The Opening Night of our Classics Series greets this year’s listeners with Leonard Bernstein’s exuberant overture to Candide, the witty operetta inspired by Voltaire’s satire of the same name. This bombastic kaleidoscope of musical styles contrasts with Richard Strauss’s famed Der Rosenkavalier Suite, which captures motifs important to the romance of the opera’s plot and evokes an earlier era of splendid waltzes and courting rituals. The frenetic energy of Bernstein’s overture paired with Strauss’s scintillating, late-Romantic suite sets the stage for the highlight of the evening—Tchaikovsky’s dramatic Piano Concerto No. 1—which soars under Sasha Malofeev’s dazzling musicianship and brings us to the pinnacle of Opening Night. From its iconic, thundering introductory theme to glittering passagework, Malofeev brings this virtuosic work to life on the stage for an unforgettable start to our 25-26 season.

The Opening Night Gala is sponsored by Carolyn and John Yurtchuk.
For information on the pre-concert Gala dinner celebration or table sponsorship benefits, visit bpo.org/gala.

Program

JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Alexander Malofeev, piano

LAVALLÉE / arr. Fenwick  O Canada
SMITH / arr. Skrowaczewski  The Star-Spangled Banner
BERNSTEIN  Overture to Candide
R. STRAUSS  Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59

INTERMISSION

TCHAIKOVSKY  Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 23
I. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso
II. Andantino semplice
III. Allegro con fuoco

The Classics Series is presented by the Yurtchuk Foundation.