Elaine Schmidt
November 16, 2015
Tap Milwaukee
Music speaks when words fail.
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra played to a packed Basilica of St. Josaphat on Friday evening, dedicating a heart-wrenching performance of Henryk Gorecki's Symphony No. 3 ("Symphony of Sorrowful Songs") to victims of the Paris terrorist attacks, which had occurred hours earlier.
Conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong led a deeply moving performance of the piece, allowing its meditatively repetitious lines to build slowly. He used gradual dynamic changes to lead the audience to what proved to be deeply poignant harmonic shifts within the piece.
Kathryn Henry, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee voice student whose career was launched with her selection in March as a national finalist in Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, joined Lecce-Chong and the orchestra with a riveting performance that dispelled any notions of studenthood.
Read more: Tap Milwaukee
