Bernstein, Beethoven among ASO 2017/18 highlights

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The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s 73rd season inaugurates a two-year LB/LB Celebration featuring the works of Leonard Bernstein and Ludwig von Beethoven, two world premieres, seven ASO premieres and such guests as Yo-Yo Ma, Kathleen Battle and Hilary Hahn.

The 2017/18 season marks the 17th year of Robert Spano and Donald Runnicles’ artistic partnership, as music director and principal guest conductor, respectively.

The Classical Series begins Sept. 21 with Get Jazzed, featuring pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and music from the Gershwins’ An American in Paris. It ends June 9, 2018, with a program featuring Rimsky-Korsakov and Debussy. The ASO will visit several colleges through the season as well.

In addition, the orchestra is introducing Atlanta Symphony Hall LIVE, which brings together what had been known as ASO Presents and the Delta POPS Series. These concerts will feature renowned musicians and entertainers, many  joined by the ASO. The LIVE calendar will evolve throughout the year as shows are announced.

Season subscriptions, beginning at $114 for a six-concert package, are on sale now. Single tickets go on sale in August. For more information or to subscribe, call the ASO ticket office at 404.733.4800, or visit aso.org. 

Here’s a chronological look at the jam-packed lineup. All concerts are at Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. NE.. The Thursday pre-concert chamber recitals will return next season with dates to be announced shortly. 

September

• Get Jazzed. SEPT. 21 + 23. Classical series. Robert Spano conducts. Featuring Symphony No. 2, “The Age of Anxiety,” by Leonard Bernstein; Michael Kurth’s A Thousand Words; and the Gershwins’ An American in Paris.  

October

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  Shakespeare Meets Italian Opera in Verdi’s “Otello.” OCT. 7 + 10. Classical series. Spano conducts. He’s joined by Russell Thomas as Otello, Mary Elizabeth Williams as Desdemona, Nmon Ford as Iago, Benjamin Bliss as Cassio, Arthur Woodley as Lodovico, Kathryn Leemhuis as Emilia, Miles Mykkanenas as Roderigo and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus. 

• The Cutting Edge of Classical. OCT. 12 + 14. Classical series. Spano conducts. Featuring Four New Gardens of Cosmic Speculation by Michael Gandolfi; In Istrian Style, a concerto with Dejan Lazić on piano; and Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 3.

• Orchestra With Attitude. OCT. 19-21. Classical series. Ludovic Morlot conducts. Featuring Bernstein’s Divertimento, Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with soloist Ray Chen, Dutilleux’ Métaboles and Ravel’s La valse.

• Movies in Concert. OCT. 27-28. Featuring Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993; 76 mins).

November

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  Falla’s Sexy Flamenco Gypsy Dance. NOV. 2 + 4. Classical series. Jun Märkl conducts. Featuring Falla’s El amor brujo; Strauss’ Burleske; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4. With guests Bertrand Chamayou on piano and Catalina Cuervo as the soprano soloist.

• Mahler’s Exuberant Seventh Symphony. NOV. 9 + 11. Classical series. Spano conducts. Featuring Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 and Schumann’s Cello Concerto with soloist Steven Isserlis.

• Beethoven’s “Missa solemnis.” NOV. 16 + 18. Classical series. Donald Runnicles conducts. Featuring the ASO and ASO Chorus plus guest artists Erin Wall (soprano), Stephanie Lauricella (mezzo-soprano), Dimitri Pittas (tenor) and Peter Rose (bass).

• Movies in Concert. NOV. 30 +DEC. 1-2. Featuring Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001; 2 hours, 36 mins).

December

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  Movies in Concert. DEC. 1-2. Featuring Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001; 2 hours, 36 mins).

• Christmas With the ASO. DEC. 9-10. Norman Mackenzie conducts this annual gift to metro audiences. Featuring the ASO and ASO Chorus, the Morehouse College Glee Club and the Gwinnett Young Singers.

• Very Merry Holiday POPS. DEC. 15-16. Details TBA.

January 2018

• Leonard Bernstein and the Beethoven Seventh. JAN. 11 + 13. Classical series. Peter Oundjian conducts. Featuring Bernstein’s complete Fancy Free ballet; Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concerto No. 3 with concertmaster David Coucheron as soloist; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.

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  Kathleen Battle: Underground Railroad. JAN. 19. Conductor TBA. Featuring Battle, a renowned soprano, the Morehouse College Glee Club and the Spelman College Glee Club.

• Movies in Concert. JAN. 20-21. Featuring Jurassic Park (1993; 2 hours, 7 mins).

• Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto. JAN. 25 + 27. Classical concert. Spano conducts. Featuring Michael Kurth’s Everything Lasts Forever; Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1, Jeremiah; and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor. With Jorge Federico Osorio on piano and mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano.

February 2018

• Beethoven’s Second and Third Piano Concertos. FEB. 1 + 3. Classical series. Spano conducts. Featuring Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1, Piano Concerto No. 2 and Piano Concerto No. 3. Jorge Federico Osorio returns on the piano.

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  The Mozart Requiem. FEB. 8, 10-11. Classical series. Robert Abbado conducts.  Featuring Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Mozart’s Requiem. With the ASO and ASO Chorus, pianist Jorge Federico Osorio, soprano Jessica Rivera, mezzo-soprano Magdalena Wór, tenor William Burden and bass Tom McNichols.

• Schubert’s Eighth Symphony. FEB. 15 + 17. Classical series. Roberto Abbado conducts. Featuring Rossini’s Overture to Semiramide; Schubert’s Symphony No. 8, Unfinished; and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. With pianist Jorge Federico Osorio.

• Jonathan Biss Plays Beethoven. FEB. 28. Featuring Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Opus 2; Piano Sonata No. 9 in E Piano; Sonata No. 12 in A-flat Major, Opus 26, Funeral March; and Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Opus 53, Waldstein.

March 2018

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  An Evening With Edo de Waart. MARCH 1 + 3. Classical series. Edo de Waart conducts. He is music director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, chief conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic and an artistic partner with the St. Paul [Minn.] Chamber Orchestra. Featuring Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 2. With guest violinist Augustin Hadelich.

• Concertmaster David Coucheron and “Ein Heldenleben.” MARCH 8 + 10. Classical series. Henrik Nánási, conducts. Featuring Kodály’s Dances of Galánta, Prokokiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben. With Behzod Abduraimov on piano.

• “Boléro” Meets the Tango. MARCH 15 + 17. Classical series. Miguel Harth-Bedoya conducts. Featuring Suite from Bel Canto by Jimmy Lopez; Concerto for Maracas, Pataruco, by Ricardo Lorenz; Piazzolla’s Concerto for Bandoneón, Aconcagua; and Ravel’s Boléro. With Ksenija Sidorova on accordion and Alcides Rodriguez on maracas.

• The Effervescent, Soul-Searching Music of J.S. Bach. MARCH 22 + 24. Classical series. Spano conducts. Featuring a new work by Michael Kurth; Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3; Brandenburg Concerto No. 3; and Cantata No. 80, Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott. With the ASO, the ASO Chamber Chorus, soprano Kim-Lillian Strebel and mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor.

April 2018

• Jonathan Biss Plays Beethoven. APRIL 4. Featuring Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-flat Major, Opus 7; Piano Sonata No. 17 in D Minor, Opus 31, No. 2, Tempest; Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Opus 10, No. 1; and Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Opus 57, Appassionata.

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  Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony. APRIL 5-6. Classical series. Spano conducts. Featuring Michael Kurth’s May Cause Dizziness; Bernstein’s Serenade (after Plato’s Symposium); and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, Eroica.

• Dvořák’s Stormy Symphony No. 7. APRIL 12 + 14. Classical series. Christian Arming conducts. Featuring Janáček’s Taras Bulba; Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1; and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7. With Conrad Tao on piano. 

• Violinist Nicola Benedetti Plays Beethoven. APRIL 19 + 21. Classical series. Matthias Pintscher conducts. Featuring Pintscher’s Ex nihilo; Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with Benedetti; and Brahms’ Symphony No. 2.

• Prokofiev and Beethoven. APRIL 26 + 28-29. Classical series. Carlo Rizzi conducts. Featuring Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1, Classical; Mozart’s Oboe Concerto; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2. With Elizabeth Koch Tiscione on oboe.

May

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  Yo-Yo Ma. MAY 5 ONLY. Classical series. Spano conducts. The acclaimed cellist plays Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1. 

• Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide.” MAY 9-20. The ASO and the Alliance Theatre partner to present a staged concert version of this 1956 gem adapted from Voltaire’s satirical 18th-century novel. Spano conducts, and the Alliance’s Susan V. Booth directs. With a cast of actors, the ASO and the ASO Chorus.

• Jonathan Biss Plays Beethoven. MAY 30. Classical series. Featuring Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Opus 13, Pathétique; Piano Sonata No. 22 in F Major, Opus 54; Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-flat Major, Opus 81a, Les Adieux; Piano Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Opus 2, No. 2; and Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Opus 110. 

• Hilary Hahn Plays Tchaikovsky. MAY 31 + JUNE 2-3. Classical series. Cristian Măcelaru conducts. Featuring Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody No. 1; Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1; and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with Hahn.

June

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  Hilary Hahn Plays Tchaikovsky. JUNE 2-3. Classical series. Măcelaru conducts. Featuring Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody No. 1; Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1; and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with Hahn.

• Rimsky-Korsakov and Debussy. JUNE 7 + 9. Classical series. Spano conducts. Featuring Debussy’s Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun; Alan Fletcher’s Piano Concerto with Inon Barnatan; and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.

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