival
USA, which is held in Charleston, South Carolina, has become a staple
of the artistic community in the South East - especially South
Carolina. If you have never been, you simply must. The entire
festival is a "who's who" of the arts and is located in one
of America's best cities -- what else can you ask for?
The 2013 line up has just been released, which features more music, opera, theater, dance, and physical theater than ever before. Also new for 2013 is a swanky new website which struck me as very intuitive and well...pretty! This post will list all of the Music (chamber, symphonic and otherwise, excluding opera), but Sounds Important will eventually have an entire listing of all the categories.
Classical Music
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: CAPRICCIOESPANGOL
BARTOK: THE WOODEN PRINCE
RACHMANINOFF: SYMPHONIC DANCES
Stefan Asbury, Conductor
"Lead by renowned conductor Stefan Asbury, a regular with the world's leading orchestras and Chief Conductor of the Noord Nederlands Orkest, the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra presents a dazzling trio of orchestra showpieces. Bartok's rarely-performed suite from the ballet The Wooden Price is perhaps his most romantic and personal score, and is featured amidst works by Rimsky-Korsakov and Rachmaninoff that also have origins in folk music. Each of these energetic and brilliantly orchestrated works, with their virtuosic renderings of dance rhythms and lush melodies represents the pinnacle of celebrating song with orchestral opulence."
WESTMINSTER CHOIR CONCERTS
"Few Festival traditions are as treasured as the Westminster Choir concerts at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul. In this inspirational and idyllic setting, the pristine voices of the Festival's acclaimed choir-in-residence soar to unimaginable heights. Conducted by Joe Miller, Director of Choral Activities at Westminster Choir College, this esteemed ensemble will offer two performances from their rich and widely varied repertoire, ranging from Bach and Tomas Luis de Victoria to 20th Century composers."
ADAMS: HARMONIELEHERE
RAVEL/BOULEZ: FRONTISPICE
VASKS: CREDO
John Kennedy, Conductor
"John Adams' mighty Harmonielehre ("Book of Harmony") is one of the signal orchestral works of our time and an enduring celebration of musical minimalism. The Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra, led by John Kennedy, will bring Adam's masterpiece to life in a remarkable program that also includes the American premiere's of the Ravel/Boulez Frontispice and Peteris Vasks' Credo (2009), a passionate response to the world's ecological issues."
GIUSEPPE VERDI: MESSA DA REQUIEM
Joseph Flummerfelt, Conductor
Westminster Choir
Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus
Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra
"Verdi's Requiem has been called an opera in disguise for the unique combination of vocal drama and brilliant orchestration that has made it one of the world's most beloved choral masterpieces. The work, which premiered in 1874, is of such dramatic force, encompassing every extreme of emotion, that the effect is almost overpowering. From the tender, subdued opening Requiem movement, to a terrifying Dies Irae, it is a work of enthralling beauty and visceral thrills. After 30 years of dedicated artistic leadership, Joseph Flummerfelt makes his farewell appearance as Spoleto's Artistic Director for Choral Activities, conducing the Westminster Choir, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus and the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra in perhaps the most moving and rememberable concert of the Festival season."
Intermezzi Series
"These delightful and intimate late-afternoon concerts provide the perfect interlude - after a busy day or between a Festival matinee and an evening performance."
- STRAVINSKY AND COPLAND: "The gifted young conductor Aik Khai Pung leads the Festival Orchestra in a program including Copland's rollicking Music for the Theater and Stravinsky's Suite for Pulcinella, a warm, neoclassical masterpiece." Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul, Monday May 27, 5:00pm
- SPOTLIGHT ON THE ORCHESTRA: "Join members of the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra in a musical journey from Bach to today. Spotlighting virtuosic solos and ensemble works, the program will also include a special celebration of the centenary of Benjamin Britten." Simons Center Recital Hall at College of Charleston, Saturday June 1, 5:00pm
- VOCAL SPLENDOR: "An annual Festival favorite, this vocal recital of art songs and arias by members of our opera cast is a wonderful chance to hear these leading artists in an intimate setting." Grace Episcopal Church, Wednesday June 5, 5:00pm
Music in Time Series
"Spoleto Festival USA Resident Conductor and Director of Orchestral Activities John Kennedy explores the vibrancy and power of contemporary music.
- PAMELA Z: "Pioneering composer and vocalist Pamela Z processes her voice in real time to create dense and complex musical layers. In her Festival debut she combines operatic bel canto, extended vocal techniques, text, and sampled sounds in a powerful multi-media performance idiom." Memminger Auditorium, Monday May 27, 9:00pm
- 100TH BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR THE RITE OF SPRING: One hundred years ago today, Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring premiered in Paris and changed the course of musical history. This unusual Festival concert - linking works without pause - celebrates the music of Stravinsky along with pieces the Rite influenced over the next hundred years, with works by Debussy, Varese, Andiressen, Reich and others." Simons Center Recital Hall at College of Charleston, Wednesday May 29, 5:00pm
- MUSIC OF NATHAN DAVIS: "Nathan Davis is at the forefront of integrating new technologies into his lyrics and reflective music. In Bells, live electronic processing is used organically with acoustic instruments to reveal subtle complexities of sounds; speakers in audience members' mobile phones become part of an architectural sound world (bring your cell phone and use it!. The program also includes Crawlspace for solo laptop and the resonantly beautiful de clocher a clocher." Simons Center Recital Hall at College of Charleston, Sunday June 2, 5:0pm
- IN A SPRING GARDEN: "The composer oft the opera Matsukaze, Toshio Hosokawa, creates lush and beautiful aural landscapes, here featured in his recent Im Fruhlingsgarten. The program includes other evocations of memory, including Missy Mazzoli's Death Valley Junction (2010) and William Duckworth's Shadowing Satie (2011)." Simons Center Recital Hall at College of Charleston, Friday June 7, 5:00pm
For more information, check out the new Spoleto Festival USA's website: www.spoletousa.org
