Palm Beach Symphony 47th Season

 I've got an optimistic announcement from the Palm Beach Symphony about their anticipated "triumphant return to performing." They will have a televised holiday program, followed by this:

The four Masterworks Series concerts are currently scheduled to be performed at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in accordance with health and safety guidelines following CDC recommendations and guidance from local and state officials. At this time, it is anticipated that the first Masterwork concert in January will be livestreamed without an audience in the hall. The Symphony hopes to perform the remainder of the season as a mix of livestream and select seating. 

The press release has the level of boosterism you would expect about the orchestra and its music director/conductor Gerard Schwarz. Weirdly, despite the programming, the press release omits what I would consider his most important activity as a conductor: his ongoing commitment to performing and recording the works of American composers.

Here's the season, in any event:

Holiday Concert 

Broadcast dates and times to be announced 

CBS 12 News 

 

Guest Artist: 

Valentina Paolucci, violin 

 

Program: 

Tchaikovsky: Overture from Nutcracker Suite No. 1, Op. 71A 

Franz Xaver Gruber (arr. by Schwarz): Silent Night (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere) 

Tchaikovsky: March from Nutcracker Suite No. 1, Op. 71A 

Pachelbel: Canon in D Major (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere) 

Tchaikovsky: Trepak (Russian Dance) from Nutcracker Suite No. 1, Op. 71A 

Traditional (arr. by Schwarz): Variations on Greensleeves (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere) 

Tchaikovsky: Mirlitons from Nutcracker Suite No. 1, Op. 71A 

John Henry Hopkins, Jr. (arr. by Schwarz): We Three Kings of Orient Are (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere) 

J.S. Bach: Sleepers Awake from Cantata No. 140 (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere) 

Tchaikovsky: Waltz of the Flowers from Nutcracker Suite No. 1, Op. 71A  

Anderson: Sleigh Ride (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere) 

Masterworks Series #1 

Sunday, January 24, 2021 at 3:00 p.m.
Livestreamed from the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts  

 

Guest Artist:
Pinchas Zukerman, violin 

 

Program: 

Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 

Beethoven: Coriolan Overture, Op. 62  

Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 

Masterworks Series #2 

Sunday, March 21, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. 

Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL 

and Livestreamed  

 

Guest Artist:
Vladimir Feltsman, piano 

 

Program: 

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat Major, K. 595 

Diamond: Rounds for String Orchestra (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere) 

Walker:  Lyric for Strings (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere) 

Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere) 

 

Masterworks Series #3 

Monday, April 19, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. 

Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL 

and Livestreamed  

 

Guest Artist: 

Julian Schwarz, cello 

 

Program:  

Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1, in A Minor, Op. 33  (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere) 

Dvořák: Silent Woods, B. 182  (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere) 

Still: Darker America  (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere) 

Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 11 (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere) 

Masterworks Series #4 

Saturday, May 22 at 7:30 p.m. 

Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL 

and Livestreamed 

 

Guest Artist: 

Alexander Toradze, piano  

 

Program: 

Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere) 

Ravel: Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose) Suite (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere) 

Brahms: Serenade No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11 

 

Additional Concert 

Wednesday, February 3, 2021 at 7:30 p.m.
The Society of the Four Arts, 100 Four Arts Plaza, Palm Beach, FL 

Invitation Only 

 

Guest Artist: 

Olga Kern, piano 

 

Program:
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, Op. 35 (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere)
Strauss (arr. Gerard Schwarz): Sextet from Capriccio (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere)
Irving Fine: Serious Song; A Lament for String Orchestra (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere) 

Dvořák: Serenade for Strings in E Major, Op. 22 (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere) 

That's some nice programming: William Grant Still, Irving Fine, David Diamond, and George Walker, some less-known works by more famous composers.