Hudson Valley Philharmonic caps season with Beethoven’s Ninth
The Hudson Valley Philharmonic concludes its 2016-17 season on Saturday, April 29, at 8 p.m. with a concert featuring more than 150 instrumentalists and singers performing Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony” at the Ulster Performing Arts Center, 601 Broadway, Kingston.
“The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125,” “Choral,” is the last complete symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the choral “Ninth Symphony” is one of the best-known works of the Western repertoire, considered both an icon and a forefather of Romantic music, and one of Beethoven’s greatest masterpieces. “Symphony No. 9” incorporates part of An die Freude (“Ode to Joy”), a poem by Friedrich Schiller written in 1785, with text sung by soloists and a chorus in the last movement. It is the first example of a major composer using the human voice on the same level with instruments in a symphony, creating a work of a grand scope that set the tone for the Romantic symphonic form.
Joining the philharmonic’s performance of the “Ninth Symphony” will be Cappella Festiva, the Vassar Choir, and soloists Rachael Rosales, Joshua Blue, Philip Cutlip and Helen Karrloski. Also on the program will be Haydn’s “Symphony 100, G major.”
Randall Craig Fleischer, the philharmonic’s music director, will give a preconcert talk an hour before the performance.
Tickets range from $34 to $57. Student rush tickets will be available an hour before the concert for $20. Round-trip shuttles from the Bardavon, 35 Market St., Poughkeepsie, to UPAC will be available for $20.
Tickets are available at the UPAC box office or by calling (845) 339-6088. They are also available at the Bardavon box office or by calling (845) 473-2072. In addition, they are able to visit ticketmaster.com or by calling (800) 7453000.