 CINCINNATI, OHIO - The first weekend of the 2009 May Festival witnessed explosive applause from audiences each night. James Conlon, celebrating his 30th year as Music Director of the Festival, has assembled a stellar group of American and European soloists along with the May Festival Chorus and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, to create a season infused with joy and exaltation. Last weekend’s heart stopping performances of Mozart, Weill, and Verdi set the stage for a second weekend of masterpiece performances.
The same fire and energy will be evident this Friday evening, May 29, in May Festival Chorus’s performance entitled A MAY FESTIVAL CHORUS SPECTACULAR at Music Hall at 8 pm. Prepared by Maestro Robert Porco and featuring guest soloists Ellie Dehn, soprano; Jill Grove, mezzo-soprano; Rodrick Dixon, tenor; James Johnson, baritone-bass, and James Creswell, bass, the May Festival Chorus, along with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Festival will soar to new heights with jubilant declarations of “Hallelujah” by George Fredric Handel and Ludwig von Beethoven, followed by Bach’s grand and glorious expression of praise, the Magnificat. Many May Festival subscribers consider this a “showcase” event for the Chorus.
The evening changes its tone from the celestial to the sensual and exotic with Franz Schubert’s jolly choruses from Rosamunde, in which the shepherds and huntsmen delight in the “rapture of spring” and flowering meadows, and a day “in the greenwood on the merry hunt” lying in wait in the fragrant clover. Selections from Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream add yet another sweet accent to the music of the month of May.
Completing the evening is Mendelssohn’s rollicking Walpurgis Night (Walpurgisnacht), which takes us to the feast day of St. Walpurgis (April 30) when, according to legend pagans would indulge in carousing and revelry atop a mountain in northwestern Germany. Spirits of the woods and mountains come forth to cast their spell over the revelers.
Now in its 136th year, May Festival is the oldest continuous choral festival in the Western Hemisphere. The 2009 Season Sponsor is the Duke Energy Foundation. The May 29th Chorus Spectacular concert is sponsored by Fort Washington Investment Advisors & Neyer Holdings Corporation.
Tickets are still available by calling 513.381.3300 or click the link below.
Media Contact: Guy LaJeunesse, Manager of Marketing and Communications 513.744.3250 or glajeunesse@mayfestival.com. |
