Songs of Spring

A pre-concert talk by the conductor is scheduled for Saturday at 7:15 p.m. The winner of the inaugural Vincent C. LaGuardia Conducting Competition and a finalist and prizewinner of the American Prize in Conducting, Nathaniel Meyer received the Wrexham Prize in Music from Yale and the Artistic Excellence Award from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where he studied with David Effron and Arthur Fagen, earning a M.M. in Orchestral Conducting, and serving as assistant conductor of the Opera and Ballet Theater.

Nabucco was Verdi’s first successful opera. The overture contains many of the familiar themes from this  opera, based on the biblical story of King Nebuchadnezzar. Despite the serious subject, the music is delightful with many dramatic contrasts. Schubert’s Rosamunde Overture, written early in his career,  begins with a lovely, lyrical Andante section, followed by an exciting Allegro Vivace.

Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 was written in 1877 while Brahms was staying in a picturesque lakeside town in Austria. It is an audience favorite, with light-hearted, cheerful melodies in the first movement – interrupted briefly by sinister sounding brass and percussion, a passionate slow second movement that opens with a lovely cello theme, a scherzo that alternates between a lively dash and a relaxed stroll, and a brilliant finale.