A Firebird.
A Faun.
And a first time.
That’s what’s in store for Tucson Symphony Orchestra audiences on Friday and Sunday, Oct. 20 and 22, at Tucson Music Hall.
TSO Conductor José Luis Gomez will be at the podium for “Firebird,” the second installment of the orchestra’s Classics series. The concert spotlights TSO principal flutist Alexander Lipay on Claude Debussy’s Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun” performing arguably one of the most famous flute solos in music.
“Faun” is bookended by Stravinsky’s Suite from “Firebird” and the TSO premiere of Alexander Glazunov’s Symphony No. 4.
It hardly seems conceivable that the TSO, which has been performing since 1929, has never played the Glazunov, composed in 1893. But the work plays a role in maestro Gomez’s musical life, which explains why he programmed it. Gomez’s first season is filled with works that played a musical role in the life of the Venezuelan-born Spanish conductor.
“I chose Symphony No. 4 because it was my first ‘conducting’ approach to (Glazunov’s) music,” Gomez said in the program notes. “I thought of doing the same with my TSO audience. I am happy to be the first conductor to introduce them to his symphony. We can share the experience of discovering it together.”
Friday’s performance is at 7:30 p.m. Sunday’s is at 2 p.m. Both are at Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave., downtown. Tickets are $30 to $86 through tucsonsymphony.org or at the Tucson Symphony Box Office, 2175 N. Sixth Ave. Order by phone at 882-8585.
