Join the 麻豆社 Philharmonic for an afternoon of Britten and Shostakovich with conductor Adam Hickox and Helen Charlston Mezzo Soprano. Benjamin Britten composed Phaedra in the summer of 1975, the year before his death and at a time when his health was in decline. Despite his increasing fragility, the British composer wrote some of his most beautiful work in the last few years of his life. Phaedra, which has the atmosphere and drama of a mini-opera, is full blooded and passionate, exploring the highest reaches of the mezzo range. It was written for Dame Janet Baker, who gave the premiere in 1976 at the Aldeburgh Festival, which Britten had co-founded 30 years before. Dmitri Shostakovich wrote his Ninth Symphony in 1945 and said of it: "If the Seventh and the Eighth symphonies bore a tragic-heroic character, then in the Ninth, a transparent, pellucid, and bright mood predominates." Celebratory and uplifting, this was perhaps Shostakovich鈥檚 most surprising symphony yet. It was shorter, classical in structure, witty, tuneful and lighter in tone. 鈥淢usicians will love to play it, and critics will love to blast it,鈥� the composer predicted. What he didn鈥檛 mention is just how much audiences love to hear it.
