Rossini’s tragic opera Semiramide was written in 1823 when he was 31 and at the height of his fame. The opera is seldom performed, but the overture, one of Rossini’s most ambitious and brilliant, has become a favorite with concert audiences.

After a brief, dramatic opening it has an extensive slow introduction with a tune from one of the opera’s arias played first by a quartet of French horns, then by the woodwinds. The remainder of the overture is a brilliant, witty allegro that is a showpiece for all sections of the orchestra.

Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo was catapulted to instant international fame in 1939 by his Concierto de Aranjuez, which remains the most popular concerto for guitar and orchestra.

Rodrigo successfully captured the flavor of 18th and 19th century dances from the town of Aranjuez in a work that also solves the problem of combining the guitar with full orchestra

Robert Schumann composed his first symphony during the winter of 1841. The subtitle “Spring” comes from his thoughts about the work. He wrote that he had composed it “with a vernal passion….that always sways men even into old age and surprises them anew each year”. The surprise he refers to is the effect of spring after the winter during which he wrote the symphony. The result is a piece that is contagious in its joyful celebration.

Richard Wagner composed his Siegfried Idyll in early December 1870 as a musical statement of his happiness in his recent marriage to his mistress Cosima Von Bulow nee Liszt and in the birth of their son Siegfried earlier that year. It was first performed on Christmas morning in their villa Triebchen in Lucerne, Switzerland as a Christmas present to Cosima.

The music calls for chamber orchestra and ranges in mood from contentment to joy, the feelings that Wagner was feeling at that time.

Martin Rokeach is a Bay Area composer who is one of the founders and artistic directors of San Francisco’s contemporary music series Composers, Inc. He also teaches at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, California.

This concerto was written for our soloist Diane Maltester at her request, and these performances will be the work’s World Premiere.

Mozart probably composed this symphony in the winter of 1786, and he conducted the first performance in Prague on January 19, 1787. The city of Prague developed an enthusiasm for hi opera The Marriage of Figaro that bordered on mania, so on that same visit he presented them with this symphony during one of his concerts. His happiness on that occasion may be reflected in the fact that this is one of his most brilliant and joyful symphonies.

Brahms may have been moved to write this work by the deaths of two of the people who were most dear to him, composer/mentor Robert Schumann in 1856 and Brahms mother Christine in 1865 since portions of the work date from both of those years. Although he was not a conventional believer Brahms was a student of the Bible and selected the texts from the German Lutheran Bible.

This beautiful and deeply moving work immediately won the hearts of audiences everywhere and established Brahms as a composer with an international reputation before any of his symphonies were written.

Beethoven wrote the incidental music for the ballet “The Creatures of Prometheus” in 1801. The overture has a brief, solemn introduction followed by a brilliant and lively main section.

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, op. 15, was written during 1796 and 1797. The first performance was in Prague in 1798, with Beethoven himself playing the piano, dedicated to his student Babette Countess Keglevics.

This symphony represents a complete change in Beethoven’s style and scale of writing. It is the beginning of what many writers refer to as his “heroic” period. This symphony is dramatic beyond any previously written and much grander in physical and emotional scope.

It was truly a revolutionary work for its time. Beethoven also enlarged the orchestra slightly by adding a 3rd French horn to make a trio of these instruments that are featured prominently in the 3rd movement.