Program Notes | Hartford Symphony Orchestra

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NEW! Read some fun facts about Masterworks in HSO’s Prelude!

Prelude is HSO’s new pre-concert guide which will be sent only in an electronic format to our subscribers, single-ticket holders, donors and any others who might be interested in some “insider information” about a piece, composer or artist that will be featured on the upcoming Masterworks program.

Prelude will not replace the excellent program notes in our concert program, but is written to offer some different – and hopefully fun – facts that will spark interest in the upcoming Masterworks program. It will be sent approximately a week in advance of the upcoming Masterworks program.

Please let us know what you think! If you know someone who might be interested in receiving Prelude, or you have feedback, please contact Ruth Sovronsky at 860-760-7321 or at rsovronsky@hartfordsymphony.org

2017-2018 Season

Masterworks 9: Carmina Burana: Festival of Fate

Masterworks 8: Shostakovich 5

Masterworks 7: Copland & Gershwin

Masterworks 6: Stravinsky & Swan Lake

Masterworks 5: The Keys to Romance

Masterworks 4: A Scottish Fantasy

Masterworks 3: December Dreams

Masterworks 2: Mozart & La Mer

Masterworks 1: Beethoven’s Eroica

2016-2017 Season

Masterworks 9: Choral Fantasy and Mystical Songs

Masterworks 8: Russian Intensity

Masterworks 7: The Planets: Different Worlds

Masterworks 6: A Faust Symphony

Masterworks 5: Symphonic Love Potions

Masterworks 4: Beethoven and Ravel

Masterworks 3: Merry Mozart

Masterworks #2: Bewitching Brahms

Masterworks #1: Scheherazade

2015-2016 Season

Masterworks #9: Gershwin: Pop artist or classical composer?

Masterworks #8: Romantic Rachmaninoff – Why did Rachmaninoff’s composing career nearly end almost as soon as it began?

Masterworks #7: Mozart & Hartt – Connecting to Mozart

Masterworks #6: Russian Masters – Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major

Masterworks #5: What piece of music can claim to have “induced fits of sobbing, fainting and even orgasms” in the theatre?

Masterworks #4: The Role of the Conductor, OR – Can Someone Please Explain What a Conductor Does, Really?

Masterworks #3: Handel: He Created a Gift That Keeps on Giving

Masterworks #2: Beethoven – The Bold Entrepreneur

Masterworks #1: Focus on Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26

Notes with composers’ biographical information and detailed remarks about the musical selections on the program compiled by a musicologist are available in the playbill for all Masterworks and Classical Connections.