Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto & Saint Saëns’ “Organ” Symphony

TWO MASTERPIECES. ONE UNFORGETTABLE NIGHT.
TCHAIKOVSKY’S VIOLIN CONCERTO & SAINT-SAËNS’ “ORGAN” SYMPHONY
THURSDAY, APRIL 22 | 7:30 PM
TICKETS START AT $17

The Utah Symphony closes the Masterworks season with Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and Saint-Saëns’ “Organ” Symphony in a program designed to send you home on your feet. This is the night the whole season has been building toward: familiar melodies, a world-class violinist, and a finale so massive and physical you have to be in the room to believe it.

TCHAIKOVSKY’S VIOLIN CONCERTO WITH THE UTAH SYMPHONY

The evening opens with Čekovská’s Toy Procession, a short and playful orchestral piece that sets a lighter mood before the big works arrive. Then Canadian violinist Blake Pouliot takes the stage for Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, one of the most beloved and emotionally direct works in all of classical music. You may have heard its melodies a hundred times without knowing what they’re called. The slow movement is heartbreaking. The finale is pure exhilaration. Pouliot, a Juno-nominated artist praised for his warm, singing tone and fearless technique, is the kind of soloist who makes the instrument feel like a human voice.

WHEN THE ORGAN ENTERS, EVERYTHING CHANGES

After intermission, the Utah Symphony performs Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3, the “Organ” Symphony. You may know the main theme from the movie Babe, where it became the song “If I Had Words.” But hearing it in a concert hall, with a full orchestra and a pipe organ, is a completely different experience. When the organ enters in the final movement, the sound fills the room in a way that recordings can’t capture. It’s massive, triumphant, and physical. Richard Elliott, principal organist of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and a name Utah audiences know well, is the soloist.

French conductor Ludovic Morlot leads the program. A Grammy-winning former Music Director of the Seattle Symphony with a deep connection to French repertoire, he’s an ideal fit for the Saint-Saëns. This is the season finale of the Onstage Ogden Masterworks Series.

Program
- Ludovic Morlot, conductor
- Blake Pouliot, violin
- Richard Elliott, organ
- ČEKOVSKÁ — Toy Procession
- TCHAIKOVSKY — Violin Concerto
- Intermission
- SAINT-SAËNS — Symphony No. 3, “Organ”