Name: Tchaikovsky 6 and A Night of Young Artists
Start: 2025-03-08T19:30:00-07:00
Location: Frontier Center for the Performing Arts

Tchaikovsky 6 and A Night of Young Artists

Music Director Thomas Heuser will conduct the Idaho Falls Symphony as they welcome two Young Artist Competition winners: cellist Emma Ballif (Junior Division Runner-up), who will perform the iconic First Movement of the Cello Concerto by Czech composer Antonín Dvořák; and violinist Michael Weir (Senior Division Winner), who will tackle the brooding First Movement of the Violin Concerto by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.
PROGRAM:
Cello Concerto in B minor by Antonín Dvořák
I. Allegro
Emma Ballif, cello (Junior Division Runner-up)
Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Minor by Jean Sibelius
I. Allegro moderato
Michael Weir, violin (Senior Division Winner)
Symphony No. 6 in B Minor by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Thanks to our Sponsors: Willard Charitable Foundation, John & Betty Johnson, Ken Krell & Alice Pike
Along with the ambitious soloists, the March 8 concert features one of the most emotionally intense works ever conceived: the Sixth Symphony by 19th century Russian composer Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Many of the most celebrated and romantic works for the orchestra are by Tchaikovsky, and his ballet music for The Nutcracker and Swan Lake are beloved around the world. But in his Sixth and final symphony, Tchaikovsky combines his trademark lyrical gifts with a searing intensity that paints a devastating, dramatic image of a composer nearing the end of his life and grappling with his own mortality.
"Tchaikovsky’s final musical statement is beyond profound," remarks Dr. Heuser. “This will be my third time performing this masterpiece, and there are moments that bring me to tears mid-performance whether I like it or not. The subtitle Pathétique translates as emotional, or passionate, and our audiences will be absolutely mesmerized by the impact that this music has when heard live.”
Drama from the Romantic era will pervade the program from start to finish. Emma Ballif will kick things off with the Dvořák Cello Concerto, which opens with a powerful orchestral prelude that introduces a host of famous melodies. She will then navigate the huge demands of Dvořák’s cello writing, showcasing the full extent of the instrument’s range and expressive capabilities. Michael Weir will lead audiences on the epic journey that is the Sibelius Violin Concerto, which features extended solo cadenzas that seem to suggest a troubled protagonist, searching the depths of their soul. Sibelius is famous for his dark and brooding moods, and though brilliant, the Violin Concerto rarely strays into the light.
Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony is similarly emotional. From the very outset, a mystical bassoon intones a low, sighing solo that leads the listener into a series of contrasting sections that shift suddenly between the sublimely lyrical and the violently agitated. After a lilting second movement and the festive march of the third movement, the stunning Finale pulls on the heart strings and plunges us into despair. The final moments fade away like a dying heartbeat, painting a picture of tragedy that leaves us all literally breathless. No other symphony has the same emotional arc and impact, and truly, it must be seen and heard to be believed.