From LIVE ARTS TOLEDO
The Toledo Symphony, part of Live Arts Toledo, will present “Pines of Rome” on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 8 p.m. at The Toledo Museum of Art Peristyle. The performance opens the Rita Barbour Kern Masterworks Series Individual tickets are also available at liveartstoledo.com or by calling the Live Arts Toledo Box Office at 419-246-8000. This is the final opportunity to subscribe to the eight-performance series.
Opening night moves from instantly recognizable operatic drama to Respighi’s spectacular portrait of Rome. Grammy-nominated baritone Sidney Outlaw brings warmth, wit, and theatrical character to seven selections: Mozart’s teasing “Rivolgete a lui lo sguardo,” Figaro’s famous entrance aria “Largo al factotum,” Donizetti’s dark “Cruda funesta smania,” Rodrigo’s noble farewell from “Don Carlo,” and three lyrical songs by Paolo Tosti. Orchestral favorites by Verdi and Mascagni frame the vocal selections before the full orchestra fills The Peristyle with the color, distance, and blazing final procession of “Pines of Rome.”
Respighi’s score journeys through time as much as place, moving from children at play to ancient catacombs, moonlit stillness, and the triumphant Appian Way. Paired with Italian opera and song, the program gives TSO’s opening night a strong dramatic arc: individual voices at the center of the first half and the entire orchestra becoming a vast theatrica instrument in the second.
“This program has the sun and the drama of Italy on every page,” said Music Director Alain Trudel. “After a brush with destiny by Verdi, we begin our journey with one of my favorite singers, Sidney Outlaw—a generous voice, full of character, that speaks directly to the heart— and then Respighi lets the whole orchestra become the city of Rome itself. In the final minutes, you feel the sound coming toward you like history in motion. What a magnificent way to open our season together!”
