The Utah Symphony performs Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto and Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony with Ludovic Morlot conducting, Blake Pouliot on violin and Richard Elliott on organ.
The Utah Symphony is at Abravanel Hall on Friday, April 23, and Saturday, April 24, with a program built around two big Romantic favorites. Ludovic Morlot conducts, and the night pairs Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3, better known as the Organ Symphony.
The Tchaikovsky is the one most people recognize—sweeping, melodic, and demanding on the soloist. Blake Pouliot takes the violin part here. The Saint-Saëns is the one that gives the night its name: it's the composer's most unique symphony, and the organ doesn't even enter until the finale. When it does, it changes the whole scale of the piece. That finale's main theme has a certain familiarity, too—it was used in the movie Babe, and it's become a shorthand for whimsy and innocence.
Opening the program is Toy Procession by Lubica Cekovska. She describes it as full of the childlike ability to be amazed, full of joy and wide-open eyes in the here and now. It's a lighter, more playful start before the evening moves into the heavier Romantic repertoire.
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Both concerts are part of the Utah Symphony's Masterworks Series, a six-concert mini-season. If you want a bit more context before the music starts, there's a pre-concert chat with the guest artists and symphony musicians 45 minutes before each performance in the First Tier Room. The Friday show is at 7:30 PM and the Saturday one is at 5:30 PM, both at Abravanel Hall, 123 W South Temple.
