Sarasota Orchestra performs Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Bernstein

No matter what style of classical music appeals to you most, this weekend’s Masterworks concert from the Sarasota Orchestra will probably hit your sweet spot.

The orchestra is titling the concert “Titan” after the Gustav Mahler symphony that concludes the program. The symphony is Mahler’s first, originally performed in 1889, and he originally called it “Symphonic Poem in Two Parts.” It did not impress audiences at first but it has grown in stature, acclaim and influence ever since.

Opening the concert is Leonard Bernstein’s “Overture to Candide.” The overture, from the 1956 operetta that Bernstein wrote with Lillian Hellman as a comment on the McCarthy hearings, is one of his most often performed works.

In between the overture and the symphony is Piotr Ilyich Tchaikivsky’s elegant “Variations on a Rococo Theme.”

The featured soloist on the Tchaikovsky is Sergei Nakariakov. Nakariakov is regarded as one of the world’s premier classical trumpet players, and he rearranged this piece for flugelhorn. The original composition is noted for demanding a high level of virtuosity from the soloist, and according to the Sarasota Orchestra, Nakariakov’s arrangement makes the virtuosic elements even more apparent.

Anu Tali, the orchestra’s music director, conducts the concert.

Details: March 17, Neel Performing Arts Center at State College of Florida, 840 26th St. W, Bradenton; March 18-19, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday. $33. 941-953-3434, sarasotaorchestra.org.

This story was originally published March 15, 2017 at 4:28 PM with the headline "Sarasota Orchestra performs Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Bernstein."