The Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes is taking audiences into a world of ghosts, devils, supernatural bargains and musical thrills with Legends: A Mystical Journey, a special Halloween-season concert on Friday, October 30.
Music director Toshiyuki Shimada said he wanted to build on last year's Halloween-themed program while giving this concert a darker, more mysterious character.
“This season, I want to be a little more sophisticated in a way,” Shimada said. “Going to more mystical, hauntingly, these dark stories.”
Many of the works explore the age-old idea of bargaining with the devil, with composers using the orchestra to bring supernatural tales to life.
The concert opens with the overture to Richard Wagner's The Flying Dutchman, inspired in part by the composer's experience of a violent storm at sea during a voyage from Germany to Norway. Shimada said the music captures the power of the waves, with horns wailing and brass instruments screaming through the storm. The overture also offers glimpses of the opera's sailors and its story of a cursed sea captain seeking redemption through love.
The program also includes the overture to Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz, an opera filled with dark forests, supernatural forces and a marksman who makes a dangerous bargain with the devil. Shimada described the music as haunting, with a beautiful clarinet solo representing Agathe, the woman at the center of the story.
Violinist Kinga Augustyn will take on two works that put extraordinary demands on a soloist. Giuseppe Tartini's Devil's Trill Sonata grew out of a famous account of the composer dreaming that the devil played the violin for him. Tartini was so astonished by the performance, Shimada explained, that he tried to write down the music when he awoke, although he could remember only part of what he had heard.
Augustyn will also perform Maurice Ravel's Tzigane, a virtuosic showpiece whose dazzling violin writing evokes Hungarian and Romani musical styles. Shimada called its opening cadenza “really diabolical,” noting that the work also features an important role for the harp.
The program adds a touch of cinematic fantasy with two short works by John Williams from Harry Potter and Jurassic Park. Shimada joked that he would bring a live dinosaur into the concert hall.
The evening concludes with Gioachino Rossini's overture to William Tell, familiar to many listeners as the theme associated with The Lone Ranger. Shimada recalled hearing the work performed by the Vienna Philharmonic while he was a student in Vienna. When the famous trumpet theme arrived, a group of American tourists in the audience recognized it immediately and called out, “Lone Ranger, hi-yo, Silver!” Their enthusiasm startled the Austrian listeners around them.
For Shimada, the memory captures the way familiar music can bring people together across cultures—and how a concert filled with dark legends can also have plenty of fun.
Audiences are encouraged to wear costumes for Legends: A Mystical Journey, adding their own imaginative touch to the Halloween-season festivities.
Legends: A Mystical Journey takes place Friday, October 30, at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Corning Museum of Glass. For tickets and more information, visit osfl.org.