Norfolk Symphony Orchestra Concert; Life In Pieces

Norfolk Symphony Orchestra Concert November 5.
Rehearsals are already underway for the first concert of the Norfolk Symphony Orchestra’s 2023/24 Season. The 80 piece orchestra, directed by Conductor Steve Bingham will feature works by Berlioz, Verdi and Massenet.
The ‘Life In Pieces’ Concert will take place at the Corn Exchange, Kings Lynn, on Sunday November 5, commencing at 3.30pm, and is the first of five varied and interesting concerts for this season.
The mighty Oveture to the Force of Destiny by Guiseppe Verdi will open the programme of the 2023/34 Season. This colourful and dramatic work, a prelude to the opera set in Spain, will have the audience sitting on the edge of their seats from the intense opening of the brass through to the more lyrical themes that follow. Throughout the destiny motif casts a shadow, demonstrating the theatrical way in which Verdi composed.
The programme will continue in Spain via the music of the Le Cid Ballet Suite composed by Jules Massenet. The opera of Le Cid was originally written for its premiere in 1885 at the Paris Opera, the work gradually disappeared from the repertoire until 2015 when it was again revived. Meanwhile, Massenet composed a ballet suite from the music especially for the dancer Rosita Mauri. The Suite has remained a popular favourite of the orchestral repertoire ever since.
The final work in the programme will be the Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz, described as ‘an epic’ for orchestra, it tells the tale of an artist self obsessed with a beautiful woman. The symphony in five movements, describes the artists dreams, tantrums, visions and moments of tenderness. At the time of writing the work, Berlioz himself was infatuated with the young Irish actress, Harriet Smithson; the symphony telling the composers own story of love and obsession. The 1830 premiere of the work was an attempt to impress her, but sadly she did not attend.
Music Director Steve Bingham writes “Our first concert for this season mingles the vagaries of fate with the fragility of the human condition. Not necessarily a happy mix, but – in the hands of great composers – one that has produced some of the most iconic music in the repertoire, in particular the main work for this concert, Berlioz’s extraordinary ‘Symphonie Fantastique’. It was the piece that put ‘programme music’ on the map: Instrumental music that had a clear storyline. Many at the time thought it a flawed compositional technique, but it has stayed the course and is a favourite with audiences – highly-charged, exciting, and by turns manic, triumphant, melancholy and raucous. An emotional rollercoaster of a piece!”
Interestingly all three works received mixed reviews at their premieres, but have now become firm favourites in the orchestral repertoire and an exciting way to launch the NSO 2023 Season of concerts.
Norfolk Symphony Orchestra is grateful to the sponsor of their 2022/23 season Adrian Flux for their continued support. The orchestra is committed to producing music of the highest quality, performing varied and exciting programmes and the orchestra will once again be giving away 100 free tickets to under 18s throughout this season. It is hugely encouraging for the orchestra to find that there are so many enthusiastic supporters for classical music amongst the young people of the county. For details on this offer please call the box office on 01553 764864
Tickets are £16. Tickets are available from the box office on: 01553 764864 or on line at www.kingslynncornexchange.co.uk. The concert starts at 3.30pm