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Omaha Symphony to perform Mozart’s “Prague” Symphony,
his tribute to the city that loved him best
Concert program also includes Godfather composer Nino Rota’s Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra
OMAHA, Neb., November 12, 2015- Melody, color, and rhythm come together into a thrilling musical marvel,
as the Omaha Symphony performs Mozart’s “Prague” Symphony, Sunday, November 22, 2 p.m., at Joslyn Art
Museum.
Part of the Symphony Joslyn series, the program will be led by guest conductor Ari Pelto. The concert will
include Mozart’s Symphony No. 38 in D Major, “Prague,” as well as Rossini’s Overture to La Cenerentola, and
two pieces by The Godfather composer Nino Rota, Concerto for Strings and Concerto for Trombone and
Orchestra. The latter will feature the Omaha Symphony’s principal trombone, Patrick Pfister.
Named after the city where Mozart found the most musical acclaim during his lifetime, the composer’s “Prague”
symphony debuted there on January 19, 1787. He had composed his Symphony No. 38 in D Major specifically
for the occasion, and it received such prolonged applause from the enthusiastic Praguers that Mozart could only
quiet them by consenting to improvise at the piano. The acclaim is not misplaced, as it is the first of Mozart’s
mature symphonic masterpieces after a four-year break from symphonic composition. It reveals the ripening of
Mozart’s art that had occurred during that time period. The finale of the three-movement symphony is as
vigorous and satisfying a closing movement as Mozart ever composed, and a fitting gift to the music-loving city
that alone honored him as he deserved during his lifetime.
Nino Rota, best known in the United States for his film scores in Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet and Francis
Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, wrote in many other genres, including symphonies, concertos, operas, ballet
scores, chamber music, piano pieces, choral works and songs. He quickly established a style that avoided the
rhythmic and harmonic complexity of most modern music, remaining loyal to conventional harmony and tuneful
melodic lines, developing an idiom all his own. His Trombone Concerto dates from 1966, and occupies an
important place in the slender repertoire for solo trombone and orchestra. He uses the classic concerto form of
three movements in a fast-slow-fast sequence, but also adopts the modern procedure of involving the featured
instrument from the very start of the piece.
Symphony Joslyn concerts explore the unique connections between art and music. The highlighted work of
November 22 will be Frank Stella’s Le Rêve de d’Alembert, 1974, a mammoth 12-by-24 foot synthetic polymer
paint on canvas. It represents the grandest statement of the artist’s series of monumental concentric squares,
realizing what Stella himself described as “a pretty high, pretty tough pictorial standard.” His series of Concentric
Square pictures are known as the Diderot pictures, named after the 18th century philosopher Denis Diderot.
Joslyn curators will present pre-concert talks about this piece at 1 p.m. and 1:25 p.m. in Pavilion Gallery 14
(participants select one session).
-More-
With performances that have been called poetic, earthy, vigorous, and highly individual, conductor Ari Pelto is in
high demand in opera houses and with symphony orchestras throughout the United States. He is a regular guest
conductor with the New York City Opera, having conducted La Traviata, Madama Butterfly, and Carmen. In 2013,
Pelto was appointed artistic advisor at Opera Colorado following an acclaimed debut conducting Don Giovanni
for the company. He is a frequent guest conductor with the Florida Orchestra and the Toledo Symphony.
Patrick Pfister has been principal trombonist of the Omaha Symphony since 2010. A native of Golden Valley,
Minn., he held the same position with the Columbus (IN) Philharmonic while a student at Indiana University.
He has performed with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, Omaha Consort,
Nebraska Brass, and Quadrivium, and has held fellowships at Tanglewood, National Repertory Orchestra, and
Bar Harbor Brass Week.
Tickets to the concert are $36. Joslyn members may purchase single concert tickets for $28.80 each (a 20%
savings). Joslyn members must call Ticket Omaha to reserve advance single tickets or show a Joslyn membership
card if purchasing tickets at the door the day of the concert. All other tickets can be purchased by visiting
www.omahasymphony.org or by calling Ticket Omaha at 402.345.0606. Student Rush tickets are available one
hour prior to the concert. Any student with a valid student ID may purchase up to two Student Rush tickets for
$10 each.
The Omaha Symphony is a non-profit organization that presents more than 100 live orchestral performances from September through June. In addition to
MasterWorks, Symphony Pops, Symphony Rocks, Movie Music, Symphony Joslyn, and Family series concerts, the Omaha Symphony’s nationally recognized
education programs touch the lives of nearly 30,000 schoolchildren each year. For tickets or information regarding the Omaha Symphony, call 402-345-0606
or visit omahasymphony.org.
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