The Glory of Beethoven 

April 30th - 8pm

Brahms Tragic Overture

Berlioz The Death of Cleopatra

Beethoven Mass in C

Join us in the First Niagara Community Room for Classics in the Evening, a pre-concert talk hosted by Brian Hannah before every Symphonic concert starting at 7:15pm.

We bring our season to a glorious close with three B’s (apologies to Mr. Bach!)  In his Tragic Overture, Brahms presents weighty ideas in which seriousness and passion intermingle to create a musical statement of romantic fervor.  Predating Brahms, Hector Berlioz’s La Mort de Cleopatre goes even further in wild extremities of harmony and dramatic expression.  With a flair for the stage, Berlioz crafts a monodrama for soprano solo and orchestra that gives voice to Cleopatra’s anguish and eventual demise.  Beethoven’s Mass in C is a deeply-felt statement of musical joy.  Though not a churchgoer himself, Beethoven managed to find sufficient inspiration in the text of the Latin Mass to give voice to his all-embracing, triumph-of-mankind philosophy.  The Erie Philharmonic Chorus will join with voices from Mercyhurst University and soloists from the Pittsburgh Opera to create this sensational, joyous season finale that only a master like Beethoven could attempt to achieve.