Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra concert

Ridgefield High School, 700 N Salem Rd, Ridgefield, CT | Get Directions »
$40.00

Light classical and pops pieces  plus two guest soloists 

The next Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra concert is on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. at the Ridgefield High School.  The program consists of Moncayo's Huapango; Habañera and Seguidilla, from Bizet's Carmen; Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, four Broadway show songs, and Ravel's Boléro.  This concert is also a movie aficionado's delight; there are more than twenty films which used the music in this concert's program!

The Bizet and Broadway selections will be sung by Ridgefield resident Caroline Chanin, and the Rodrigo will be performed by guitarist John Muratore.  Ms. Chanin is a mezzo-soprano who has sung at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall and in musical theatre and recitals throughout the United States and Canada.  Mr. Muratore has appeared as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Russia.

Huapango, a lively Mexican dance, features complex rhythms and is a frequent entry on pops concert programs.

The Bizet selections are alluring Spanish dances sung by Carmen.  The more famous Habañera has a familiar descending melody and text essentially saying, "If I love you, beware!"  It appears in the ten movies Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde, Entrapment, The Hudsucker Proxy, Meet the Parents, Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, Serendipity, Someone Like You, Street Fighter, Trainspotting, and Trance.

The Rodrigo appears in the two movies Brassed Off! and The School of Rock and is best known for its haunting second movement, where English horn and guitar introduce a melody which reaches a powerful climax in full orchestra.  A famous scholar called the movement "…the most beautiful composition in … the guitar's history."

The Tchaikovsky fantasy provides a brilliant retelling of the Romeo and Juliet tragedy.  The love theme is one of the most famous ever written and familiar to all.  The fantasy is used in the four movies Hellgate, Moonraker, Rollerball, and Wayne's World.

Stephen Sondheim's "What More Do I Need?," from the show Saturday Night, assures that love prevails over a set of annoying New York City sights.  It is a favorite of a variety of singers, from classical (e.g. Dawn Upshaw) to popular (e.g. Anne Hathaway).

"I Have Dreamed" is a gorgeous love song from Rodgers' and Hammerstein's The King and I, which won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1952.

Jule Styne's song "It's a Perfect Relationship" from the show Bells are Ringing is a humorous account of how a telephone operator can love people she has never met.

The suave song "My Ship" from the show Lady in the Dark by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin is also a popular instrumental favorite played by several jazz groups.

Boléro is Ravel's most famous composition and is used seductively in the movie 10, as well as in the four additional movies The Closer You Get, Funny Bones, New Guy, and Paradise Road.  It illustrates the composer's use of orchestral color to create a sensual and hypnotic effect.

To purchase tickets, use www.ridgefieldsymphony.org (preferred) or call the orchestra office at (203)438-3889.