April in Paris - with MYSO
April 2, 2024 - The Mariposa Yosemite Symphony Orchestra's "April in Paris" Concert Weekend will feature performances in Mariposa and Yosemite National Park on Saturday, April 27 at 7:00 P.M. and Sunday, April 28 as a 2:00 P.M. matinee. Founding Music Director/Conductor Les Marsden will conduct Hector Berlioz's "Roman Carnival Overture," Maurice Ravel's "Valses Nobles et Sentimentales," and Berlioz's remarkable "Symphonie Fantastique."
With apologies to Count Basie, the concert's composers both studied at the famed Paris Conservatoire, both came to represent the best of the French compositional styles of their respective times and all three compositions were premiered in Paris. The joyous "Roman Carnival Overture" from 1843 is one of Berlioz's most famous works, consisting of material culled from the composer's opera "Benvenuto Cellini." It features a beautiful melody for English horn and an exciting Italian saltarello worked into a frenzy, referenced by the overture's title.
Maurice Ravel was a master of the impressionist movement in music, and his 1912 "Valses Nobles et Sentimentales" is a suite in eight brief movements summing up the composer's great love of the waltz form. Beginning with a bang and ultimately ending in ethereal silence, a variety of styles is heard between, including his personal take on the Viennese waltz.
The program will close with one of the greatest revolutionary works of all time: Berlioz's 1830 "Symphonie Fantastique." Subtitled "Episode from the life of an artist, in five parts" the work is a semi-autobiographical, semi-fantastical accounting of the 26-year-old Berlioz's own infatuation with the British actress Harriet Smithson. The musically-depicted artist pines for his beloved, sees her everywhere, ultimately smokes opium in hopes of escaping her hold on his mind but instead dreams he's killed her. In a vivid musical portrait, he is then marched off to the scaffold, is guillotined (with a recognizable "plunk plunk" as his head bounces into the basket) - and then is transported to a witches' coven, where he discovers his beloved is the queen of witches. Composed only three years after Beethoven's death, this piece pulled the Romantic era into the music world decades into the future. And the parallels to his actual life are stunning.
Parts of the string and wind sections from a recent MYSO rehearsal (Pictured)
The Saturday, April 27th at 7:00 P.M. concert will be held in the Grandpa Doug Pearse Student Center at the Mariposa Alternative Education campus (formerly Mariposa Middle School) at 5171 Silva Road in Bootjack. Advance tickets are available now at https://tinyurl.com/MYSOApril and are priced at $10/Adults and $8/Students. Advance tickets are strongly urged as the prices at the door increase to $15/Adults and $10/Students.
The Sunday, April 28th at 2:00 P.M. matinee concert is scheduled for the Garden Terrace (room) at Yosemite Valley Lodge, located at 9000 Yosemite Valley (Northside) Drive near Yosemite Falls. Though a free concert, a $10 per person donation is suggested. The Yosemite Reservations System will be in effect that weekend, so those planning to drive private vehicles to the park for the concert must obtain advance reservations in addition to paying the Park Entrance Fee at the gate(s). For reservations, go to https://rec.gov - and create an account. See "sign-in/log-in" in the upper right of screen. Once signed in, go to https://www.recreation.gov/timed-entry/10086745/ticket/10086746 Enter the date: April 28, 2024 - then follow the instructions.
The orchestra has operated in partnership with Yosemite National Park since 2007 and its major sponsoring partner is Yosemite Hospitality, a division of Aramark. Full information about the Mariposa Yosemite Symphony Orchestra will be found at MYSO.live.
Source: MYSO