In Solidarity with Ukraine
Ukraine crisis prompts La Crosse Symphony to revise weekend concert repertoire to Tchaikovsky’s “The Ukrainian”!
Russia’s tragic and destructive invasion of Ukraine has caused the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra to make changes to this weekend’s concert. The centerpiece of the concert was a performance of the Symphony No.1, nicknamed the “Winter Dreams”, by the great 19th-century Russian composer, Tchaikovsky. Now, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2, rechristened as “the Ukrainian” will be performed! In addition, in collaboration with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, Viterbo University’s Concert Choir will open the second half of the concert with a performance of the Ukrainian Prayer for Peace.
“We wish to make a gesture of solidarity with the people of Ukraine by instead offering our audience of Tchaikovsky’s equally majestic Symphony No.2 in C Minor, “Ukrainian” Maestro Alexander Platt said. “Written in 1872, mostly while Tchaikovsky was staying with his sister and her family in their beloved estate in the Ukrainian countryside, the Second Symphony makes generous use of Ukrainian folk songs — in this case, songs that Tchaikovsky heard being sung by servants on the estate itself. It was always a work he held with great affection, so much so that he revised the work several years later in what he considered it perfect form. It is in this spirit of solidarity with the Ukrainian people, and in our belief in the eternal healing power of music, that we offer this performance.”
Purchase Tickets to Saturday, March 5th Concert at 7:30 PM – Viterbo Fine Arts Center
WXOW channel 19 news piece on the “Ukrainian”
