About Rhapsodic Themes Concert at Merkin Hall, May 10th

Our Rhapsodic Themes concert begins with Giovanni Gabrieli’s Canzona Septimi Toni, an exciting fanfare which serves as an appetizer for the music to come.

We will present the U.S. Premiere of the historically-significant restoration of Ottorino Respighi’s Tre Liriche (Three Art Songs) together with Respighi’s orchestration of Claudio Monteverdi’s famous Lamento di Arianna (Ariadne’s Lament) - from Monteverdi’s lost second opera "Arianna," which premiered in 1608. Both works are scored for mezzo-soprano and orchestra, and are part of an ongoing commission that Music Director (composer) Salvatore Di Vittorio received from Respighi’s family descendents and archive curator in Italy. We will feature the wonderful Argentinian mezzo Daniela Mack.

The Tre Liriche (Three Art Songs) include Notte (Night), Nebbie (Fog) and Pioggia (Rain), which Respighi had originally set as separate works for mezzo and piano between 1906 and 1912, and then decided to orchestrate as Tre Liriche in 1913 – the same year of its world premiere with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome. Potito Pedarra, the cataloguer of Respighi’s works, himself added the work’s title after the publication of his complete Respighi listing, as Tre Liriche, P. 99a. Luciano Pavarotti had also championed two of the three songs in the 1990s. With permission of the Respighi affiliates, Maestro Di Vittorio has completed Respighi’s orchestration of the extant orchestral manuscript.

The Lamento di Arianna (Ariadne’s Lament) was world premiered in 1908 by the Berlin Philharmonic under conductor Artur Nikisch. Not to be mistaken with other Monteverdi works of the same name, this Lamento is the only extant music from Monteverdi’s lost second opera “Arianna”. Monteverdi later used the music including the now famous “lasciatemi morire” motif in three other works of the same name, including the well-known madrigal Lamento di Arianna which is part of his Madrigals Book VI.

Respighi’ masterful orchestration of Lamento is here restored and edited by Maestro Di Vittorio. Di Vittorio’s critical (first, printed) editions of both the Three Art Songs and Ariadne’s Lament will be published in Italy following their New York premieres on May 10th.

We will then showcase 21-year old Canadian pianist Marika Bournaki in her New York orchestral debut, with a performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on Theme by Paganini. This will be an exciting moment for the rising star, and the Chamber Orchestra of New York.

Following intermission, the Chamber Orchestra will give an introductory tribute to legendary English film composer John Barry, by performing one of the composer’s most beloved and famous works – the theme for his Academy Award-winning 1985 score for the film Out of Africa. The orchestra plans a full tribute concert next season in honor of John Barry, especially famous for his James Bond film scores.

The program will conclude with Ludwig van Beethoven’s rhythmically-charged, masterful Symphony No. 8.

For tickets, visit the Merkin Hall Box Office.

Don't miss it!