Rachmaninoff & Ravel

7:30PM, Saturday, January 13, 2024
Dr. Phillips Center – Steinmetz Hall
445 S Magnolia Ave
Orlando, FL 32801
3:30PM, Sunday, January 14, 2024
Dr. Phillips Center – Steinmetz Hall
445 S Magnolia Ave
Orlando, FL 32801
Eric Jacobsen,conductor
Sterling Elliott,cello
RAVEL– La valse
JOHN CORIGLIANO– Phantasmagoria, Suite from The Ghost of Versailles, arranged for cello and orchestra by the composer for Sterling Elliott (commissioned by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra; world premiere)
RACHMANINOFF– Symphonic Dances

Ravel’s homage-with-a-twist to Johann Strauss, Jr. imagines a mid-19th century imperial court with couples dancing and whirling in a voluptuous waltz that ends in a wild, shattering climax. Cellist Sterling Elliott–whose stellar stage presence and joy in music-making—solos in John Corigliano’s Phantasmagoria, a sort of “phantasy” on his opera Ghosts of Versailles, arranged for him by the composer. Rachmaninoff’s kaleidoscopic Symphonic Dances, his last—and many say his greatest—work, includes a haunting alto saxophone, mysterious tubular bells, allusions to Russian Orthodox chants, a thundering Dies irae from the Mass for the Dead, and a shadowy, eerie waltz that seems to echo the darker harmonies of La valse that opens our concert.

Musicians

Eric Jacobsen
conductor
Music Director
Sterling Elliott
cello