The Florida Orchestra

Opening Night: Carmina Burana
Fri, Oct 14, 8 pm, Straz Center, Carol Morsani Hall

Mixing monk-like chant, angelic arias, writhing rhythms, raucous lyrics and raw visceral power, Orff’s Carmina Burana is an intoxicating powerhouse of a piece for over 200 instrumentalists and voices on a program with Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio Overture and Haydn’s Symphony No. 100, Military.

Beethoven's Violin Concerto
Fri, Nov 11, 8 pm, Straz Center, Ferguson Hall

Hailed by The Washington Post as having “talent that’s off the scale,” Stefan Jackiw performs Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with its glorious blend of beauty, elegance and bravura...in stark contrast to Prokofiev’s elegy to the losses of war in his Symphony No. 6.

Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21
Fri, Dec 2, 8 pm, Straz Center, Carol Morsani Hall

Award-winning Austrian pianist Cornelia Herrmann performs Mozart’s sunny and buoyant Piano Concerto No. 21 on a program with Haydn’s La fedelta premiata overture and Bruckner’s monumental Symphony No. 3.

Pictures at an Exhibition
Fri, Jan 13, 8 pm, Straz Center, Carol Morsani Hall

From carefree and spirited to almost overwhelming, it is a night of musical impressions inspired by great art:  Botticelli in Respighi’s Trittico Botticelliano, Matthias Grünewald in Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler and Victor Hartmann in Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

Vivaldi's Four Seasons
Fri, Feb 3, 8 pm, Straz Center, Ferguson Hall

In the tradition of a chamber orchestra with the concertmaster giving direction to the orchestra musicians, enjoy the intimate sounds of Vivaldi’s ever-popular Four Seasons, together with the string orchestra version of Bartok’s charming Rumanian Folk Dances and J.S. Bach’s elegant Orchestral Suite No. 3.

Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2
Fri, Feb 17, 8 pm, Straz Center, Carol Morsani Hall

Hailed as “a gigantic talent” by The Baltimore Sun, Valentina Lisitsa reveals the rapturous beauty and rhapsodic themes of one of the most popular of all romantic concertos, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2...in a night with Nielsen’s Helios Overture and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1.

Brahms' Symphony No. 4
Fri, Apr 13, 8 pm, Straz Center, Ferguson Hall

Acclaimed simply as “one of the greats” by the Manchester Evening News, internationally renowned conductor Günther Herbig is joined by Principal Trumpet Robert Smith in Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto on a program with Brahms’ mighty Symphony No. 4.

A Musical Feast
Fri, Apr 27, 8 pm, Straz Center, Ferguson Hall

James Tocco gives the United States premiere of 19th century composer Eduard Franck’s Piano Concerto No. 1 that has recently been rediscovered, as part of this musical feast of spirited overtures from Weber’s Oberon, Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lortzing’s Der Waffenschmied and Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, along with Wagner’s Die Meistersinger: Prelude.

Rhythms of Cuba
Fri, May 11, 8 pm, Straz Center, Carol Morsani Hall

In a Latin flavored program, Music Director of La Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Cuba Enrique Pérez Mesa is joined by Principal Timpanist John Bannon in James Lewis’ Cubanitis for solo timpani and orchestra on a program with Carlos Fariñas’ Penthesilea: Preludio, Guido López-Gavilán’s Ritmotiv, José Pablo Moncayo’s Huapango and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1, Classical.

Beethoven's Eroica
Fri, May 25, 8 pm, Straz Center, Carol Morsani Hall

Singled out by The New York Times as “brilliant, sensitive and imaginative,” Martina Filjak performs Ravel’s gloriously coloristic Piano Concerto in G Major with its mix of jazz motifs, meditative melodies and sparkling energy...on a program with Chabrier’s Habanera and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, Eroica.