Carmel Symphony Orchestra presents “Symphonic Odyssey” to wrap season

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Join the Carmel Symphony Orchestra at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 18 as it wraps up the 2025-2026 season with a journey through four exciting and meaningful works for full symphony orchestra.

The night will include pieces by Antonín Dvořák, Cristina Spinei, Gustav Mahler, and Felix Mendelssohn.

Repertoire

• Antonín Dvořák – Carnival Overture, op. 92
• Cristina Spinei – …throes of increasing wonder
• Gustav Mahler – Adagiettofrom Symphony No. 5
• Felix Mendelssohn – Symphony No. 5, op. 107, “Reformation,” featuring Conductor Kelly Corcoran

Dvořák’s Carnival Overture celebrates the bountiful joy we find in life. It shimmers with delight, imbued with life from the first note to the last. Written in 1891, Carnival was composed just two years before Dvořák set sail for America. The piece is meant to depict a lively scene at a traditional Czech carnival, an illustration of what it means to be alive in his native land.

Spinei’s work …throes of increasing wonder (originally composed for ballet performance) is shimmery, light, and lavish in its own way. Spinei is an up-and-coming composer out of Nashville, Tenn. She studied composition at The Julliard School with composer Christopher Rouse. Spinei’s …throes of increasing wonder was commissioned by The Pacific Northwest Ballet company in celebration of its 50^th anniversary season.

Mahler’s Adagietto for strings and harp remind us of our own stories of boundless love for those closest to us. This piece flows slowly with complete loving adoration, enjoying the passing of time. The origin of the piece is born out of the composer’s love for his wife, Alma Schindler, the socialite of her day – the “It Girl” of Austrian culture. She was a composer and musician in her own right, but upon falling in love with Mahler in 1901, she relinquished her musical career in service of his.

Mendelssohn’s Fifth Symphony, “Reformation,” is its own wonder of composition, contemplating the great themes of faith and life. Mendelssohn’s masterwork will surely leave you in awe, juxtaposing “old style” polyphony (featuring two or more simultaneous, independent melodic lines that interact harmoniously) and his own ubiquitous style. The piece was received poorly when it was first performed, but it would be found and published decades after Mendelssohn’s death. The “Reformation” symphony has posthumously earned a lasting space in the orchestral cannon.

Click here to learn more about the repertoire.