A longtime conductor of the Starkville-MSU Symphony will be remembered as the Starkville-MSU Symphony Orchestra takes the Lee Hall stage at Mississippi State University Saturday, Feb. 25. A 7:30 p.m. program of masterworks will honor the late Guy Hargrove, who conducted the orchestra from 1975-1991. He passed away in September 2016. Hargrove taught voice, music history and art song repertoire among other subjects at MSU and gave numerous concerts both in the United States and abroad.
Under the direction of Barry E. Kopetz Saturday, the orchestra will present works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Georges Bizet, Jacques Offenbach and Áskell Masson. The program opens with “Orpheus in the Underworld” by Offenbach. The 1858 farce puts a satirical spin on the ancient Greek tale of Orpheus. For the Vienna production of 1860, Carl Binder composed an overture that has become famous, beginning with its fanfare, followed by a tender love song, a dramatic passage, a complex waltz and, finally, its renowned can-can music.
The next selection, “Carmen Suite No. 1,” offers a sample of five of the most well-known selections from Bizet’s beloved opera “Carmen.”
The third piece is Masson’s “Konzertstuck for Snare Drum and Orchestra.” It was premiered in September 1982 by the Swede Roger Carlsson with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, and has since been performed widely by many of the world’s orchestras. Snare soloist Trenton Brown is the current winner of the MSU Student Concerto Competition.
For the final selection of the evening, the orchestra will be joined by the MSU University Singers. Mozart’s “Mass in C Major, K. 317,” known as the “Coronation Mass,” was composed in 1779 and is one of his most popular settings of the “Ordinary of the Mass.” The performance will be conducted by MSU Director of Choral Activities Gary Packwood and feature MSU voice faculty Rose Mannino, Jeanette Fontaine, Ryan Landis and Matthew Daniels as soloists.
About Hargrove, Landis shared a passage recorded by Robert Wolverton in the minutes when the symphony association accepted Hargrove’s letter of resignation in 1990: “Guy has completed 15 years with the symphony, a tour of duty involving much work, some honor and no pay. We all owe him great thanks and appreciation.”
As with all Starkville-MSU Symphony Association concerts, Saturday’s performance is free and open to the public.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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