Beethoven wrote very little in the way of choral works, which gives 蜜柚直播鈥檚 Grammy-nominated choir True Concord very little wiggle room to get in on the Beethoven at 250 party.
But it also gives the ensemble the local lock on the few choral works Beethoven composed, including his 鈥淐horal Fantasy鈥 and Mass in C major 鈥 two works the True Concord Voices & Orchestra will perform starting Friday, Feb. 21.
True Concord Music Director Eric Holtan has assembled an orchestra of 30 and choir of 33 to perform the works, which anchor a program that also includes Brahms鈥檚 Alto Rhapsody with soloist Emily Marvosh.
Holtan said conducting the C Major Mass takes him back to graduate school in Iowa. It was the first piece he studied as a master鈥檚 student and Holtan said he remembers thinking, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know they wrote music like this.鈥
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鈥淚t鈥檚 really exciting and charming music and while it lives in the shadow of the 鈥楳issa solemnis,鈥 it is in its own right a masterpiece,鈥 Holtan said.
鈥淏eethoven & Goethe鈥 is True Concord鈥檚 contribution to the citywide Beethoven focus commemorating the composer鈥檚 250th birthday. 蜜柚直播 Symphony Orchestra this season is checking the boxes on all but one of Beethoven鈥檚 symphonies while Southern 蜜柚直播 Symphony Orchestra is filling in that blank with Symphony No. 9 in late April.
Holtan paired the C Major Mass with Beethoven鈥檚 Choral Fantasy, which he compared to the Symphony No. 9 鈥 the first symphony that featured vocals.
鈥淭he Choral Fantasy is like a piano concerto with choir,鈥 he said.
The Brahms Rhapsody is set to the text of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe鈥檚 poem 鈥淗arzreise im Winter.鈥
Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@tucson.com or 573-4642. On Twitter @Starburch
Cathalena E. Burch
Reporter
