When Georges Bizet’s opera ‘Carmen’ first premiered at the Opéra-Comique, sales were so poor that the theatre began giving tickets away to bolster attendance.
This will not be the case when the Mid-Texas Symphony performs “Carmen Suite No. 2” this afternoon at the New Braunfels Civic Convention Center. Under the direction of David Mairs, the symphony presents “Viva la Música!” representing Spanish orchestral music.
Carmen is the tale of a seductive gypsy and her lover, Don Jose, a Spanish soldier. The rousing music follows their romance, jealousy and, ultimately, betrayal.
Best represented from this suite is “Habanera,” the wailing, chromatic descent that musically represents falling in love. The song is so encompassing, dramatic and popular it has appeared in everything from “Gilligan’s Island” in 1966 to “Up” in 2009. All ages will recognize this orchestral spectrum of love and wariness.
Also featured is Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Capriccio Espagnol.” In his autobiography, Rimsky-Korsakov describes “the change of timbres, the felicitous choice of melodic designs and figuration patterns, exactly suiting each kind of instrument, brief virtuoso cadenzas for instruments solo, the rhythm of the percussion instruments, etc., constitute here the very essence of the composition.”
The proverbial icing on the cake, or, rather, the caramel sauce on the flan, is the closing performance by violinist Nancy Zhou.
The 16-year-old from San Antonio recently won the second Chinese International Violin Competition in New York, and the fifth Johansen International Violin Competition.
“I was also accepted into Ms. Anne-Sophie Mutter’s Circle of Friends Foundation in Munich, Germany,” Zhou said. “Just this September, I had the privilege to tour around Munich and Leipzig and perform at Ms. Mutter’s recital at the Mendelssohn-haus.”
Zhou will be performing “Symphonie Espagnole” by Edouard Lalo.
“The emotion that can well up upon playing the piece is tremendous,” she said “I love the way he displays his music in a very festive, Hispanic, and intensely fiery atmosphere.”
Mid-Texas Symphony
When: Today at 4 p.m.
Where: New Braunfels Civic Convention Center
Cost: Tickets are $15-25 and $5 for children under 18. Tickets are available at the Seguin and New Braunfels chambers of commerce, Cascades Gift shop in Seguin and The Crossing in New Braunfels.
