Wheaton College Hosted Events

The crown jewel of cello repertoire, Dvořák’s heroic and soulful Cello Concerto marks the return of Jian Wang, a soloist with a lustrous sound and compelling interpretive ideas. Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty Suite transports you to the Golden Age of ballet, painted in a thousand wondrous sounds. Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider opens the program with music from his native Denmark, in Nielsen’s quicksilver Maskarade Overture.

Carl Nielsen’s Inextinguishable Symphony is a work of volcanic energy and struggle, capped by an extraordinary timpani battle. According to the composer, this wartime score represents “everything that moves, that desires life.” That same spirit of conflict and resilience runs through Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, which sets a brave soloist against an eloquent orchestra in a riveting musical dialogue. In this performance, the protagonist is Beatrice Rana, considered “among the finest pianists out there” (The Philadelphia Inquirer). The program opens with Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3, a stirring meditation on the struggle for freedom and the triumph of the human spirit.

Prokofiev’s Symphony-Concerto is a fantastical ride, full of primitive energy and sardonic humor. Alisa Weilerstein shows why The New York Times called her a “profound champion” of this demanding work, who “dispatched every technical test with astonishing ease and visceral joy.” The program’s other musical gem is Robert Schumann’s Fourth Symphony, a memento of his happy marriage to Clara Schumann. Listen for the ardent “Clara” theme that reappears throughout. Eine kleine Nachtmusik reveals Mozart at his most charming.