Subscriptions Chamber Soirées

Sarasota Orchestra musicians open the chamber music season with a concert featuring full chamber orchestra, without conductor. Woodwinds and horns begin the program with Richard Strauss’ gorgeous Serenade for Winds, written when the composer was only 17. The strings take their turn in the spotlight with Dvořák’s Serenade for Strings, showcasing the composer's extraordinary gift for melody. Then the entire chamber orchestra gathers to present Mozart’s Symphony No. 25.

The music of 18th-century prodigy Felix Mendelssohn is paired with that of 20th-century master David Maslanka in this moving program. Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 6 was his last completed work, finished only six months before his death. Maslanka’s four wind quintets are landmarks of the repertoire. He composed his Wind Quintet No. 4 for our very own Sarasota Wind Quintet in 2008. The program opens with Eric Ewazen’s celebratory Frost Fire for brass quintet.

Pulitzer Prize and three-time GRAMMY®-winning composer Jennifer Higdon is one of America’s most acclaimed and frequently performed composers. Her 2022 Book of Brass comprises four “chapters,” spanning moods from meditative to funky and celebrating the flexibility and virtuosity of brass instruments. Richard Strauss composed his Piano Quartet at age 20. The work combines the drama and rich harmonies of Strauss’ hero, Brahms, with the high energy of a young Strauss at the beginning of his career.

Sarasota Orchestra Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero makes his Chamber Soirée debut, leading three landmark works. Stravinsky’s Danses concertantes is a delight tinged with Stravinsky’s trademark spicy interpretation. Wagner composed his highly romantic Siegfried Idyll as a birthday gift for his wife, hiring a small ensemble to perform it on the staircase outside her bedroom. Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony No. 1 was a pivotal work, bridging the gap between 19th-century romanticism and 20th-century modernism.

Welcome spring with a sunny program of music for strings, winds, piano, and harp. Hungarian pianist and composer Ernő Dohnányi was inspired by works penned by Mozart and Beethoven. His Serenade has found a revered place in the string trio repertoire. Belgian composer Joseph Jongen’s trios for flute, cello, and harp reveal the influence of Impressionist composers Debussy and Ravel. Mozart was so pleased with his Quintet for Piano and Winds that he wrote to his father that it was “… the best thing I have written in my life." Generations of audiences have reveled in this grand and joyful work.

The richness of music from the Americas is on full display in this captivating program. Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera’s extraordinary string quartet combines rhythmic ferocity with South American folk music. Uruguayan native Enrique Crespo’s delightful brass quintet takes the listener on a sonic tour of the Americas, including the sounds of New Orleans, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, and Mexico. Cuban jazz musician Paquito D’Rivera is a master at combining jazz and classical traditions. His lively wind quintet is a tribute to the sounds of the Caribbean, Venezuela, and American jazz.