Bringing Down the House with Higdon and Respighi

In his video preview, Michael Christie has dubbed this weekend's concerts "Surround Sound Symphony", though another accurate description could be "Classical Thunder" as composers Higdon and Respighi show off the sheer power of the symphony orchestra.

As a special treat, Jennifer Higdon herself has come to Phoenix for the performance of her Percussion Concerto and will appear as a part of each concert's Musically Speaking program. Her Percussion Concerto puts soloist Colin Currie front and center as he plays nearly every percussion instrument in a symphony's inventory.

When it comes to Respighi's two most famous works, most orchestras will only program one or the other. But this weekend's concerts feature both The Fountains of Rome and The Pines of Rome, giving the audience the full immersion experience of Respighi's vision of Rome. A beefed-up brass section provides an amazingly powerful sound for the triumphant majesty of Rome's architechture all the while balanced by beautiful lyric movements for the strings and woodwinds (the English Horn solo in The Pines of Appian Way is one of the instrument's most iconic in all of Classical music repertoire) - not to mention the fun effects of off-stage trumpets and a pre-recorded nightengale singing away.

If you attended the concert, what did you think of the combination of these 20th Century powerhouses? There will be more great music from Jennifer Higdon to come, so expect to hear more from her here at the SoundPost blog as the season progresses!