ASO: “In the Key of EEEEEEEEEEE!”
The Asheville Symphony’s (ASO’s) October concert, “In the Key of EEEEEEEEEEE!” will be held on Saturday, October 22, at 8 p.m. The performance features two works chosen for the Halloween season, plus a concerto for violin and cello.
The first piece, Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre, or “Dance of Death,” is a waltz from beyond the grave based on Henri Cazalis’ poem of the same name. The piece depicts the Middle Ages European legend that at midnight on Halloween, Death comes to cemeteries to play his violin and rouse skeletons from their sleep to dance until daybreak. Listeners will hear the eerie effect of a de-tuned violin and a xylophone imitating the sound of rattling bones.
“Since Halloween is coming up, I wanted to choose pieces that have a dramatic flair,” says Daniel Meyer, ASO’s music director. “On occasion, we perform this piece for children’s concerts. Because it’s so obvious what’s going on in the music, it’s a lot of fun.”
The second work, French composer Florent Schmitt’s La Tragédie de Salomé, presents a lush score to the Biblical story of Salome’s insistence on the beheading of John the Baptist. The piece is an ‘unsung opera’ filled with aural imagery that shocks the ear.
“I think viewers will appreciate the classical take on Halloween,” says David Whitehill, the symphony’s executive director. “There are scarier pieces one might think of, but these works delve a little deeper.”
The concert’s finale takes a more peaceable turn, with a collaboration between ASO’s own concertmaster Jason Posnock and his friend Alistair MacRae joining forces on Brahms’ Concerto for Violin and Cello. Posnock, who has been ASO’s concertmaster since 2007, has performed with ensembles including the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. MacRae is principal cello of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. His collaborations include Paul Taylor Dance Company, the Westminster Choir and the rock band The Scorpions.
“It makes a beautiful combination to put these two soloists together,” says Meyer. “Listeners really get to relish the interplay between the high voice of the violin and the bass voice of the cello. There aren’t many concertos written for two or more instruments, and this work by Brahms is one of the most popular I can think of.”
The concert will be held at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, 87 Haywood Street, Asheville. Single tickets are $22-62, depending on seating section. Reduced youth pricing is available. Single tickets and season ticket packages are also available at ashevillesymphony.org, 828.254.7046,or the US Cellular Center box office, 87 Haywood Street.
