NMPhil to kick off Labor Day weekend with classic compositions

Aug. 28—Bring a blanket and some dinner and kick off your Labor Day weekend with music at the ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden.

The New Mexico Philharmonic will perform music by Aaron Copland, John Williams and more for a concert amid the flowers and trees at 2601 Central Ave. NW on Friday, Sept. 1.

"It has something for every taste," said Marian Tanau, New Mexico Philharmonic president and CEO.

Conducted by music director Roberto Minczuk, the show will open with Copland's dramatic "Fanfare for the Common Man."

Felix Mendelssohn's familiar "Wedding March" from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" follows.

In a global orbit, the mood shifts to the Intermezzo from the 1890 one-act opera "Cavalleria rusticana" by the Italian composer Pietro Mascagni. Considered his masterpiece, "Cavalleria rusticana" caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement, a post-Romantic genre focused on realistic and natural portrayals in Italian dramatic music.

"So it's going around the world," Tanau said.

Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg's "Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 (In the Hall of the Mountain King)" is next, based on a life of procrastination and avoidance.

Czech composer Antonín Dvorák's "New World Symphony" follows, written while he was the director of the National Conservatory of Music of America.

The musicians will play Russian composer Mikhail Glinka's Overture to the opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila." Glinka was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country, and is often regarded as the fountainhead of Russian classical music.

Lastly, it's back to the states with Dolly Parton's classic "9 to 5," followed by Danny Elfman's music from "Spider-Man." Continuing the movie theme, the orchestra will end the concert with John Williams' "Flying Theme" from "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial."