New Philharmonic ends season with ‘Encore’

By Annie Alleman, Aurora Beacon-News, Chicago Tribune Naperville Sun

The New Philharmonic closes out its season at the McAninch Arts Center this weekend, showcasing a Spanish concerto and an organ symphony.

Music director Kirk Muspratt conducts the New Philharmonic as it presents “Encore,” featuring Chicago Symphony Orchestra assistant concert master and guest violinist David Taylor.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. April 8 and 3 p.m. April 9 at the center in Glen Ellyn. There will be a free Mac Chat beginning one hour prior to each performance.

The program will open with New Philharmonic performing Ambroise Thomas’ “Raymond Overture.” Then Taylor takes the stage for Édouard Lalo’s Spanish-themed “Symphonie Espagnole,” Op.21.

“He was a French composer who wrote this concerto in a Spanish style,” Taylor said. “Of course it’s very Spanish and a very strong, powerful work that violinists learn fairly early in their career. It has in some ways fallen out of favor in our day. It’s not performed very often but it’s a great work and it’s absolutely a great concerto. It’s a virtuoso work that’s very exciting and has every imaginable color in it as a piece.”

Taylor learned the piece, which he called Lalo’s greatest work, as a teenager and studied it further in college, he said.

“Each of the movements … (are) very different from one another and very wonderful,” he said. “You have a brilliant opening and then you have a fast, exciting second movement and then you have a really dark and powerful third movement that’s often deleted. It’s a very powerful movement and very difficult to play. The fourth movement is slow and dramatic and has a fantastic singing movement with great, soaring, high melodies that are just beautiful — and sad, really sad in a lot of ways. And of course the finale is brilliant and exciting. It’s a real crowd pleaser. Audiences love it.”

It’s one of those pieces that even on a first hearing, audiences embrace, Taylor said.

Following intermission, New Philharmonic returns to the stage for Charles-Camille Saint Saens’ Symphony No. 3, Op 78 in C minor (also known as the Organ Symphony) as played by John W. W. Sherer, organist and director of music for the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago. He will be the first to play the Mac’s new Allen Chapel CF-15 DK organ.

The Organ Symphony was written in 1886, Sherer said. This is his third time playing the piece.

“It was probably the first time the organ had such a prominent part with the modern symphony,” Sherer said of the piece. “It was revolutionary at its time. And it was because Saint Saens was a great composer who also happened to be a great organist. It made sense to him to put the two worlds together.”

Playing the piece is a joy, he said,

“It’s a great piece of music,” Sherer said. “The greatest joy is coming in with that big, loud C-major chord at the end of the symphony. That’s a lot of fun. One of the greatest C-major chords ever penned by man. It’s just a great moment.”

He said he hopes audiences go home with a sense of joy and inspiration; comfort and beauty.

“I really believe we need more beauty in our world and through that beauty I think we can touch deeper truths than words can possibly express,” Sherer said. “I hope this piece will bring all of those things and much, much more to all those who listen to it. It is a piece that can really transcend the soul and uplift the spirit. The whole piece is about transformation. It starts in C minor and finishes in C major. So it’s this journey from darkness to light.”

Sherer said people will enjoy the concert because it will be a unique experience.

“It’s a great chance to hear the organ, which is not used that much with orchestra,” he said. “The organ is an amazing instrument; it’s capable of any sounds that modern orchestra make. It can get incredibly soft or incredibly loud, and the Saint Saens Organ Symphony is a chance to experience all of that. It’s a fabulous piece; just a great piece of music.”

Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.

‘New Philharmonic presents Encore’

When: April 8-9

Where: McAninch Arts Center at the College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn

Tickets: $47-$49

Information: 630-942-4000; www.attemac.org

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