Petrushka

Ben and I extended the celebration of our anniversary this year, taking in a wonderful symphony Friday night, compliments of his parents. The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra performed a wonderful program around the theme of storytelling. The first half included An Overture to Blanche, a piece written by the conductor Lucas Richman for the stage production of A Street Car Named Desire. It was a beautiful, haunting piece mixing Dixieland swing, jazz, and lovely string arrangements. The various characters of from the play were given signature instrumented voices such as Blanche's saxaphone and Stanley as an overbearing trumpet. The next piece was Dvorak's Golden Spinning Wheel, based on a Czech folk tale. The story is not unlike Sleeping Beauty in some elements, but much more like a Grimm's fairytale with dark deeds and sorcery. After Dvorak's happy ending, we enjoyed just looking at the palatial interiors of the Tennesse Theater during intermission. It's a beautiful venue and it would really be a treat to see anything here, be it movie, play or concert. The second half was Stravinky's Petrushka, originally written as a ballet for the Ballet Russe. Storyline titles were projected over the concert stage to narrate the actions that would normally by performed by a ballet company. Petrushka is the story of a puppet with the heart and emotions of a human: his unrequited love, an ensuing battle and evental death during a Shrovetide (pre-Lent) fair. This composition was Ben's favorite of the evening. If you are interested in hearing more, please visit the program link and listen to the podcast of the show. http://www.knoxvillesymphony.com/kso.asp?id=178&dt=10/22/2009