Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Saying Goodbye to the Conductor

 

The reason I was in downtown Phoenix last Saturday was to attend a performance of the Phoenix Symphony.  They were playing Mahler's Symphony No. 2, a symphony I had never heard before.  My friend Riley said we should be prepared for a very long symphony with a lot of exuberance.  He was right.   To quote from the program:  "Mahler took an unusually expansive view of what a symphony could be, once declaring that the symphony 'is the world' and that it 'must embrace everything'." I don't think I had ever seen so many musicians on the stage before.


In addition to this great music, this was our conductor's last performance in Phoenix.  Tito Munoz has been the conductor of the Phoenix Symphony for 10 years and this was his last performance.
















We attended a going-away party for Tito after the performance where the orchestra presented him with this great portrait as a parting gift.


Hopefully he will be back from time to time as a guest conductor.  

9 comments:

  1. It sounds like a wonderful event, Sharon.

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  2. Good for you, not my type of music, but that is how it should be.

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  3. Now that you pointed it out, I have never seen so many musicians either.

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  4. I am pretty sure Doc Spo was at that performance also. Small world.

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  5. Live music is always a joy to listen to, you feel surrounded by it.

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  6. Dave LOVES Mahler. I think musicians consider him quite fascinating -- the music is so complex and unusual.

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  7. Our conductor has been in Dayton since 1995. He has announced that he will retire in 2027 and has been following a 5-year plan to insure a smooth transition. We will miss him.

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  8. People who can do this for a job are very clever I think

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