Mozart and Mahler (Masterworks 2)

Leif Bjaland, conductor
Kelley Nassief, soprano
Benedetto Lupo, piano

Friday, December 12, 8 p.m., Neel
Saturday, December 13, 8 p.m., Van Wezel
Sunday, December 14, 2:30 p.m., Van Wezel

Whether from pure genius or divine inspiration, there is little debate that the music of Mozart and Mahler touch the soul.

Maestro Leif Bjaland will conduct the Sarasota Orchestra and guest artists soprano Kelly Nassief and pianist Benedetto Lupo in a not-to-be missed performance of music by two of the greatest composers of all time.

Mozart's Ch'io mi scordi di te became one of Mozart's most celebrated concert arias. Dramatic, nearly unaccompanied, interjections from the soprano alternate with equally grandiose gestures in piano, creating a moving experience.

Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 18 helped set the standard for the modern concerto format. While it follows a now traditional format of three movements in fast-slow-fast order, no two Mozart piano concertos are the same.

The concert concludes with Mahler's Fourth Symphony. Mahler once remarked that "an artist's deepest and most valuable experiences come to him before adolescence." In order to convey the most cosmic and sophisticated of his ideas, he wrote this symphony from the perspective of a child expressing a vision of the great feast in heaven. One of Mahler's contemporary critics wrote that the Fourth Symphony expresses Mahler's perspective that "Unless you become a child, you will not enter into God's realm."

Celebrated soprano Kelly Nassief lends her otherworldly voice to Mahler's Fourth Symphony. Nassief's angelic soprano is a perfect complement to this celestial symphony.

Cliburn Piano competition medalist Benedetto Lupo takes the stage for a masterful rendition of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 18. The aria Ch'io mi scordi te, brings together the talents of Nassief and Lupo to complete this stellar concert line-up.

The Orchestra Association will present Classical Conversations, an informative pre-concert talk on Thursday, December 11, at 10:30 a.m. in Holley Hall of the Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center. Admission is $8 and tickets may be purchased at the door.

About Kelly Nassief, soprano

Ms. Nassief has performed as a soloist with, among others, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Grand Rapids Symphony, and the Chorale Arts Society of Washington, Washington's Cathedral Choral Society, the Winston-Salem and Pasadena symphonies.

Ms. Nassief is a 2001 winner of the Sullivan Foundation Grant, a 1996 Laureate of the Leonard Bernstein Jerusalem International Oratorio and Song Competition, a 1997 winner of a Richard Tucker Career Grant, and a winner of the 1995 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

"If the angels in heaven really sing, please let them do it like Nassief. Her voice combines the best of two worlds: It has bel canto size, warmth and height, and yet is svelte, with a youthful sparkle." - Leipziger Volkszeitung

About Benedetto Lupo, piano

After winning the bronze medal in the 1989 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Mr. Lupo made acclaimed debuts with several major American orchestras. His New York City recital debut at Alice Tully Hall followed in 1992, the same year he won the Terence Judd International Award.

Benedetto Lupo has since performed under distinguished conductors with many great orchestras, including the London Philharmonic and Leipzig's Gewandhaus Orchestra, under Vladimir Jurowski, and the St. Louis and New World symphonies, under Bernard Labadie. He also appeared with Quebec's esteemed Les Violons du Roy conducted by Bernard Labadie, and performed with the Montreal Symphony under conductor Kent Nagano.

"[An] exceptionally fine pianist ... who has a remarkably fine touch and beautiful tone control" - The Oregonian.

"[Combines] meticulous technique with romantic sensitivity" - Birmingham News