Symphony C.S.I. team check out mysterious composer deaths

Oct 27, 2010

For Immediate Release

Contact: Annie Matlow 4664-7071

SPOKANE— C.S.I. Spokane has called in the crack investigators at the Spokane Symphony to help unearth the truth about a series of mysterious composer deaths. Resident Conductor Morihiko Nakahara will head up the detective team and will present his findings on Friday, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. at Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox. The Spokane Symphony Chorale will assist in his presentation.  

First on the list is the strange circumstance surrounding the death of Jean-Baptiste Lully, an Italian-born, French composer who worked most of his life in the court of King Louis XIV. He was the master of French Baroque music, who invented French opera, lively ballet dancing and the new art form of comédie-ballet, most notably the Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, a satire of social climbing. (The title is meant as an oxymoron, since at the time, a "gentleman" was by definition nobly born, and thus there could be no such thing as a bourgeois (middle class) gentleman.Question: did this highly influential composer commit suicide, or did he kill himself through as series of accidents and poor choices?

The death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has been shrouded with misinformation and mystery. Part of the investigation will include a performance of Kyrie from Mozart’s Requiem, featuring the Spokane Symphony Chorale. The story of how Mozart came to compose the Requiem has often been told. The mysterious man in grey who commissioned it from him, for a generous fee but under the condition of secrecy, turned out to be the servant of a Count Walsegg who intended to claim the work has his own at a memorial service for his wife. Some sources even claim that Mozart believed he was being poisoned. What are the facts, and what are the rantings of a fever victim?  

Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa, and Count of Conza, was an Italian Renaissance composer famous for his intensely expressive madrigals, and also for committing what are amongst the most notorious murders in musical history. After the murders, Gesualdo was wracked by guilt, which is apparent in the words of his music, including the famous Moro lasso al mio duolo meaning “Wearily I die from my agony.”

Morihiko and the orchestra will also conduct an inquiry into the deaths of renown composers Johannes Brahms, (Morihiko will find clues in Nanie, op. 82), and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, whose writings include Serenade for Strings.

There is only one way to find out who died how, by coming to the Unusual Composer Deaths concert, the first of as series entitled C.S.I: Spokane.

The Spokane Symphony Chorale was established in 1955 and has been an official entity of the Spokane Symphony since 1978. As such, the Spokane Symphony Chorale has appeared in numerous symphony concerts over the years. Recently performed works include the Requiems by Mozart and Brahms, Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The Chorale is led by Dr. Julián Gómez Giraldo, and is made up of dedicated volunteers.

Tickets for C.S.I. Spokane: Unusual Composer Deaths are $10, $20, and $30. Tickets are available in advance at the Spokane Symphony Ticket Office, located at Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague, or by calling 509-624-1200. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.spokanesymphony.org Tickets are also available at all TicketsWest outlets or by calling 1-800-325-SEAT.

This concert has been underwritten by Witherspoon-Kelley and Banner Bank.