Allegro throws its Viennese Ball
The Allegro – Baroque and Beyond concert series is celebrating Valentine’s Day a few days early with its gala Viennese Ball on Saturday at the Spokane Club.
This year’s ball features dancing and entertainment from 8 p.m. until midnight, preceded by an optional dinner in the Spokane Club’s Cutter Dining Room at 6:30 with harp music and entertainment by the Commedia Players.
“This year we are having a musical interlude between dinner and the beginning of the ball,” Allegro co-founder David Dutton says. “We will continue our celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with music from his ‘Magic Flute’ and ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ and a duet from Bach’s Cantata No. 15.”
Performers will be a select ensemble of singers from the Spokane Area Children’s Chorus. A champagne reception will follow.
Music for this year’s ball in the Spokane Club’s Georgian Room will be provided by a 25-piece orchestra conducted by Dutton and Verne Windham of the Spokane Youth Orchestra.
In addition to such usual favorites as “The Blue Danube” and the “Emperor” waltzes, three rarities will be performed, Dutton says. They include the Grand Entry from Johann Strauss’ operetta “Gypsy Baron” and the “Banditen Galopp” from his “Prince Methuselah,” along with “Die Mozartisten,” a tribute to Mozart by Josef Lanner.
“I discovered this unknown waltz in a piano arrangement at the Library of Congress,” Dutton says. “A few years ago the Detroit Symphony played a version for strings only. Through some old friends, I was able to borrow the string parts and we added wind parts. So this is the only fully orchestrated arrangement of ‘Die Mozartisten’ we know about.
“This waltz sequence has many familiar Mozart tunes from ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ and ‘Don Giovanni,’ ” he adds. “But they are all in waltz time, which makes them sound very unusual.”
During breaks in the ballroom dancing, members of Theatre Ballet of Spokane will perform “Les Sylphides,” Mikhail Fokine’s ballet set to music by Chopin. Also featured during the breaks will be operatic waltz arias by Gounod and Puccini, sung by Julie Anne Wieck, and an adaptation of Dorothy Parker’s short story “The Magic of the Waltz” by the Commedia Players.
There also will be a silent auction of jewelry, wine and other items. Allegro has arranged special room rates for overnight guests.
Proceeds from the event will benefit Allegro’s summertime Royal Festival Fireworks and Concert.
Simply Dance Studio, 820 W. Sprague, will provide a free introductory lesson in the intricacies of the Viennese waltz today at 6 p.m. For reservations call 892-1480.