Symphony dives into the known – and unknown – for Soiree

At one point in Norton Juster’s “The Phantom Tollbooth,” a fantasy novel geared toward children, protagonist Milo stumbles upon the orchestra of Chroma the Great. With a flick of the wrist, Chroma conducts the entire orchestra, and in turn, conducts the orange of sunrise, the sky blue of the afternoon and the rich tones of sunset.

Chroma’s orchestra, it turns out, performs color, not music. If the orchestra stops playing, the colors of the world fade, making the landscape look like an incomplete coloring page.

Although Arbor Crest Wine Cellars is not in “the Lands Beyond,” where Milo travels throughout “The Phantom Tollbooth,” and it won’t be nearly as catastrophic when the orchestra stops playing, audiences will get a taste of what Milo experienced as the Spokane Symphony accompanies the sun along its evening descent at “Soireé on the Edge 1: Symphonic Vistas.”

Spokane Symphony Music Director Eckart Preu tries to bring both known and unknown pieces to the stage at each Soireé on the Edge performance, now in its sixth year.

“The way you listen and the way you experience it, it’s very different between an unknown piece and something that you’ve heard before or at least stylistically you know, you’re somehow familiar with,” he said.

The concert’s four selections fit into three categories.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551, “Jupiter,” is a piece Preu believes audience members will know or be familiar with.

The overture to Felix Mendelssohn’s “The Uncle From Boston,” on the other hand, is a not-often-heard piece by a well-known composer.

“This is a piece that was forgotten for 200 years, and it was rediscovered only after the 2000s, 2003 or 2004,” Preu said. “Lots of people knew about it, but nobody really knew it, so this might be the American premiere, I have no idea, but nobody does it.”

And then there are pieces audience members don’t know by composers they don’t know: Icelandic composer Hugi Gudmundsson’s “Handelusive: Gigue (movement 2)” and British composer Michael Nyman’s Suite No. 4: “Cornfield” and Suite No. 5: “Miranda” from the movie “Prospero’s Books.”

“It’s a mixed bag,” Preu said of his selections. “You don’t have to dedicate yourself to an hour-long symphony. I mean, who wants that? I want this to be a little more laid back, more fun, more entertaining, little tidbits. And if you don’t like (a piece), it’s not going to be longer than 10 minutes.”

Though performing outdoors comes with its own set of challenges, namely sound issues, for Preu, events like Soireé on the Edge recall fond memories of performing outside with a boys choir, where connecting with the music felt more natural.

He also loves that events like this really allow the orchestra to connect with the audience.

“I love this because people are so close,” Preu said. “They’re just a couple feet from the musicians, and that, I think, is an experience for both sides.”