The Florida Orchestra

Opening Night: Pines of Rome
Sun, Oct 10, 7:30 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall

Hometown favorite Thomas Wilkins returns to open the season with Respighi’s larger-than-life Pines of Rome along with Beckel’s Toccata for Orchestra, Faure’s Pelléas et Mélisande Suite, Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances and Liszt’s Les Préludes.

Haydn’s The Creation
Sun, Oct 24, 7:30 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall

Considered to be one of Haydn’s greatest works, this oratorio is a musical offering of piety, reverence and sublime inspiration that overflows with soaring arias, angelic multi-voice themes and explosively gorgeous choral passages.

Mahler’s Symphony No. 6
Sun, Nov 7, 7:30 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall

This is Mahler with his powers to excite and even overwhelm at their highest, and in spite of the music’s many intensely dark moods, the symphony is exhilarating, offering listeners an extraordinarily rewarding musical experience.

Dvorak’s Cello Concerto
Sun, Dec 5, 7:30 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall

Hailed by Strings Magazine for his “stunning virtuosity,” Mark Kosower performs Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in B minor with its deliciously visceral beauty and soaring melodies bursting with sunlight. This concert opens with Brahms’ youthfully optimistic Serenade No. 1.

Hello Dalí
Sun, Jan 16, 7:30 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall

Celebrate the new Salvador Dalí Museum with a dose of eccentricity and fun: Beethoven’s Consecration of the House, Heinz Karl Gruber’s Frankenstein!! A Pan-Demonium for Chansonnier & Ensemble, Darius Milhaud’s Le boef sur le toit, Debussy’s orchestration of Eric Satie’s Gymnopedies, and Manuel de Falla’s Three-Cornered Hat, Suite No. 2.

Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto
Sun, Jan 30, 7:30 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall

Hailed by The Cleveland Plain Dealer as a “prodigious and aristocratic violinist,” concertmaster Jeffrey Multer performs Tchaikovsky’s rhapsodic Violin Concerto on this all-Tchaikovsky program featuring his Symphony No. 2, Little Russian, full of rich colors and spirited Ukrainian folk tunes.

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9
Sun, Feb 27, 7:30 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall

Opening with Arnold Schoenberg’s ethereal hymn for eternal peace, Friede auf Erden (Peace on Earth), the orchestra and chorale join forces for one of the most life-affirming works of music in its celebration of hope and the human spirit: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

Elgar’s Enigma Variations
Sun, Mar 27, 7:30 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall

Lauded by the Los Angeles Times for a “first-rate technique,” Alexander Mickelthwate is joined by Principal Second Violinist Sarah Shellman for Thomas Adès’ Violin Concerto with its devilishly difficult high melodic lines on a program with Haydn’s Symphony No. 59 and Elgar’s beloved Enigma Variations.

Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3
Sun, Apr 17, 7:30 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall

Acclaimed by The Boston Globe as a “dazzling Russian pianist,” Lilya Zilberstein performs Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with its cascading luscious melodies and thundering chords. The program includes the rich and majestic themes of Sibelius’ Symphony No. 7 as well as his tone poem En Saga.

Bruckner’s Romantic Symphony
Sun, May 15, 7:30 pm, Ruth Eckerd Hall

The evening opens with John Adams’ Doctor Atomic Symphony with its pervasive sense of fear about the atomic bomb.  This is followed by Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4, “Romantic,” with its luscious colors, glittering melodies and triumphant symphonic exultations.