A stellar program with one of the world’s great violin stars awaits you!  Michael Stern and the NRO welcome Midori to the stage for Leonard Bernstein’s singular Serenade (After Plato’s Symposium). Composed for and premiered by the eminent violinist Isaac Stern, Serenade represents the intersection of Bernstein’s deep literary interests and musical impulses.  Inspired by Plato’s Symposium, an exploration of the nature and purpose of love, Bernstein crafted his concerto with great care and, much like the Greek dialog of its origin, a generous degree of wit.  A tremendously thoughtful violinist, Midori will bring her great talent to bear on this mid-century masterpiece.

The dark side of love comes to the forefront as Medea’s Dance of Vengeance vividly depicts the twisted fury of love discarded. Derived from his ballet score for Martha Graham, Samuel Barber based the work on the classic Greek tale of Medea exacting bitter revenge. Skillfully set, Barber’s music evokes Medea’s intense rage at her betrayal and cold calculation as she strikes the heart of her cruel husband.  The telling of such a dismal tale never had more exquisite music.

Puerto Rican composer Iván Enrique Rodríguez describes his orchestral fantasy Luminis as “the encirclement of light by darkness.” Rodríguez provides an engaging musical prism to consider the tension inherent to that duality.

Also inspired by ancient Greek myth, Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloë Suite No. 2 is drawn from the ballet score that brought him worldwide fame.  This portrayal of the story is a kaleidoscope of shimmering orchestral colors and hypnotic rhythms.  The travails and triumph of love are finely wrought in sensuous music and the tale ends happily, with the two young lovers united in pastoral bliss.

Eric T. Williams