Performances
Utah Symphony pairs Reich debut and Stravinsky in sleek, spiky program – Feb 01, 2025
Conductor David Robertson
Steve Reich isn’t a composer whose name you’d expect to find on a Utah Symphony program. But on Friday night his monumental work The Desert Music received its Utah premiere under the baton of the orchestra’s creative partner David Robertson.
With large orchestral forces, including a greatly expanded percussion section and a vocal ensemble, Reich created a vast and contrasting soundscape. Robertson, joined by guest singers Synergy Vocals, gave a compelling and mesmerizing reading that … Read More
The Utah Symphony’s Fischer era concludes with rich and radiant Mahler – May 27, 2023
Thierry Fischer conducted the Utah Symphony in Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 Friday night at Abravanel Hall. File photo: Kathleen Sykes
Among the many qualities Salt Lake City audiences should remember about Thierry Fischer is his ability to play to his strengths.
For his final program as music director of the Utah Symphony, the Swiss conductor chose Mahler’s Symphony No. 3—a vast, six-movement work featuring a mezzo-soprano soloist and choir, which ends with an exquisite Adagio.
It is rare for a symphony to end with … Read More
The soloists shine in Utah Symphony’s colorful Strauss showcase – Apr 30, 2023
Kevin John Edusei led the Utah Symphony in a program of Strauss, Ravel and Rachmaninoff on Friday at Abravanel Hall. Photo: Marco Borggreve
It’s always a treat when the Utah Symphony features its own players as soloists. The doubly delightful pairing of principal clarinetist Tad Calcara and principal bassoonist Lori Wike this weekend was made all the more special on Friday night by the fact that their vehicle, Richard Strauss’s 1948 Duet-Concertino, had never been heard in Abravanel … Read More
An oddly irony-free Shostakovich No. 5 from Lecce-Chong with Utah Symphony – Mar 06, 2022
Francesco Lecce-Chong led the Utah Symphony on Friday night at Abravnel Hall in a program of Shostakovich, Gabriela Lena Frank’s Escaramuza, and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 12 with soloist Louis Schwizgebel. Photo: Anastasia Chernyavsky
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rages on, many American concert presenters feel compelled to do or say something on behalf of the Ukrainian people. When a program includes a symphony by Dmitri Shostakovich – a composer deeply associated with Soviet Russia – the situation requires additional sensitivity … Read More
Jolivet concerto and Beethoven make engaging partners with Utah Symphony – May 21, 2021
Soloist Demarre McGill exchanges a fist bump with Thierry Fischer before the Utah Symphony performance of Jolivet’s Suite en concert Thursday night at Abravanel Hall.
Photo: Kathleen Sykes
In a welcome sign the pandemic may be coming to an end, the Utah Symphony’s program led by Thierry Fischer Thursday night included a Beethoven symphony. Since cautiously returning last fall, the orchestra has tried to observe recommended social distancing by featuring smaller ensembles of mostly strings, which can play masked.
The sight of … Read More
Utah Symphony’s retooled program ranges from Bach to Black Lives Matter – Sep 25, 2020
Thierry Fischer led a scaled-back ensemble on Thursday evening in the second program of Utah Symphony’s modified, safety-minded fall season.
While most American orchestras have canceled their fall schedules to avoid the risk of COVID-19 entirely, Utah Symphony is proceeding with a drastically altered lineup that is, in turn, producing a very different kind of concert experience.
A circumspect season opener last week featured only strings in an auditorium retrofitted for social distancing, and an attendance cap of 400 people in … Read More
Utah Symphony, Utah Opera announce a “reimagined” fall slate of live music – Sep 04, 2020
Utah Symphony Music Director Thierry Fischer said he looks forward to “bringing our orchestra back in person to heal and inspire.” Photo: Marco Borggreve
Utah Symphony and Utah Opera plan to return to the stage this fall with fewer musicians, smaller audiences and scaled-down productions to accommodate pubic health restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizations said on Monday.
The orchestra and opera company join a small but significant group of classical music presenters — in Dallas, St. Louis, Houston and … Read More
Critic’s Choice – Feb 12, 2020
Photo: Beau Pearson
Giselle has proved to be one of the most popular ballets ever written. With a mellifluous score by Adolphe Adam and a plot that is at once a love story and a ghost story it’s easy to understand why the ballet has been an audience favorite ever since its premiere in Paris in 1841.
For decades the work has been a staple in Ballet West’s repertoire and the company is currently performing Giselle in the Capitol Theatre. For this production artistic director Adam … Read More
Fischer, Gomyo team up for a stellar Tchaikovsky with Utah Symphony – Feb 01, 2020
Utah Symphony music director Thierry Fischer and guest violinist Karen Gomyo performing Tchaikovsky’s Vioin Concerto in D major on Friday at Abravnel Hall in Salt Lake City. Photo: Kathleen Sykes
Thierry Fischer and Karen Gomyo were great collaborators on Friday at Abravnel Hall, where a near-capacity crowd got to hear the conductor and guest soloist, respectively, play off one another as if by intuition and demonstrate their fine interpretive skills.
The occasion was Utah Symphony’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in a concert … Read More
A powerful “Rite” and dazzling Mozart from Utah Symphony, Fellner – Nov 23, 2019
Pianist Till Fellner’s mastery of Mozart was on full display Friday in performance with Utah Symphony. Photo: Gabriela Brandenstein
Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring is a classical mainstay and a favorite of Utah Symphony music director Thierry Fischer, who has it back on the program this weekend at Abravanel Hall in a spot-on interpretation that again brings one of orchestral music’s default works to thrilling life.
Fischer on Friday knew just what he wanted to cull from Stravinsky’s score, and the orchestra … Read More
