Dr. Divertimento
(unplugged party music)
7:30 p.m. Saturday, October 28, 2023
Greaves Concert Hall, NKU
The Kentucky Symphony Orchestra opens its 32nd season October 28th with Dr. Divertimento, and over 200 years of unplugged party music. The divertimento — a light-hearted musical form, which often included dance tunes — was normally performed by smaller groups of musicians in the 18th c. to accompany indoor and outdoor banquets and social events. Composers of the 20th century brought these party beats to ballet and orchestral music.
Saturday’s program opens with Mozart’s Divertimento in D for oboe, horns and strings followed by Bartok’s intriguing Divertimento for strings. Following intermission, Stravinsky’s homage to Tchaikovsky brings the whole orchestra on stage for the Divertimento from The Fairy’s Kiss, before closing with Bernstein’s rambunctious Divertimento, written for the Boston Symphony.
While not quite the zaniness of Spike Jones, Tom Leher, Ray Stevens, or Weird Al Yankovic, we’re sure Dr. Demento (whose college thesis compared operas of Berg and Debussy) would approve of the KSO’s whimsical pairings and program title. It’s the KSO and Dr. Divertimento — 7:30 p.m., Saturday, October 28 at Greaves Concert Hall on the campus of NKU. Let’s party! For additional info and tickets — kyso.org or (859) 431-6216.
More on the KSO:
Since 1992, the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of founder James R. Cassidy, has forged its unique brand of cultural entertainment via thematic programming,
while offering fresh presentations of classics, premieres and forays into jazz, film, dance, semi-staged operas and musicals, long before they were common place with orchestras today. Serving as a farm team to major and regional orchestras across the nation, the KSO offers professional musicians and audiences opportunities to perform and hear great and varied music. Subscription series concerts are the only ticketed performances, as the KSO’s six Summer concerts and its education outreach programs are completely free to attendees. In its fourth decade of serving the tristate, the KSO continues to make symphonic music and the concert experience attractive, accessible and affordable for all.
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 