SSO conductor and music director Peter Stafford Wilson summed up the way the program this way: “Virtuosity – certainly. The Springfield Symphony always offers virtuosity, and add Njioma Grevious, who certainly deserves that word. Vision – all three pieces and their performers would deserve that word as well,” he said.
Music will include Francis Poulenc’s “Les Biches,” followed by Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Violin Concerto No. 3” and Jean Sibelius’ “Symphony No. 5.”
“The composers’ names may not be the most recognizable and that is all the more reason to come check them out. The world needs beauty, passion, virtuosity and sublime peace now more than ever and all will be present in abundance in this program of music,” said Wilson.
One of the highlights will be the appearance of Grevious, the award-winning violinist who has been receiving rave reviews from all over. Wilson said the Saint-Saens violin concerto is a personal favorite.
“She definitely is someone to watch and her performance is just not to be missed,” he said. “As most everyone knows, I was an oboe player in my previous life and the oboe solos in the second movement are among the ones I miss the most, such truly gorgeous melodies.”
Wilson chose the opening Poulenc ballet piece as a good foil to the Sibelius piece. He said where the Sibelius song is massive and a real climactic voyage, this piece is a frothy, fun-filled romp, full of musical jokes, charm, and silliness.
The Sibelius tune is the night’s major work. Wilson said he isn’t a composer who has featured much in SSO concerts, but not because he isn’t revered and was one Wilson fell in love with in his college years.
“It is one of the most uplifting, stunning works in the repertoire,” he said. “Sibelius’ style is massive, all about sound and melodies emerge from the texture almost as if geological forces are at work. He said that his inspiration for the piece came while taking a walk one day and observed a flock of swans in flight. One can’t help but be uplifted while listening to this music.”
Tickets cost $52-81 or balcony seats cost $18. For tickets or more information, go to www.springfieldsym.org/.
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