Audio By Carbonatix
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra settles into form with a program stacked with beloved classics. The evening begins with Bach’s legendary Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 and closes with Beethoven’s relatively conventional Symphony No. 1, which grants a subtle glimpse into the composer’s radical and ambitious middle-period, while revealing his many debts to Haydn and Mozart. Britten’s song cycle, Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, is the program’s centerpiece. Featuring settings from English poets — including Keats, Blake, Anon, Tennyson, Ben Jonson and Charles Cotton — concerning the theme of night, Serenade contains one of the most memorable prologues in the repertoire, an unusual solo-horn intro defined by Britten’s unconventional use of the horn’s natural harmonics, without valves. The effect, like the bulk of Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, is emotionally engaging and alluringly cerebral. Performances take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; McGegan conducts at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets start at $39. More information at mydso.com.
Fridays, Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Jan. 25, 2:30 p.m. Starts: Jan. 23. Continues through Jan. 24, 2015
