facebook-pixel

Superstars, cinema and plenty of Saint-Saëns among Utah Symphony’s 2017-18 highlights

Music • Utah Symphony reveals its 2017-18 season.

Conrad Tao Courtesy Photo

An ambitious Saint-Saëns recording project, a new film series, a centennial salute to Leonard Bernstein and visits from several superstars are among the highlights of the Utah Symphony's 2017-18 season.

The orchestra, led by music director Thierry Fischer, will record all five of Saint-Saëns' symphonies live for release on the Hyperion label. The project marks the first Saint-Saëns symphony cycle to be recorded by an American orchestra. Also included on the recordings will be shorter works such as "Danse macabre" and "Carnival of the Animals."

The season also will include appearances by soprano Renée Fleming (in a season-opening gala that also marks the 40th anniversary of Utah Opera, which merged with the Utah Symphony in 2002); violinist Hilary Hahn and pianist Stephen Hough, each appearing in Abravanel Hall for the first time since 2012; and Broadway heavyweights Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell. Pianist Conrad Tao, a frequent guest of the Utah Symphony, will be artist-in-residence, soloing on two separate programs. Works marking the Bernstein centennial include his Symphony No. 2 ("Age of Anxiety") and "Chichester Psalms"; the latter is one of the major choral works featured on the upcoming season, along with Mozart's great C Minor Mass and Stravinsky's "Symphony of Psalms."

Members of the Utah Symphony also will feature prominently on a handful of concerts, led by concertmaster Madeline Adkins' performance of the Korngold Violin Concerto on the season finale.

Inspired by audience response to screenings of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" with live orchestra accompaniment over the recent winter holidays, the orchestra has added a Films in Concert series of four disparate films, including the second "Potter" film, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," and the first-ever presentation of "High Noon" with live performance of the Dimitri Tiomkin score. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas" round out the series.

Here is the Utah Symphony | Utah Opera 2017-18 season. Orchestra concerts are in Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, and operas are in the Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City. Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. except as noted.

Sept. 8-9, 7 p.m. • Films in Concert. "Raiders of the Lost Ark"; score by John Williams.

Sept. 13 • Special Event: An Evening with Renée Fleming.

Sept. 15-16 • Masterworks. Mozart, Overture to "Don Giovanni"; Beethoven, Violin Concerto; R. Strauss, "Don Juan" and "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks." Thierry Fischer, conductor; Augustin Hadelich, violin.

Sept. 22-23 • Masterworks. Berlioz, "Roman Carnival Overture"; Saint-Saëns, Symphony No. 2; Dvorák, Cello Concerto. Thierry Fischer, conductor; Harriet Krijgh, cello.

Sept. 26 • Special Event: "Salute to Youth." Conductor and young soloists TBA.

Oct. 7-15 • Opera. Puccini, "La bohème." Robert Tweten, conductor; Kathleen Clawson, director.

Oct. 20-21 • Masterworks. Brahms, Selections from "Hungarian Dances"; Schoenberg, Violin Concerto; Beethoven, Symphony No. 5. Thierry Fischer, conductor; Patricia Kopatchinskaja, violin.

Oct. 24, 7 p.m. • Films in Concert. "The Nightmare Before Christmas"; score by Danny Elfman.

Oct. 27-28 • Entertainment. "Broadway Divas." Jack Everly, conductor; Christina Bianco, Mandy Gonzalez, N'Kenge and Kristen Plumley, vocalists.

Nov. 3-4 • Masterworks. Ravel, "Ma mère l'oye (Mother Goose)"; Saint-Saëns, Introduction and Rondo capriccioso; Ravel, "Tzigane"; Rachmaninoff, Symphonic Dances. Matthias Pintscher, conductor; William Hagen, violin.

Nov. 10-11 • Masterworks. Brahms, "Four Preludes and Serious Songs"; Mozart, Mass in C Minor ("The Great"). Markus Stenz, conductor; Celena Shafer and Sarah Shafer, sopranos; Thomas Cooley, tenor; Patrick Carfizzi, bass-baritone; Utah Symphony Chorus and University of Utah choirs (Barlow Bradford, chorus master).

Nov. 17-18 • Masterworks. Rossini, Overture to "The Barber of Seville"; Rachmaninoff, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini; Elgar, Symphony No. 1. Mark Wigglesworth, conductor; Jon Kimura Parker, piano.

Nov. 24-25 • Special Event: "Messiah" Sing-In."

Dec. 1-2 • Masterworks. Saint-Saëns, "Bacchanale" from "Samson et Dalila," Trois tableaux symphoniques d'apres "La Foi," Symphony No. 3 ("Organ"). Thierry Fischer, conductor; organist TBA.

Dec. 8-9 • Masterworks. Saint-Saëns, Symphony in F Major ("Urbs Roma"), Piano Concerto No. 2, "Carnival of the Animals." Thierry Fischer, conductor; Louis Lortie, piano.

Dec. 12 • Special Event: Celtic Woman with the Utah Symphony.

Dec. 15-16 • Entertainment. Holiday Pops with Brian Stokes Mitchell.

Dec. 16, 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. • Family. "Here Comes Santa Claus!"

Dec. 21-23, 7 p.m. • Films in Concert. "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"; score by John Williams.

Jan. 5-6 • Masterworks. Haydn, Symphony No. 8 ("Le soir"); Dvorák, Selections from "Slavonic Dances" and Violin Concerto. Thierry Fischer, conductor; Hilary Hahn, violin.

Jan. 12-13 • Masterworks. Stravinsky, "Funeral Song" and "The Firebird"; Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 1. Thierry Fischer, conductor; Stephen Hough, piano.

Jan. 21-29 • Opera. Jake Heggie, "Moby-Dick." Joseph Mechavich, conductor; Kristine McIntyre, director.

Feb. 2-3 • Masterworks. Joseph Martin Kraus, Overture to "Olympie"; Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 9 ("Jeunehomme") and "Eine kleine Nachtmusik"; Haydn, Symphony No. 99. Bernard Labadie, conductor; Ronald Brautigam, piano.

Feb. 9-10 • Entertainment. "Dancing and Romancing." Conductor TBA.

Feb. 17 • Films in Concert. "High Noon"; score by Dimitri Tiomkin.

Feb. 23-24 • Masterworks. Saint-Saëns, "Danse macabre" and Symphony No. 1; Bernstein, Symphony No. 2 ("Age of Anxiety"). Thierry Fischer, conductor; Conrad Tao, piano.

March 2-3 • Masterworks. Saint-Saëns, Symphony in A Major; Bernstein, "Chichester Psalms" and Divertimento for Orchestra; Stravinsky, "Symphony of Psalms." Thierry Fischer, conductor; boy soprano from Madeleine Choir School TBA; Utah Symphony Chorus and University of Utah choirs (Barlow Bradford, chorus master).

March 10-18 • Opera. Leoncavallo, "I Pagliacci," and Puccini, "Gianni Schicchi." Joseph Colaneri, conductor; Tara Faircloth, director.

March 17, 11 a.m. • Family. "Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham." Kimberly Schroeder, actor and soprano; Sara Valentine, actor; conductor TBA.

March 23-24 • Entertainment. Audra McDonald, vocalist; conductor TBA.

April 6-7 • Masterworks. Franck, "Le chasseur maudit (The Accursed Huntsman)"; Prokofiev, Piano Concerto No. 2; Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 2 ("Little Russian"). Karina Canellakis, conductor; Conrad Tao, piano.

April 13-14 • Entertainment. "Elvis: The King's Songbook."

April 14, 11 a.m. • Family. Enchantment Theatre Company presents "The Firebird."

April 20-21 • Masterworks. Nielsen, "Helios" Overture; Grieg, Piano Concerto; Sibelius, Symphony No. 2. Kazuki Yamada, conductor; Alexandra Dariescu, piano.

April 27-28 • Masterworks. Shostakovich, Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 and Symphony No. 10. Thierry Fischer, conductor; Boris Giltburg, piano; Travis Peterson, trumpet.

May 4-5 • Masterworks. R. Strauss, Serenade for Winds, "Don Quixote" and "Also sprach Zarathustra." Thierry Fischer, conductor; Rainer Eudeikis, cello (Don Quixote); Brant Bayless, viola (Sancho Panza).

May 12-20 • Opera. J. Strauss II, "Die Fledermaus." Gary Thor Wedow, conductor; Kyle Lang, director.

May 22 • Special Event: All-Star Evening. Conductor and young soloist TBA.

May 25-26 • Masterworks. Tristan Murail, "Reflections/Reflets III" (U.S. premiere); Korngold, Violin Concerto; Rachmaninoff, Symphony No. 2. Thierry Fischer, conductor; Madeline Adkins, violin.

Symphony season

For season ticket information, visit www.utahsymphony.org .

FILE - In this June 8, 2014 file photo, actress Audra McDonald arrives at the 68th annual Tony Awards in New York. McDonald on Tuesday, May 10, 2016, announced she is expecting and will take maternity leave from “Shuffle Along” beginning on July 24. She will return to the Tony Award-nominated musical this winter. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

| courtesy photo Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell is one of the headline performers for the Grand Opening Performance of Salt Lake City's new George S. and Dolores DorŽ Eccles Theatre.

Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Utah Symphony Concertmaster Madeline Adkins poses for a portrait at The Salt Lake Tribune Tuesday October 18, 2016.

nightmare before christmas

Jack Skellington tries to get the hang of this whole Christmas thing in ÒTim BurtonÕs The Nightmare Before Christmas,Ó now being re-released in 3D. (Left) Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon) ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sally has feelings for Jack Skellington, the king of Halloween, in ÒTim BurtonÕs The Nightmare Before Christmas,Ó now being re-released in 3D. (L-R) Sally (Catherine O'Hara), Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon) ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

| Courtesy Hilary Hahn will perform with the Utah Symphony on Nov. 16 and Nov. 17.

| Courtesy Hilary Hahn will perform with the Utah Symphony on Nov. 16 and Nov. 17.

Peter Miller | Deutsche Grammophon Hilary Hahn, Violinist.

| Courtesy Renee Flemming will be the guest performer with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for their Christmas concert in December.