SBSO Hosts Symphonie Fantastique on February 8th

The Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra has developed an impressive reputation over recent years for showcasing world-class, locally inspired, and creatively imagined concert presentations designed to appeal to young and old, while more importantly, transcending generational boundaries in terms of creating greater appreciation for Classical Music. 

As they continue their innovative journey into the new year, the SBSO will be hosting a series of works showcasing the orchestral brilliance and three imaginative worlds of composers Hector Berlioz, Richard Wagner, and Alberto Ginastera on Thursday February 8^th at the historic Temple Theatre starting at 7:30 PM sharp. This extraordinary concert, titled Symphonie Fantastique, will take audiences on a musical journey exploring both tonal and emotional works and themes that continue to resonate through generations.

According to Maestro Fouad Fakhouri, the evening will begin with the powerful Overture to Rienzi by Richard Wagner, which serves as a majestic and dramatic introduction to the program.

 “This is basically a 12-13 minute starter piece that people who know Wagner’s work will know, but Wagner is a German-Romantic composer whose work is very operatic and very long, with many lasting six to seven hours long. You only here them in major metropolitan areas like New York or in Europe and Germany. Wagner built his own opera house called the  Bayreuth Festspielhaus in Bavaria because his works take so long to perform.  Wagner was a big expansive composer, but I like this music a lot and wanted to bring it to audiences, so am pulling this opener to expose the audience to his music. “

When asked if he ever experienced one of Wagner’s six hour works, Fakhouri nods in the affirmative. “I have. The operas are set up in three or four acts and then they do a 90-minute break and people go in the garden and drink, and then a quartet of trumpet plyers come back on the balcony to announce its time to return for the next act.”  Secure and grateful these traditions still exist, I cannot help but be amused at thinking how the experience of hearing a six-hour performance of his work would not be unlike attending a Grateful Dead concert back in the day.

Following this opener, world-renowned harpist Jaymee Haefner will perform Ginastera’s Harp Concerto, a dazzling and virtuosic work that blends rhythmic intensity with lyrical beauty, showcasing the harp in ways rarely heard.

“Jaymee is a great harpist and this work is from a great Argentinian composer,” relates Fakhouri. “The reason I wanted her to perform is because the SBSO has never featured a harp soloist, and if we have it would have been way in the past. The harp is a great instrument seldom heard with the orchestra, and I’ve known Jamie from Texas - she plays in the orchestra I conduct their in Wichita Falls, but is known in the field because she’s also a professor of harp studies at the University of Texas as well as graduate studies. She well known in the field of harp and a great soloist and teacher.”

“The modern harp uses pedals to change pitches,” continues Fakhouri, and recently she posted a video with the camera pointed at her feet and showed how many moves she had to make within a small section of music, and it’s amazing how much coordination is required to play that piece.  This piece is highly technical for both the harp and the orchestra and everyone involved. There’s a movement towards the end of this piece that just features the harp in an extended four-minute solo where she is swooshing with her fingernails creating a weird sound that is almost like a banjo, but really compelling.”

The concert concludes with the spellbinding masterpiece Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz. Known for its vivid storytelling and groundbreaking orchestration, Berlioz’s symphony tells a tale of love, obsession, and dreams with a journey through a kaleidoscope of emotions and imagery.

“This piece by Berlioz is a work I’ve wanted to program for quite a while with the SBSO,” notes Fakhouri. “This is a work that is generally a milestone in the world of music, written by a 27-year old composer who was an interesting guy who fell in love with this actress he saw while performing Shakespeare. She spoke no English and he spoke no French, but he fell in love with her instantly and immediately started following her all over Europe. They finally married, only the marriage was disastrous; but this piece he wrote about their relationship is a trip.”

“Its music that comes from this artist who get high on opium and imagines his loved one and this idea that spreads throughout the music and returns in this theme that keeps coming back about his loved one, which initially he renders by imagining her pretty and sweet and by the end the theme becomes almost witch-like by the shrill of the clarinets.” 

“It’s an incredible piece of art,” concludes Fakhouri. “This is the one.  I would encourage anyone to attend this concert. It’s almost psychedelic in nature and in terms of music it’s an incredible piece.”

“This program combines grandeur, passion, and sheer virtuosity,” notes Cameron Massey, Executive Director of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra. “We’re excited to present such a diverse lineup of music, featuring one of the world’s top harpists and a finale that remains one of the most thrilling symphonic works ever written.”

Tickets for Symphonie Fantastique are available now and can be purchased through the Temple Theatre box office by phone at 989-755-6471 or online at templetheatre.com. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the magic of live symphonic music performed by your Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra, along with one of the world’s best harpists.