The final concert of our spring series features the Symphony No. 5 by Peter Tchaikovsky, a work from the summer of 1888. Tchaikovsky conducted the first performance in St. Petersburg later that year. Despite his initial fears that the work was a failure, Symphony No. 5 is one the most played symphonies in the entire symphonic repertoire and an audience favorite.

David Alan Miller, Music Director of the Albany Symphony Orchestra, is making his Syracuse debut with this concert. He will be joined by cellist, Julie Albers, a Syracuse favorite. Ms. Albers will be soloist in Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto.

Tchaikovsky may have feared that the first performance of his symphony had been a failure, but Elgar was sure that the premiere of his Cello Concerto was a flop. Due to an inadequate number of rehearsals, the performance was a disaster and it would be more than a year before the concerto was heard again in London.

The concert begins with the Overture to Candide by Leonard Bernstein. While his operetta, Candide, has had relatively few performances, the overture is one of the most performed orchestral works by an American composer.