A Matinee Performance Of Stravinsky's Firebird

Add some sonic fire to your Saturday afternoon with a special matinee performance of Stravinksy's Firebird Suite, as conducted by world renowned baton-wielding German composer Matthias Pintscher ahead of his evening performance. Upon its premiere in Paris in 1910, the suite proved a breakthrough for the then 27 year-old composer, becoming an instant classic and solidifying a long and celebrated career thanks to its glittering imagery, Russian folk-tinged rhythms and rising climactic movements.

The midday program also features Ibert's Trois Pieces Breves and Gounod's Petite Symphonie for Winds. Winner of the prestigious Prix de Rome on his first attempt quite early on in his career, French classical composer Jacques Ibert rediscovered the form of the wind quintet and spearheaded the neoclassical movement with this single piece. The colorful and inventive chamber work is followed by fellow French Prix de Rome winner Charles Gounod's Petite Symphonie, a light and sparkling piece that harks back to the pre-Romantic era where harmony and form were clear, simple and forthright.