The Madison Symphony Orchestra was thrilled to welcome four guest vocal soloists and the Madison Symphony Chorus to the stage to celebrate the legacy of Mozart and Strauss. Check out photos and reviews below from the performance!
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You may recognize our guest soloists each of their previous appearances with the Madison Opera: Kirsten Lippart performed as a studio artist from 2018-2020, Amanda performed the title role of Salome, Matt Boehler performed the title role of Le nozze di Figaro, and Martin Luther Clark performed the title role of Candide. We were thrilled to welcome such world-class vocalists back to Madison!
Madison Symphony’s ‘Legacy’ features late works by great composers
By Matt Ambrosio // Cap Times
The Madison Symphony Orchestra’s weekend concert had a clear theme: the celebration of life, and resignation to death.
The program, which runs twice more in Overture Hall on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, featured W. A. Mozart’s posthumously completed “Requiem” and Richard Strauss’s “Four Last Songs” — two works written near the very end of the respective composers’ lives. Both take on the end of life as their main subject. Also on the program, Strauss’s “Don Juan,” too, deals with the topic of death.
For Strauss’s “Four Last Songs,” maestro John DeMain and the MSO were joined by Midwestern-based, internationally renowned soprano Amanda Majeski. Her performance was indescribably sensuous, touching the soul and pulling the heartstrings. “Four Last Songs” places the orchestra on near equal footing as the soloist, requiring much of the singer to shine through the fray.
And shine through Majeski did, especially in the final two songs, “Beim Schlafengehen” (“When sleeping”) and “Im Abendrot” (“At Sunset”). Her tone, warm and soft yet assured, was perfect for this contemplative and nostalgic song cycle.
Madison Symphony Orchestra brings tears to audience, delivering Mozart, Strauss performance
By Isaiah Trice // Daily Cardinal
Richard Strauss demands virtuosic agility, and Mozart requires perfection from orchestras. The Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Friday performance titled “Legacy” brought all this and more from the ensemble.
Maestro John DeMain expertly conducted the cavalier theme of young Strauss’ “Don Juan” (1888) who has been chief conductor of the orchestra for more than 30 years. Strauss’ ever-shifting themes, demanding both brevity and precision, captivated concertgoers.
The symphony’s string section played with remarkable reliability under the baton of DeMain.
Strauss was notoriously unforgiving while writing for orchestras, which was shown during the middle of the piece when the principal oboist was required to play a lovely melody in a very high and unstable register.
What was delineated from the performance was nothing short of what Strauss explicitly had planned in the lubricious musical retelling of Don Juan.
Hear what the audience had to say…
“”The principals are world class. Particularly noteworthy are Izumi Amemiya, Emma Potter, Cynthia Cameron and JJ Koh. Izumi’s solo in the middle of Don Juan was astonishingly beautiful. How lucky we are to have these artistic gems in Madison! Kudos also to the trombonist in Mozart-Tuba Mirum. He played that more musically than one usually hears that performed.”
“Amanda Majeski’s performance of the Strauss, Four Last Songs. A rare opportunity to hear these gorgeous pieces. The orchestra was fine, as usual, and Emma Potter’s solos left me breathless. Thank you for programming this marvelous work!”
“i went specifically to hear Mozart’s “Requiem” and was unexpectedly completely WOW’d instead by the Strauss pieces! i was like “omgosh!””
“The Four Last Songs. The soloist was superb—not just just musically but her being, her hand gestures expressed the pathos of what she was singing. I wept through parts of it. The super titles were a huge help and “made” the Strauss and Requiem.”
“My 83 year old mother was simply delighted by the performance. I also delight in watching the musicians and Conductor DeMain. Their energy is just fantastic!”
“1. The concert hall is visually stunning 2. The playing by Izumi Amemiya in the Don Juan was a standout for its expressivity! 3. The declaratory REX!! by the full chorus in the Requiem is as startling as GRIMES!! shouted by the chorus in Britten’s opera, spine-chilling. 4. Maestro DeMain demonstrated consistent skill in bringing the players to wonderfully gradual peaceful endings..not all conductors demonstrate such musical serenity.”
“The performance was beyond anything I’ve heard there before. I was overwhelmed by the Strauss and moved to tears by the incredible “Four Last Songs.””
“I don’t even like German lieder, but Amanda’s performance of Strauss 4 last songs was so achingly beautiful that I’ll never forget them.”
“I feel blessed to have such a fine symphony in Madison.”
