TSO rounds out season with ‘Impressions’
Conductor Marc-André Bougie and the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra aim to make a lasting impression Saturday, April 7, with the season-concluding “Symphonic Impressions” concert.
Held at the Perot Theatre starting at 7:30 p.m. with a concert preview at 6:40 p.m., the concert marks Bougie’s finale as the regular TSO conductor.
On tap for this night is a music lineup that starts with the Romantic era and stretches into the 20th century, including Grieg’s “Peer Gynt,” Liszt’s “Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major,” Fauré’s “Pavane” and, to conclude the night and the season, Gershwin’s illustrious “An American in Paris.” It all kicks off with a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The featured artist for the night is Luis Sanchez, who will play the Liszt selection. Sanchez teaches at Texas A&M University-Commerce. “He’s come to Texarkana before. He’s done two recitals. He’s done two workshops,” Bougie said, praising his personality and piano abilities.
“He tours all over the world,” Bougie said of the Argentinian-born pianist, who’s performed in the U.K., Italy, Taiwan, Norway, South Korea and South America, among other places.
And about the Liszt piece, Bougie said it’s significant for several reasons. “The first one is that this will be the first Liszt piano concerto we’re doing,” he said, calling Liszt “one of those unspoken heroes” from the Romantic era of music.
“He wrote lots of very fancy, difficult, challenging, showy piano music,” Bougie said. Expect to hear flourishes. But as a composer, Liszt was also informed by a deep spirituality, which can be seen in his music.
“He was a deep-thinking, influential, forward-thinking
musician,” Bougie said, noting this concerto was one Liszt worked on for more than two decades. Another unique aspect to the Liszt concerto is how the four movements dovetail into one another, the conductor said, with a theme carried throughout.
“I think to this day, somewhat underrated,” Bougie said of Liszt’s music.
Grieg is a late Romantic era Norwegian composer. “He was Romantic through and through, so people will have a direct connection to the music,” Bougie said. “It’s very relatable. And furthermore, many of the tunes of that suite are popular tunes.” They’re tunes the audience will recognize.
“‘Peer Gynt’ is the story of this mythical character based on a play by Henrik Ibsen. This little guy goes around the world causing mischief, really,” Bougie said. The music is actually incidental music for the play.
Opening the second half is a seven-minute piece by French composer Fauré, who was sort of a bridge to Impressionism in music, Bougie said. “Fauré was a guy of many talents. He was a great pianist, organist, choir master, administrator,” Bougie said, describing his music as reflective of the composer’s agreeable personality.
“The music is nice, it’s beautiful,” Bougie said, describing the sense of peace to be found in this composer’s music.
The great American composer Gershwin had an innate musical talent, the conductor said. “It’s not something you can train, you know,” he said, explaining that Gershwin wrote “Swanee” and “Rhapsody in Blue,” then went to Paris to get further training. But while there, he was told his style was so unique and singular that he didn’t need it, Bougie said.
“An American in Paris” became a musical postcard of the sounds of Paris, along with the emotions felt. The opening section portrays a walking theme. “You have to picture the American tourist walking around, exploring the sights of Paris,” Bougie said. “You hear taxi horns, the French taxi horns.”
Of “Symphonic Impressions,” the maestro said, “The overall thread of that concert is the concept of musical colors.” He encourages people to attend his final concert preview when he’ll discuss this theme.
“I’m excited,” Bougie said heading into this season finale.
(Tickets: $48, $37 and $25. More info and ticket purchase: TexarkanaSymphony. org or 903-792-4992.)