Download 1 Madison Symphony Orchestra showcases French composers and

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Nov. 2, 2015
Contact: Teri Venker
Phone: (608) 260-8680 x226
Email: [email protected]
Madison Symphony Orchestra showcases
French composers and
Cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio, Nov. 20, 21, 22
Award-winning cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio makes her Overture Hall solo debut with the Madison
Symphony Orchestra (MSO) in a “French Fantastique” program, Nov. 20, 21, and 22, with works by
three celebrated French composers.
Ms. Sant’Ambrogio’s warmth and technical prowess will be on display in Camille Saint-Saëns’
stormy Cello Concerto No.1, a first-time performance of the work by the MSO under Conductor John
DeMain. The opening piece, Maurice Ravel’s sensuous Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, will
showcase the classical simplicity of the waltz and the colors of all the instruments in the orchestra.
Finally, the MSO will bring to life Hector Berlioz’s groundbreaking Symphonie Fantastique, a work
vividly capturing an artist’s tortured infatuation and the haunted hallucinations of an opium trip!
The concerts are Fri., Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m.; Sat., Nov. 21, at 8 p.m.; and Sun., Nov. 22, at 2:30 p.m.
in Overture Hall, 201 State Street.
Sara Sant’Ambrogio is an internationally-renowned soloist and founding member of the Eroica Trio.
She launched her international career when she was a winner at the Eighth International Tchaikovsky
Violoncello Competition in Moscow, Russia. Ms. Sant’Ambrogio holds degrees from the Curtis
Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, and won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music
Performance for Bernstein's "Arias and Barcarolles." She last appeared with the Madison
Symphony Orchestra in 2001 as part of the Eroica Trio.
Ravel wrote Valses Nobles et Sentimentales in 1911 for solo piano as an homage to Franz Schubert,
who was the first major composer to bring the waltz to concert audiences nearly a century earlier.
One year after the piece’s debut, Ravel transformed the piano work into a full orchestra score to
accompany a ballet, Adélaïde. Although the ballet is no longer performed, the accompanying music
continues to find a home on the concert stage.
Written in 1872, Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No.1 was instantly regarded as a masterpiece by the
Paris public. Saint-Saëns eschewed standard concerto form in this work by interlinking the piece’s
three movements into one continuous musical expanse, held together by the rich lyrical power of the
cello. The composer found the Cello Concerto No.1 difficult to write, so much so that he vowed never
to compose for cello again; Saint-Saëns broke this vow 30 years later with his Cello Concerto No. 2.
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Berlioz’s grand and imaginative Symphonie Fantastique tells the story of a young musician’s tortured
fixation on a woman with whom he has fallen in love. Told in five movements, the piece takes a
disturbing turn as the young musician dreams of his own execution and funeral, where witches,
monsters, and ghosts perform a macabre dance. The work as a whole is marked by an obsessive return
to a striking theme symbolizing Berlioz’s beloved Shakespearean actress Harriet Smithson, who did
not return his affections.
One hour before each performance, John DeMain, music director of the Madison Symphony
Orchestra, will lead a 30-minute Prelude Discussion in Overture Hall to enhance concertgoers’
understanding and listening experience. More background on the music can also be found in the
Program Notes at http://www.madisonsymphony.org/santambrogio
Single Tickets are $16 to $85 each, available at www.madisonsymphony.org/singletickets and
through the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street or call the Box Office at (608) 258-4141.
Groups of 15 or more can save 25% by calling the MSO office at (608) 257-3734.
For more information visit, www.madisonsymphony.org/groups
Student rush tickets can be purchased in person on the day of the concert at the Overture Box Office
at 201 State Street. Students must show a valid student ID and can receive up to two $12 or $15
tickets. More information is at: www.madisonsymphony.org/studentrush. Students can receive 20%
savings on seats in select areas of the hall on advance ticket purchases.
Seniors age 62 and up receive 20% savings on advance and day-of-concert ticket purchases in select
areas of the hall.
Discounted seats are subject to availability, and discounts may not be combined.
The Madison Symphony Orchestra is in its 90th season with the 2015-16 concerts. The MSO engages
audiences of all ages and backgrounds in live classical music through a full season of concerts with
established and emerging soloists of international renown, an organ series that includes free concerts,
and widely respected education and community engagement programs. Find more information at
www.madisonsymphony.org.
Major funding for the November concerts is provided by Barbara Ryder, DeEtte Beilfuss-Eager and
Leonard P. Eager, Jr., in memory of Karen “Lovey” Johnson, and Rosemarie Blancke. Additional
funding is provided by Martha and Charles Casey, Sunseed Research, LLC, and the Wisconsin Arts
Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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