Asheville Symphony Masterworks 4: Red, Hot and Blue

Handel: Overture to the Royal Fireworks
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Di Wu, piano
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10
In February we contrast the crackle of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks with the work that set the American musical world on its ear and changed the course of American classical music forever: Rhapsody in Blue. With its serious concerto clothing and brash, jazzy core of melodic and rhythmic genius, George Gershwin's original score remains a favorite of the piano repertoire. We are pleased to introduce Juilliard Competition winner Di Wu with this masterpiece of jazz and classical fusion. We will complete the evening with Shostakovich's intense and emotional Tenth Symphony. With the red-hot roar of a furious machine alongside secretly-coded musical messages of obsession and defiance, number ten is considered by many to be his finest symphony. With it, Shostakovich delivers a work of sheer orchestral power unparalleled in the Soviet era.
Thomas Wolfe Auditorium