Autumn is high-drama season. With tumultuous changes in the leaves and intimations of mortality in the air, it is the perfect time of year to come in from the cold for an evening of classical music or theater. Fortunately for us, Fairfield County is rich in opportunities for cultural enlightenment and thrills. What follows is a guide to help you stave off the terrible feeling that comes when some friend starts raving about that great performance they saw … last night. You hear them and think, Oh no, it’s too late, if only I’d known. Well, that excuse will be gone once you’ve surveyed our notes on the season ahead. Get out that date book and fountain pen and make some plans.
greenwich symphony orchestra
On October 21-22, the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra kicks off its forty-ninth fall and winter season with an all-Mozart program in celebration of the composer’s 250th birthday. The party comes a little late in the year — Wolfie was born in January — but no matter. The two nights feature pianist Ian Parker and soprano Halley Gilbert, about whom the Greenwich Times wrote, “ . . . she has a wonderfully developed, plummy middle voice.” (If “plummy middle voices” do to you what they do to us, you’ll rush to the box office.) In November there comes an opportunity to see the remarkable young violinist, Augustin Hadelich, who is forging ahead with his career after having spent years of his recent youth recovering from massive burns suffered in a barn fire. After years of reconstructive surgery he is now at full strength. On November 18 and 19, in a program entitled “The Heart of Three Countries,” Hadelich will showcase the Dvorák Violin Concerto. Over the years, the symphony has featured such outstanding soloists as Emanuel Ax and Dawn Upshaw, and we have a feeling that young Mr. Hadelich will someday be mentioned in the same breath. Also on the bill are Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor: Overture and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1.
On February 3 and 4, Andrew Gordon, principal keyboardist of the Greenwich Symphony, will perform, among other works, Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1.
greenwichsym.org
For the complete story, please see the October issue of Westport Magazine.