Some of the most beloved orchestral music by Johannes Brahms will be explored this weekend when the Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra presents both his celebratory and humorous Academic Festival Overture and his monumental Symphony No. 4 in E minor, the last of his symphonies. The symphony “has all of the craft of Beethoven and Mozart, but this emotional depth that can be really dark sometimes,” while also having moments of tenderness, rage, and joy, notes conductor Ming Luke in this interview with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin. “It’s a beautiful symphony that anyone can connect to.”
The orchestra will also present the winner of the first ever concerto competition of the Las Cruces Symphony Youth Orchestra – Abby Soulsby, a senior at Las Cruces High School. She will perform the opening movement of the Violin Concerto by Samuel Barber with the LCSO. Luke said that the LCSO is working on several fronts to connect the Youth Orchestra players with the professional musicians, including coaching, working with the local music teachers, having a “side-by-side” concert where students play with the LCSO, and now the concerto competition.
“I’m constantly impressed by the level and size of the [music] programs [in Las Cruces],” he said. “And so to collaborate with them for programs like the Youth Orchestra, we just want to make the community as strong and integrated as possible so that we’re all working together: the symphony, NMSU, the high school programs, and of course all the private teachers.”
Listen to the interview to hear about Bach’s love of beer, the impact of Beethoven on Brahms, the role of Clara and Robert Schumann in Brahms’ life, and insights into the music.
The concerts are Saturday, January 18 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, January 19 at 3 p.m. at the Atkinson Recital Hall.
Musical clips in the interview are from:
1.) “Concerto for Violin and Orchestra,” by Samuel Barber, Gil Shaham on violin with the London Symphony Orchestra, Andre Previn conducting (Deutsche Grammophon cde #439886);
2.) “Academic Festival Overture,” by Johannes Brahms, Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic (Sony cd #61846);
3.) “Symphony No. 4 in E minor,” by Brahms, Andris Nelsons conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO cd #1703).
