Orchestra’s spring concert to focus on ballet

Madison City Community Orchestra will present its spring concert, “A Night at the Ballet,” on May 5 at 7 p.m. in James Clemens High School Auditorium. CONTRIBUTED

MADISON – For its spring concert, Madison City Community Orchestra will delve into the world of ballet when they present “A Night at the Ballet.”

The concert will be held on May 5 at 7 p.m. in James Clemens High School Auditorium.

“We will perform wonderful pieces like ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ as well as ‘Dance of the Gypsy’, ‘Danse Bacchanale’ from ‘Samson and Delilah’ and the magnificent ‘Firebird Suite: Danse Infernale and Berceuse and Finale’ and, of course, excerpts from the famous ‘Nutcracker Suite,’” orchestra director Sandy Weisner said. 

“Mysterious and beautiful, the ballet brings us images of beautiful dancers gracefully flitting about the stage. But how does music influence the ballet?” Weisner said. 

Until about the 19th Century, music in ballet was not considered as important since the focus was on the dance, she said. “As ballet music progressed, classical music composers who had only composed symphonies began to compose full ballets.” Tchaikovsky was one of the first.

“During the Renaissance, dancers would perform without grand music,” Weisner said. Sometimes a flautist or violinist would accompany but not on the scale of a full orchestra.

“In 1717, this was changed because of composer Jean Baptiste Lully. He created the first music to tell a story through dance. Lully and fellow composer Rameau created the opera ballet, a combination between singing and dancing,” Weisner said.

In MCCO’s concert, Tchaikovsky wrote several pieces, most notably “The Nutcracker Ballet” based on the story, “The Nutcracker and the King of Mice,” written by E.T.A. Hoffman. “When Marius Petipa had the idea to choreograph the story into a ballet, it was actually based on a revision by Alexander Dumas, a well-known French author,” Weisner said. 

Igor Stravinsky’s most famous work, “The Firebird Suite,” also is featured in MCCO’s concert. The story describes a beautiful, magical bird that is captured and is both blessed and cursed by the capture, Weisner said.

The ballet centers on the journey of its hero, Prince Ivan. While hunting in the forest, he strays into the magical realm of Koschei the Immortal. Ivan chases and captures the Firebird and is about to kill her. She begs for her life and he spares hero, Weisner said.

The concert is free but reserving tickets is recommended due to seating limitations. To reserve tickets, visit Facebook/Madison City Community Orchestra and click the Eventbrite link.