The Florida Orchestra

Opening Night: Pines of Rome
Sat, Oct 9, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

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
Sat, Oct 23, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

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
Sat, Nov 6, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

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
Sat, Dec 4, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

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
Sat, Jan 15, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

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
Sat, Jan 29, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

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
Sat, Feb 26, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

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.

Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4
Sat, Mar 12, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

Acclaimed German pianist Peter Rösel performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 on this program with Luciano Berio’s orchestration of Contrapunctus XIX from Bach’s The Art of Fugue.  The evening concludes with Shostakovich’s final symphony, No. 15.

Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3
Sat, Apr 16, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

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
Sat, May 14, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater

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.