Winter Dreaming with the Mariposa Symphony Orchestra
The Mariposa Symphony Orchestra's 15th Season continues as its Festive Holiday Concert is performed on Saturday, December 17th at 7:00 PM in the Fiester Auditorium of Mariposa County High School. The MSO is a program of the Mariposa County Arts Council, Inc.
The concert features a major work by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, though not the suite from his ballet "The Nutcracker" which many orchestras - including the MSO - usually highlight during the holiday season. MSO Founder/Conductor Les Marsden has instead programmed Tchaikovsky's more rarely-heard Symphony #1 in g minor, subtitled "Winter Dreams." Local audiences will have the opportunity to hear the composer's first major orchestral work, written at the age of 26.
The symphony was a major success at its first performance and remained a special favorite of the composer to his death. The first two movements' subtitles are "Dreams of a Winter Journey" and "Land of Desolation, Land of Mists," giving the listener a hint of the sound of this music, which chillingly captures the many facets of winter. The finale is a full-blown explosion of joy, built around the Russian folksong "The Flowers Were Blooming."
The concert will also feature French composer Gabriel Fauré's achingly beautiful 1898 "Pelléas et Mélisande" incidental music as well as seasonal favorites.
Tickets are now available online at the Mariposa County Arts Council's website for secure purchase: visit MariposaArtsCouncil.org Or call 209.966.3155 for more information. The MSO's audience has grown rapidly over the past year and advance purchase of tickets is strongly advised rather than taking a chance at the door.
Photos courtesy of the National Park Service, photography by Al Golub. The Mariposa Symphony Orchestra in concert at Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park on August 21, 2016.
