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Utah Symphony Stirs Emotions With Heartfelt Program Featuring Brahms’ Final Symphony
Enrique Mazzola Conducts Works Exploring Tragedy, Fate and Desire
The year was 1885. The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbor. Dr. Pepper was first served in the United States. The Benz company got a patent for a car that topped out at 10 mph. And Johannes Brahms, at the height of his career, composed his final symphony — a creation so heart-wrenching and tragic that it has almost a cathartic power over its listeners.
The week’s Utah Symphony program may not be for the faint of heart, but deeply felt emotion is guaranteed. Conducted by Enrique Mazzola, three concerts will take place tomorrow and Saturday, Oct. 22 and 23 at Abravanel Hall in downtown Salt Lake City and tonight at The Noorda Center for the Performing Arts at UVU. The Utah Symphony will perform three works filled with drama and intensity — Brahms’ Symphony №4, Verdi’s Overture to La forza del destino, and Rota’s Suite from La strada.
The hauntingly beautiful Symphony №4 of Brahms captures in music the essence of restless energy and yearning sighs. It ebbs and flows like the sea, with each melody unfolding and evolving organically and perfectly. Undoubtedly one of the darkest symphonies in the repertoire, Brahms was contemplating his own…
