Press preview Alpine Symphony concerts this weekend

Media outlets previewed this weekend’s performances of Strauss’ Alpine Symphony, which close the NJSO’s 2014 “Man & Nature” Winter Festival, Earth, which Time Out New York has called an “eagerly anticipated annual event.”

The Asbury Park Press writes:

The Strauss symphony is the clear centerpiece here and a fitting closer to the “Man and Nature” theme. As NJSO Director Jacques Lacombe puts it in a news release, “Strauss’ ‘Alpine Symphony’ shows us how music is a reflection of our world — it is a monument of the repertoire and such a majestic depiction of mountains and nature.”

U.S. 1 spoke with Music Director Jacques Lacombe:

Lacombe displays his enthusiasm for the second Winter Festival program. “The D’Indy, which is based on a folk tune from the French Alps, is rarely done, and piano soloist Pascal Roge is wonderful,” he says. “Strauss’ ‘Alpine Symphony’ has a huge orchestra and a big back-stage brass section. The ‘Alpine’ is always exciting and a big project.”

The Times of Trenton writes:

Extramusical events, exploring earth-related topics, will be presented in collaboration with partnering organizations. A Winter Festival Artisan and Information Fair will showcase displays by artisans and environmental organizations tomorrow and Jan. 24 and 26 at NJPAC.

Christopher Daggett of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation will moderate a panel discussion with GreenFaith’s executive director, the Rev. Fletcher Harper, and New Jersey Conservation Foundation executive director Michele S. Byers, one hour before the Jan. 26 concert.

RELATED:

The Winter Festival’s opening program featured the U.S. premiere of Tan Dun’s Earth Concerto, paired with Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde. Watch a Star-Ledger video following the process of bringing Tan Dun’s Earth Concerto to life—from the percussionists’ trip to a garden store for the flower pots that would become instruments to a full orchestra rehearsal at NJPAC in Newark. Read the Star-Ledger feature on the instrument shopping trip and view a photo gallery.