The Helena Symphony Orchestra & Chorale ushers in the holiday season with the time-honored Christmas in the Cathedral on Monday, December 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the Cathedral of St. Helena. This concert is not part of the Masterworks Concert Series. There is only one performance of this magical evening and is almost sold out! All seating is reserved.
Acclaimed soloists Soprano Katherine Polit and Mezzo Soprano Jessica Ann Best make their debuts with members of the Helena Symphony Orchestra & and the 100-voice Helena Symphony Chorale. The concert includes Mozart’s popular Exsultate, jubilate, Vivaldi’s celebrated Gloria, and several a cappella works that celebrate the beginning of the holiday season. “Amidst the joys of the season, Christmas (irrespective of one’s faith) is also a time of quiet and reflection in addition to celebration,” suggests Music Director Allan R. Scott. “The coldness of winter allows us to find an inner warmth that is equally spiritual and human, and we do this all through music.”
In October 1772, the teenage Mozart composed Exsultate, jubilate for soprano solo and orchestra with the dramatic flair of an opera aria. “This work stands out as one of his most brightly colored works, expressing an outward glow rather than an intense personal faith,” explains Maestro Scott. “It remains popular in the concert hall for soprano soloists and audiences and exists as one of the great examples of the child prodigy’s early artistic growth into the genius we know today.”
Perhaps after the Four Seasons, Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria is his most celebrated work for audiences today. The text to the Gloria comes from the traditional Latin mass, beginning with the biblical announcement of glory and peace given by the angels to the shepherds at the birth of Christ. Fascinatingly and ironically, Vivaldi’s Gloria remained undiscovered until the late 1920’s when it was found buried among a pile of forgotten Vivaldi manuscripts and it was not performed until 1939 in a fairly elaborated version. The composer’s original version was eventually premiered in 1957 at the First Festival of Baroque Choral Music at Brooklyn College in New York, and today it still remains a work of some of the most enjoyable Baroque melodies, instrumental effects, and rhythmic energy even though it took over two centuries to hear. Maestro Scott made his professional debut with this work as a 15-year-old conducting it in 1986 in Philadelphia.
In addition to these two masterworks, the Helena Symphony Orchestra & Chorale and two soloists will also perform other works – from ethereal and reflective works for a cappella chorus to well-loved music, such as O Holy Night, an “Ave Maria,” and even some great festive Christmas favorites.
This is a Non-Series Concert and not part of the Masterworks Subscription Series. All seats are reserved, and tickets range from $55 to $25, plus an added $5 transaction fee. Tickets can be purchased online 24 hours a day, or by calling the Symphony Box Office (406.442.1860), or at the Symphony Box Office located on the corner of the Walking Mall and Broadway (2 N. Last Chance Gulch, Suite 1) Monday through Friday, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.