Events & Tickets
Spanish- and French-Inspired Showpieces
2019–20 Season
XIAN ZHANG conductor
NING FENG violin
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RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Capriccio espagnol
Inspired by Spanish dance, Russia’s Rimsky-Korsakov turns a brilliant solo spotlight on members of the orchestra.
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QIGANG CHEN La joie de la souffrance for Violin and Orchestra (US Premiere and NJSO Co-Commission)
“The Joy of Suffering” explores the composer’s view that joy and suffering are “a matter of ‘Yin’ and ‘Yang’, inseparable and hence all things should contain both. Like loss and gain, they are bound to balance out.”
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SAINT-SAËNS Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso
A soulful start prepares the listener for a heartbreaking piece—then fireworks erupt. The soloist’s left hand blurs on the fingerboard, and the bowings require an elite athlete’s stamina and grace. Only the best violinists like Feng can make this piece sing.
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FALLA Suite No. 2 from The Three-Cornered Hat
From the ballet stage comes this lighthearted Spanish tale filled with the rhythm and seduction of the dancing it is meant to accompany.
Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet
2020 Winter Festival: In the Spotlight
XIAN ZHANG conductor
INON BARNATAN piano
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SMETANA “The Moldau” from Má vlast
Sail with us down a fabled river, lined on either side by castles and forests full of myth and mystery.
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CLARA SCHUMANN Piano Concerto (NJSO Premiere)
A great pianist, Clara Schumann composed this glittering and graceful concerto in her teens—a remarkable achievement.
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PROKOFIEV Selections from Romeo and Juliet
Xian has won acclaim in opera and ballet houses around the world; you’ll hear why in Prokofiev’s riveting ballet about Shakespeare’s doomed lovers.
Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ Symphony
2019–20 Season—Beethoven’s Birthday Bash
XIAN ZHANG conductor
ROBERT WAGNER bassoon
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ROSSINI Overture to Guillaume Tell
Not just a curtain-raiser, the overture to Rossini’s 39th (!) and final opera, William Tell, is a full symphony in miniature.
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CHRISTOPHER ROUSE Bassoon Concerto (East-Coast Premiere and NJSO Co-Commission)
This lyrical new piece completes Christopher Rouse’s cycle of concertos for every wind instrument. The NJSO co-commissioned this work to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Principal Bassoon Robert Wagner, who has given so much to our organization on and off stage.
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BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3, “Eroica”
With two thunderous opening chords, Beethoven unlocked a new world of music-making, and every performance of his “Eroica” sounds revolutionary.
Brahms, Vivaldi & Beethoven
2019–20 Season
NICHOLAS MCGEGAN conductor
RUBÉN RENGEL violin
EDUARDO RIOS violin
ADRIANA ROSIN violin
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BRAHMS Variations on a Theme by Haydn
Brahms reimagined an old German hymn tune in eight different ways, then wove these variations together into one breathtaking showpiece.
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VIVALDI Concerto for Two Violins in B-flat Major, RV 529
With Nicholas McGegan at the harpsichord, NJSO Assistant Concertmaster Adriana Rosin pairs up with 2018 Sphinx Competition winner Rubén Rengel for dazzling Vivaldi.
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VIVALDI Concerto for Violin and Cello in B-flat Major, RV 547
2015 Sphinx Competition winner Eduardo Rios partners with newly named NJSO Assistant Principal Cello Na-Young Baek for Baroque fireworks in this virtuosic showpiece.
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VIVALDI Concerto for Three Violins in F Major, RV 551
Both Sphinx winners and Rosin perform together in the give and take of Vivaldi’s brilliant melodies as if in sparkling conversation.
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BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 2
The program concludes with the sunniest of an often-stormy composer’s symphonies.