Bernstein & Brahms light up the night

MCCOY The Gulf Coast Symphony, Southwest Florida's community orchestra, presents another of its acclaimed Classical Access Concerts on Sunday, May 18 at the Anderson Theater on the campus of Bishop Verot High School.

The program, "Bernstein & Brahms," pairs Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 1 "Jeremiah" with the first symphony of Johannes Brahms and features mezzo-soprano Janelle McCoy.

The Gulf Coast Symphony's "access concerts" are designed for the audience to become active listeners during the evening's program. Prior to each piece, Music Director Andrew Kurtz will discuss the selection and demonstrate, with orchestral excerpts, various elements that make the evening's program unique. Highly interactive, the evening's concert is both entertaining and educational. The informal and casual atmosphere of these concerts only enhances the concert-goers' experience. Following the concert, the conductor will take questions from interested audience members. Bernstein, an American conductor and composer, dedicated "Jeremiah" to his father. It is based on the biblical story of Jeremiah and written in 1942. This three movement symphony follows the dramatic sequence of Jeremiah's story. The work is based in large part on Jewish liturgical traditions, and it is determinedly serious, even tragic, in its substance. The first movement, "Prophecy," has a principal theme from the Amidah (one of the most important prayers in the entire Jewish liturgy). The second movement, "Profanation," opens with a theme derived from Ashkenazic Jewish cantillation of the book of "Prophets." The mockery of Jeremiah by the corrupt priesthood leads to music suggesting a "pagan celebration" in which the music turns to "violent, dance-like, almost jazzy rhythms" interrupted by the theme of the preceding movement, in the nature of a solemn warning. The symphony concludes with a "Lamentation" delivered in words as well as music. The musical source is from Jewish High Holiday services and the Hebrew text, sung by Mc- Coy, is from the Book of Lamentations.

The Gulf Coast Symphony will play works of Leonard Bernstein, above, and Johannes Brahms, left, Sunday, May 18 at the Anderson Theater. Brahms' first symphony was written in 1876 when he was 43 and a mature, much sought-after composer. His first symphony was delayed because he was intimidated by the shadow of Beethoven. His work was an immediate success, and Brahms pays homage within the notes of the symphony to two of Beethoven's most famous works, his fifth and ninth symphonies.

"This concert features two of my personal favorite symphonies, both of which are masterworks," said Kurtz. "They represent their first attempts at the symphonic form. One is by Leonard Bernstein, who was only 25 years old and just fresh off his New York Philharmonic debut. The other is by Brahms, who had finally shed his personal symphonic albatross, the ghost of Beethoven. I can't wait to explore this music with our audience to help give them a greater understanding of what makes these two works so wonderful."

Hailed for her stagecraft and "sultry" voice, mezzo-soprano McCoy has been active in opera, concert, and oratorio. She has performed with world-class orchestras and artists such as the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; conductors Robert Spano, Donald Runnicles and the late Robert Shaw; bass James Morris; tenor Stuart Neill; sopranos, Dawn Upshaw, Andrea Gruber and Christine Brewer; cellist Andrés Diaz; members of the American String Quartet. In Philadelphia, she made her Kimmel Center debut as Maddalena (Rigoletto).

The Gulf Coast Symphony draws its membership from Naples to Port Charlotte and has performed to sold-out audiences. For more information on orchestra membership call the Gulf Coast Symphony office at 489-1800 or email at info@gulfcoastsymphony.org.

if you go

>>What: Classical Access Concerts "Bernstein & Brahms"

>>When: Sunday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m.

>>Where: The Anderson Theater at Bishop Verot High School, 5598 Sunrise Drive, Fort Myers

>>Cost: Single tickets are $10-20, children under 18 are free

>>Information: Online at www.gulfcoastsymphony. org or call 481-4849