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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

Kansas City Symphony
Russian Spectacular
Friday and Saturday, November 25 and 26 at 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 27 at 2:00 p.m.
Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
1601 Broadway, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call (816) 471-0400 or online at www.kcsymphony.org.

Rimsky-Korsakov and Shostakovich are two of the giants of the Russian orchestral composers, and both of them are represented on this concert, along with the slightly less familiar Alexander Glazunov, a master of the late Russian romantic period.

Rimsky-Korsakov is represented by one of the most familiar works in the repertoire, the 1888 Russian Easter Overture, a richly romantic and marvelously orchestrated work which is always among the most popular crowd pleasers in the orchestral repertoire. For its Shostakovich selection, the Symphony has chosen the Symphony No. 10 of 1953, a post-Stalinist piece in which Shostakovich was generally free of the censorship and restrictions which had plagued much of his career. It contains some of his most beautiful and sensuous music, especially in the energetic second movement and in the slow fourth movement with a solo horn emulating a Russian folk melody.

Shostakovich’s teacher Alexander Glazunov (1865–1936) composed much music which is less familiar to contemporary audiences, but his Violin Concerto, often played by Jascha Heifetz, is deserving of more fame than it has attained.  “The concerto finds Glazunov at his romantic best,” critic David Ewen wrote.  “It is consistently lyrical, its melodies always fresh and spontaneous. Its architectonic structure is sound and impressive. The writing for the violin is throughout effective.”

For its violin soloist, the Symphony has enlisted the Chinese virtuoso Tianwa Yang, one of an exciting new generation of classical violinists. A student of Isaac Stern, father of the Symphony’s principal conductor, she has performed in Prague, Paris, Stockholm, Frankfurt, Vienna and many other European venues, and is making her reputation in the United States.

For the Thanksgiving weekend concerts, the Symphony will be conducted by guest conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto, who enjoys four musical directorships in his home country of Mexico and who has also led the symphony orchestras of Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Florida and Calgary, among others.

UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance
UMKC Conservatory Chamber Orchestra
Wednesday, November 30 at 7:30 p.m.
White Recital Hall, James C. Olson Performing Arts Center, UMKC Campus
4949 Cherry St., Kansas City, MO
Free admission. For more information, visit http://conservatory.umkc.edu

Robert Olson and with graduate conductor Parinya Chucherdwatanasak bring the Conservatory Chamber Orchestra together for the group’s final performance of the fall semester, featuring the music of Haydn, Elgar, and Stravinsky.

The Haydn selection is the Symphony No. 92 (the “Oxford”), one of the composer’s English-period symphonies, which capped his remarkable career, show the influence of his occasional student Mozart as well as his love of England, a country which took him to heart after his departure from his longtime employment in Austria. Elgar is represented by the lush Serenade for Strings, one of the prides of English orchestral music, and Stravinsky by the Jeu de cartes (Game of Cards, or sometimes called The Card Party), a “ballet in three deals” written for George Balanchine’s American Ballet in 1936.

By Don Dagenais

City Classics Music and Dance Columnist; Classical Contributor

A lifelong classical music fan, Don Dagenais is a frequent preview speaker for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and has taught classical music and opera courses at several Kansas City venues. He has served on the boards of directors of a number of performing arts organizations including the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the Lyric Opera Guild, UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, Opera Volunteers International, the Civic Opera Theater of Kansas City, Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony, Octarium, and the Friends of the Symphony.  He has been the past president of most of these organizations and is current the president of the Friends of the Symphony. 

Dagenais co-authored a history of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, published on the occasion of its 50th anniversary (2007) and has written books on the histories of both the Lyric Opera Guild and Opera Volunteers International, as well as an introductory book for opera novices (Your Passport to the Opera).  He has received several local and national awards for outstanding volunteer work for the arts, including a lifetime achievement award from The Coterie Theatre in 2000, the Kansas City Musical Club's annual award in 2001, a Partners in Excellence Award from Opera Volunteers International in 2002, a Bravo Award from Opera Volunteers International in 2004 and a community service award from the Daughter of the American Revolution in 2008 honoring him for his community service to the arts.

In addition to his music interests, Don is president of the board of directors for the Metropolitan Ensemble Theater and has served on the boards of The Coterie Theatre and the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, serving as president of each organization.  He publishes newsletters for seven arts organizations.  When not involved in the performing arts, Don is a senior real estate attorney with Lathrop & Gage LLP in Kansas City, Missouri, where he has practiced law since 1976 after graduating from the Cornell Law School.