MUSIC: Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra Winter Concert – Beauty & Virtuosity

Description

Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F major, Opus 90

Dvorak: Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, B. 191

Brahms and Dvorak were professional contemporaries and friends who regularly invited one another’s reflections of their work. Written in 1883, on the heels of some of his greatest works that included two concertos, Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 in F major, Opus 90 contains some of the most beautiful symphonic melodies he wrote. A decade later, Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, B. 191 defied the common perception of the time that the cello wasn’t suitable for the concerto format. Even the composer himself seemed dubious, asking his friend Brahms for feedback on his work. But the results were undeniable—the concerto is packed with melodic invention and beauty. The PSO is honored to welcome Boston Symphony Orchestra cellist Roric Cunningham as the featured soloist for Dvorak’s Cello Concerto, the first movement of which Cunningham first performed on The Music Hall stage as the 2017 winner of the PSO’s Young Artist Competition.