NJSO presents Mendelssohn’s ‘Italian’ Symphony

NEWARK, NJ (February 4, 2013)—The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony on a program that also features gems from the Italian opera repertoire, including arias by Verdi, Bellini and Donizetti, along with Puccini’s Chrysanthemums and Rossini’s The Italian Girl in Algiers Overture. Soprano Joanna Mongiardo returns to the NJSO stage to perform the aria selections; Marcelo Lehninger conducts.

“Mendelssohn had this quality to be able to describe the essence of things,” says NJSO Music Director Jacques Lacombe. “The ‘Italian’ Symphony is so fresh and so joyful with these typical Italian rhythms [that are] almost like dances. [It seemed natural] to pair the symphony with some of the greatest arias written for coloratura soprano—Italy is a country that sings.”

Of the bel canto style featured in the arias on the program, Lacombe says: “Those composers knew how to write a phrase for the voice and to choose which vowel fit best with which note—[the music] is so perfect. Mendelssohn—despite the fact that he was a Romantic-era composer—had something of a classical aspect to his music: light, pure rhythms and very defined structure. You find all of those qualities in these arias, too.”

Performances take place on Friday, March 8, (7:30 pm) at the War Memorial in Trenton, Saturday, March 9, (8 pm) at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank and Sunday, March 10, (3 pm) at bergenPAC in Englewood. A Classical Conversation begins one hour before the performances on March 9 in Red Bank and March 10 in Englewood.

TICKETS
Tickets start at $20 and are available for purchase online at www.njsymphony.org or by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476).