Civic Orchestra of Tucson is bridging the 19th and 20th centuries in the opening concert of its 49th season this weekend.
Under the baton of Music Director Keun Oh, the orchestra will perform early 19th-century works by Beethoven and Mendelssohn in the concert’s first half and works by 20th-century composers Mahler and Britten in the second.
“Bridging the Centuries” opens in the 19th century with Beethoven’s “Leonore” Overture No. 3, the composer’s third attempt at writing an overture for his opera “Fidelio” that he penned in 1805; and Mendelssohn’s String Symphony No. 10, which he completed in 1823 when he was 14 years old.
Civic Orchestra of Tucson opens its 49th season this weekend.
The 20th century second half opens with the sixth movement of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, written between 1893-96; and Britten’s rarely performed “Lachrymae: Reflections on a song of John Dowland” for viola and piano, written in 1950. Violist Tiezheng Shen will solo on the work.
The orchestra will perform the concert twice this weekend: at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, at Sahuarita District Auditorium, 350 W. Sahuarita Road; and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, at Catalina Foothills High School, 4300 E. Sunrise Drive. Admission is free.
French quartet returns
— from left François Kieffer, Loic Rio, Amaury Coeytaux and Laurent Marfaing — return to Tucson for a concert with Arizona Friends of Chamber Music.
The French Modigliani Quartet returns to Leo Rich Theatre on Wednesday, Oct. 23, eight years after the critically acclaimed ensemble made its Tucson debut with the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music.
The Friends is hosting the group again in the second concert of its 2024-25 season in a program that includes Joaquín Turina’s quintessentially Spanish work “La Oración Del Torero” alongside string quartets by Brahms and Tchaikovsky.
The Modigliani — Amaury Coeytaux, Loic Rio, Laurent Marfaing and François Kieffer — was in its 13th year when they introduced themselves in 2016 and they already were being lauded as one of the world’s greatest quartets.
Eleven years down the road, they are regarded as one of the most in-demand quartets, playing on the world’s most celebrated stages, including Wigmore Hall and Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.
Wednesday’s concert starts at 7:30 p.m. at Leo Rich, 260 S. Church Ave. Tickets are $45 for adults, $12 for students with ID online at arizonachambermusic.org or at the box office.
Civic Orchestra of Tucson Conductor Keun Oh will lead the orchestra for the “Bridging the Centuries” concert this weekend.
