Verdi, Theofanidis & Prokofiev: Mar 20–22, 2026
- 7 hours ago
- 5 min read
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The Program...
Giuseppe Verdi
La Forza del Destino Overture
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Giuseppe Verdi, AKA Joe Green (1813-1901) was an Italian composer primarily known for his operas and dramatic composition style. He was so beloved that an estimated crowd of 300,000 people turned out for his funeral.
About the music:
Giuseppe Verdi composed his opera La Forza del Destino - The Power of Fate - in 1861 at the commissioning request of Tsar Alexander II of Russia. It was premiered in 1862 in St. Petersburg.
The story of the opera is based on a Spanish drama with a few alterations, and in many ways mirrors Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Star crossed lovers from powerful families, accidental murder, and revenge sound familiar but in this opera every one of the primary characters dies after a series of completely unbelievable events. It's opera after all!
The overture is very popular and performed often as a stand alone work on symphony programs. It begins with a fate motive - a series of 3 unison notes blasted twice by the brass - before continuing with a somewhat ominously nervous theme in the rest of the orchestra. Even the lighter melodic material introduced later seems a bit manic with this fate theme threatening to return.
This music is immediately engaging for listeners who love a juicy tale told with sound.
A typical performance lasts about 8 minutes.
Resources:
Christopher Theofanidis
Gemini Sun
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Christopher Theofanidis (1967 - ), is an American composer from Dallas TX whose works have been performed by many of the world’s leading performing arts organizations. He is a two-time Grammy nominee for best composition, and I would be sentenced to an eternity in viola club hell if I didn’t mention his Viola Concerto, recorded by Boulder’s own Takacs quartet violist Richard O’Neill as soloist, won the 2021 Grammy for Best Instrumental Solo. Theofanidis is currently coordinator of the composition programs at Yale University and the Aspen Music Festival, and has taught at the Juilliard School and the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University.
About the music:
Gemini Sun is the result of a consortium commission between the Colorado Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Frost School of Music, and New York Youth Symphony. The Colorado Symphony is premiering and recording Gemini Sun Mar 20-22, 2026. It will be performed again in early April by the Seattle Symphony before heading to the two student orchestras in the 2026-27 season.
Gemini Sun is a concerto for solo violin, solo percussion, and orchestra. The percussion soloist covers marimba, vibraphone, and a Bulgarian folk drum called tapan.
Gemini Sun is in four movements, each with its own distinct characteristics.
Movement 1: Con brio - "With vitality"
The piece opens with a conversation developing between the solo violin, the solo percussionist on marimba, and the orchestra.
Movement 2: Easy
This music has the percussionist switching over to vibraphone, an instrument that can be played with a sustain pedal similar to the piano and can be bowed for extra sustain power.
Movement 3: Cantabile - "Singing"
Although this movement is titled "Singing" it quickly transforms into a dance featuring the Bulgarian folk drum.
Movement 4: Presto - "Very quick"
For this final movement, the solo percussionist returns to the marimba for a blazing fun finish that includes a final flirtation element in the back and forth whacks of a cadenza between the two soloists.
A typical performance lasts about 25 minutes.
Resources:
Sergei Prokofiev
Suite from Romeo and Juliet
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Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) was a pianist and composer of Ukrainian heritage with Russian citizenship. He grew up hearing his mother playing Chopin and Beethoven at home on the piano. This had an undeniable effect on him leading him to compose his first piano piece at age five and his first opera at age nine.
Prokofiev was born near Donetsk, Ukraine, moved to St. Petersburg, Russia at age 13 to study at the conservatory there, toured internationally as a pianist and composer, lived in the United States, Germany, and France after the Russian Revolution, and then returned to settle in Russia as a citizen in 1927 with promises of support and a bright future. Unfortunately we know this only became partly true. He achieved initial fame and success, but by the late 1940s was called out for failing to compose music according to the official cultural taste of Stalin’s regime. Â
About the Music:
Sergei Prokofiev composed the ballet music for Romeo and Juliet in 1935 during a time of turmoil in the performing arts community. Despite the fact that he was instructed to change Shakespeare's ending so that Romeo and Juliet live, he managed to compose a richly told tale in music. There were many revisions, including changing the ending back to the original tragedy, before its premiere in 1938 in Czechoslovakia.
For you Shakespeare nerds out there, this one is more Baz Lurhman than Franco Zeffirelli, and maybe just a little bit ended up influencing Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story music.
The score calls for a large and very colorful orchestra of piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, cornet, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, celesta, harp, piano, and strings.
A typical performance of the full ballet lasts just under 2 and 1/2 hours of heart stopping mind racing tear inducing awesomeness. Luckily, while waiting for the red tape and political machine to clear the full ballet to be premiered, Prokofiev made a set of much shorter suites that could be performed by the symphony orchestra alone. This in turn spurred other conductors to curate their own suites, as with the one put together by Music Director Peter Oundjian.
Introduction
Romeo
The Street Awakens
The Quarrel
The Duke’s Command
The Young Juliet
Masks
Dance of the Knights
Balcony Scene
Romeo’s Variation
Love Dance
Dance of the Five Couples
Romeo at Friar Lawrence’s
Meeting of Tybalt and Mercutio
The Duel
Romeo Decides to Avenge Mercutio
Finale
Romeo and Juliet
Dance of the Girls with Lillies
Juliet’s Funeral
Death of Juliet
A typical performance of Peter Oundjian's curated suite lasts about 57 minutes.
Resources:
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