Undercurrents: Frost Symphony Orchestra

A season-closing orchestral program explores how twentieth-century composers embedded resistance, tension and resolve within music shaped by political constraint. The concert traces undercurrents of protest and personal voice through works by Ravel, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, performed by the Frost Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Gerard Schwarz.

The evening opens with Maurice Ravel’s Alborada del Gracioso, whose sharp rhythms and Spanish-inflected colors set an uneasy, kinetic tone. Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor follows, featuring Frost faculty pianist Naoko Takao as soloist in a work known for its extreme technical demands and volatile emotional range. Written early in Prokofiev’s career and later reconstructed after the original score was lost, the concerto moves between biting irony, explosive force and unexpected lyricism.

After intermission, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 anchors the program with a powerful reflection on life and art in the aftermath of Stalinist repression. Completed in 1953, the symphony is often heard as both personal reckoning and broader social commentary, unfolding from stark introspection to grim satire and, ultimately, a hard-won sense of release.

Undercurrents: Frost Symphony Orchestra takes place Saturday, April 25 at UM Gusman Concert Hall. The performance is part of the Frost School of Music’s Signature Events lineup for the 2025-2026 season.