Joy of Italy

Tuesday, March 25, 2024 – Joy of Italy with the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra!

The ingredients for this musical feast are rich and varied! The members of LSYO join with the LSO for the annual side-by-side performance, led by conductor Richard Prior. The program will also feature Sinisa Ciric, LaGrange Symphony Orchestra’s acting guest concertmaster, in Vivaldi’s SPRING from The Four Seasons. Afterward, the audience will also enjoy Bizet’s delightfully compact Carmen Suite No. 1, with its many beloved, popular melodies from the opera. The LSO concludes the evening with Mendelssohn’s joyful Symphony No. 4 in A major, the “Italian”. This work, preceded by the so-called “Scottish” Symphony and the Hebrides Overture, was also the product of a European tour Mendelsohn undertook between 1829 and 1831. The places, landscapes and cultures had a profound impact on Mendelssohn’s creativity, and Italy in particular left him bursting with happiness. He wrote to his father “This is Italy! And now has begun what I have always thought – to be the supreme joy in life. And I am loving it!”. In writing to his sister, Fanny (also a great composer and pianist), he expressed “The Italian symphony is making great progress. It will be the jolliest piece I have ever done. Especially the last movement!” Join us for the effervescent Joy of Italy!