Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor
Angel Blue Soprano
Rossini Overture to The Thieving Magpie
Barber Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Coleman This Is Not a Small Voice
Coleman Eternal Flame (World Premiere)
Dvořák Symphony No. 7
Beginning with Rossini’s effervescent Overture to The Thieving Magpie, this program features the SPAC debut of soprano Angel Blue.
In a performance grounded in our shared connection to a sense of place, Angel Blue transports us to Knoxville: Summer of 1915 through Samuel Barber’s dream-like depiction of the world through the eyes of a child. Valerie Coleman creates an inspiring new work for voice and orchestra using a text by Sonia Sanchez.
Closing the evening is the towering triumph, Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony. Cascading from brooding themes to the serenity of woodwinds to the overwhelming tragic grandeur of the finale, the work has astounded audiences since its April 1885 premiere in London.