Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra Presents Hit Parade 2: Censored!

On May 14, the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra’s Spring Concert features three “hits” that have experienced some type of public censorship, but survived to see the light of day.

• Wolfgang Mozart’s “Overture” to The Marriage of Figaro. This opera was based on the Pierre Beaumarchais play of the same name, which was banned in Vienna because of the satiric way it depicted the aristocracy.

• Felix Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin in E minor, Op. 64. Vicious German anti-Semitism, which began as early as 1850, and lasted through the Nazi regime, was responsible for the denigration and eventual banning of many of Mendelssohn’s ingenious works.

• Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9 in E-flat Major, Op. 70. Shostakovich was no stranger to harsh Soviet criticism and threats on his life. The central censorship board banned his Ninth Symphony three years after it was written.

The concert features Assistant Concertmaster Clarice Purdy as solo violinist for Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin in E minor.

As well, the concert is the orchestra’s last under the baton of Joseph Schlefke, who has been its Music Director and Conductor since 2001.

Hit Parade 2: Censored!
May 14
Sundin Music Hall
Hamline University
1531 Hewitt Ave., St. Paul
(651) 656-5676
www.mnphil.org