Violinist Frank Almond featured with CSO
French composer Hector Berlioz became consumed with writing his Symphonie Fantastique after seeing actress Harriet Smithson in a Shakespearean play. He was so passionate about the piece, that he even wrote his own program notes so the audience would understand the story clearly.
At its premiere, Berlioz was onstage playing in the percussion section, as he often liked to do, so that he could witness the audience cheering and stomping in excitement at the end.
Whether the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera’s performance brings such an audience reaction tonight, April 26, remains to be seen, when the CSO presents Symphony Fantastique as part of its season finale in the Tivoli Theatre.
Guest artist Frank Almond, concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, will be featured on Leonard Bernstein’s “Serenade,” playing his Lipinski Stradivarius violin.
Now celebrating his 20th season with the Milwaukee symphony, Almond has also held positions as concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic and guest concertmaster of the London Philharmonic. He maintains an active schedule of solo and chamber music performances in the U.S. and abroad, has been a member of An die Musik chamber group in New York City since 1997, and also directs the Frankly Music Chamber Series based in Milwaukee.
At 17, he was one of the youngest prize-winners in the history of the Nicolo Paganini Competition in Genoa, Italy, and five years later was one of two American prize-winners at the eighth International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, which was documented in an award-winning PBS film.
Kayoko Dan will also conduct the CSO musicians and CSO Chorus in the energetic Polovtsian Dances by Alexander Borodin.
Prior to the concert, join principal trumpet player Douglas Hedwig in the Tivoli’s Green Room for the Spotlight Talk at 6:45 p.m. to learn more about selections on the evening’s program.
For more information: chattanoogasymphony. org.