Why shouldn?t the twists and turns of a great play inspire great music? Shakespeare?s did, when over the centuries composers found musical inspiration veiled within the iambic pentameter of prose. “The play?s the thing?,” the Bard wrote, while also quipping, “If music be the food of love, play on.”
Sounds like juicy fodder for collaboration.
This weekend, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and with Washington?s Shakespeare Theatre Company presents Shakespeare ? Love and Comedy as part of the BSO?s Symphony with a Twist series.
Conductor Carlos Kalmar leads the orchestra in a program that features Nicolai?s Overture to “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and Tchaikovsky?s dramatic masterpiece, “Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy.”
Now ? ready for the twist? Between each work (which also includes Edward Elgar?s symphonic poem “Falstaff”), actors from the Shakespeare Theatre Company will perform scenes upon which each composition is based.
“Shakespeare has inspired artists in all disciplines … but we rarely have a chance to have our work presented side by side,” said an excited David Muse, the Theatre Company?s Associate Director.
Peter Landgren, the BSO?s Associate Principal Horn, feels much the same about the multimedia program, adding that it “inspires us to look at the music with fresh eyes and ears.”
While many may be unfamiliar with the Nicolai and Elgar pieces, Landgren calls the “Romeo and Juliet Overture” an “I can name that tune in four notes” composition. It is, he says, “full of all the passion and drama Shakespeare infused in his play of the same name.”
It is this eclectic concert experience, brought about through various artistic partnerships, that has made Symphony with a Twist series a favorite with audiences.
“We?re lucky to be surrounded by so many eminent institutions which have helped us to expand the meaning and impact of music,” said BSO Artistic Administrator Jeremy Rothman.
Symphony with a Twist: Shakespeare ? Love and Comedy
» 8 p.m. Jan. 26
The Music Center at Strathmore
5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda
» 8 p.m. Jan. 27
Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore
Lobby opens at 6:30 p.m. for live jazz, light fare and cocktails.
Ticket Prices: $25 to $78
More info: Call the BSO Ticket Office at 410-783-8000, or visit www.baltimoresymphony.org
