Maestro Andrew Kurtz leads the Gulf Coast Symphony in a program that recreates our first ever concert, featuring Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 in G Major. Celebrated for its cheerful and optimistic vision, this symphony was composed on the occasion of Dvořák’s admission to Prague Academy, a distinction of great achievement.
Program also includes Hadyn Symphony No. 94 “Surprise”; Rossini Il Signor Bruschino Overture and Ravel Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte.
Composers
Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvořák (born September 8, 1841, Nelahozeves, Bohemia, Austrian Empire [now in Czech Republic]—died May 1, 1904, Prague), first Bohemian composer to achieve worldwide recognition, noted for turning folk material into 19th-century Romantic music.
Read More ››Gioachino Rossini
Gioachino Rossini was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as some sacred music, songs, chamber music, and piano pieces. He was a precocious composer of operas, and he made his debut at age 18 with La cambiale di matrimonio. His best-known operas include the Italian comedies The Barber of Seville (Il barbiere di Siviglia), The Italian Girl in Algiers (L’italiana in Algeri), and Cinderella (La Cenerentola). He also wrote a string of serious operas in Italian, including works such as Tancredi, Otello, and Semiramide. The Thieving Magpie (La gazza ladra) features one of his most celebrated overtures.
Read More ››Maurice Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (March 7, 1875 – December 28, 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In the 1920s and 1930s Ravel was internationally regarded as France’s greatest living composer.
Read More ››Franz Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn (March 31, 1732 – May 31, 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the piano trio. His contributions to musical form have earned him the epithets “Father of the Symphony” and “Father of the String Quartet”.
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