Behold the Sun |
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Saturday, August 15, 8:00 pm
Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
Tickets: $30-$45
James MacMillan: The Sacrifice: Three Interludes [U.S. Premiere]
Joby Talbot: Desolation Wilderness [U.S. Premiere] [Craig Morris, trumpet]
Magnus Lindberg: Seht die Sonne (Behold the Sun)
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Sponsored by
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| Two U.S. Premieres and a soloist who will blow you away. Scottish composer James MacMillan’s music is among Marin’s favorite and, hence, familiar to Festival audiences. Tonight she presents the U.S. Premiere of MacMillan’s The Sacrifice: Three Interludes, a concert suite of three orchestral interludes that connect the scenes in the composer’s second opera, The Sacrifice. The work is based on a collection of ancient Welsh myths, and is a tale of love set amidst civil strife, which culminates in a profound act of self-sacrifice that heals the community, bringing peace and renewed hope. Then we will be introduced to the music of composer Joby Talbot, who joins us tonight and is one of the United Kingdom’s rising stars. His trumpet concerto, Desolation Wilderness, was described by Alfred Hickling of The Guardian (London) as “a lavish, panoramic piece of Americana inspired by a drive through the untamed expanses of the north Californian landscape, whose musical moods mirror the quicksilver changes of the desert climate,” He goes on to say, “[it] resembles the soundtrack to an imaginary road movie…[Talbot] conceives the soloist's role as a behind-the-wheel commentary on the blasted aspens and freezing lakes of the high mountain pass.” The Cabrillo Festival Orchestra’s principal trumpet Craig Morris (who was so captivating in John Adams’ Doctor Atomic Symphony last season) shines in the spotlight of this demanding work. |
The concert’s final work is by Magnus Lindberg, the most popular Finnish composer since Sibelius. The Financial Times described Lindberg’s Seht die Sonne (Behold the Sun) as “an extravagant and glittering piece on a grand scale, full of bold gestures and big effects.” The inspiration of the work and its title comes from Schoenberg’s vast Gurrelieder, and the orchestration parallels that of Mahler’s commanding Ninth Symphony, promising a grand ending to a glorious night.
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Photos (L-R): Craig Morris (Laura Domela), Joby Talbot, Magnus Lindberg
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