Joshua Bell + Mussorgsky’s Pictures

June 30, 2023 | 6:30 pm America/Denver

In his first appearances as 2023 artist-in-residence, the one and only Joshua Bell performs Bruch’s First Violin Concerto. The great 19th century violinist Joseph Joachim, to whom the composer dedicated this masterpiece, considered this concerto to be “the richest, most seductive” of all German violin concertos. Bruch’s Violin Concerto has become one of the most legendary works for the instrument and is an exquisite vehicle for Bell’s showmanship. The second half features Mussorgsky’s instantly recognizable Pictures at an Exhibition, a suite of musical paintings inspired by the sketches of the composer’s close friend Viktor Hartmann. The program opens with Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient Carlos Simon’s Motherboxx Connection, the first movement of his Tales: A Folklore Symphony for orchestra; in Simon’s words the motherboxx is “an all-knowing entity that is aware of the multi-faceted aspects of blackness.”

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Artists
Peter Oundjian, conductor
Joshua Bell, violin and Artist-in-Residence

Program
Carlos Simon, “Motherboxx Connection” from Tales: A Folklore Symphony for orchestra (2021)
Max Bruch, Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor

Modest Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel)

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