Symphonic Dances

Saturday, May 14, 2011 8:00 PM

Reading Symphony Orchestra

Venue: Sovereign Performing Arts Center

Program:

Weber - Invitation to the Dance
Grieg - Symphonic Dances
Rachmaninoff - Symphonic Dances

Get ready for dance rhythms in music. The evening begins with Carl Maria von Weber’s famed “Invitation to the Dance,” one of the most popular concert pieces (that was subsequently orchestrated by Hector Berlioz). In the twentieth century, the great conductor Felix Weingartner also orchestrated the piece; his 1920s recording of the orchestration was a staple of record catalogs for years. Grieg’s Symphonic Dances, an 1896 composition, had their origins in the folk music compiled by Ludvig Lindeman. Considering the popularity of other important Grieg compositions, including his piano concerto and the Peer Gynt suite, this promises to be another favorite with Reading audiences. We conclude the season with a work of maturity – in fact, the final major orchestral work by the great Sergei Rachmaninoff. This 1940 work, completed three years before his death, was first performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy’s direction and Rachmaninoff’s supervision.