Faculty artist Michael Sylvester, a renowned tenor who has sung leading roles in the major opera houses worldwide, will appear as soloist with the Wichita State Symphony Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26, at the Miller Concert Hall. The program, featuring music by Brahms, Richard Strauss, and Gilbert and Sullivan, will be conducted by Dr. Mark Laycock, College of Fine Arts director of Orchestra and Strings.
Widely considered one of the finest lyric spinto tenors of his generation, Sylvester will sing five selections: “Traum durch die Dämmerung” and “Zueignung,” two Lieder by Richard Strauss; “Besame Mucho” by Consuelo Velázquez; “On the Street Where You Live” from the Lerner and Loewe musical “My Fair Lady;” and “When I Was a Lad” from the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera “H.M.S. Pinafore.”
The program also features Johannes Brahms’s Symphony “No. 1 in C Minor.” The composer, struggling in the shadow of Beethoven, tried in vain for over a decade to craft his first symphonic effort. The dramatic result displays Brahms’s preferences for dense, soulful lyricism and rhythmic complexity. As in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the centerpiece of the final movement is a bright, songlike melody
WSU students will valid university ID will not be charged for admission. Tickets for the event are $12, with discounts available. For more information, contact 316-978-3233 or the WSU Fine Arts Box Office.