Berlioz masterwork plus stellar clarinet spotlight for MSO’s Jorge Diez
Jackson, Mississippi — The Mississippi Symphony Orchestra’s second Bravo concert of the season, Saturday, Nov. 22, delivers Hector Berlioz’s gripping and passionate Symphonie Fantastique as the finale in an evening that also sparkles with key works by Claude Debussy and Carl Mara von Weber. The concert is 7:30 p.m. at Jackson Academy Performing Arts Center.
The oft-requested Symphonie Fantastique is the vivid musical story of a young artist’s love obsession and fever dreams, his tenderness and torment. Conductor Crafton Beck pegged the appeal of this epic piece as, “…full of tunes and full of brilliant color, with a huge orchestra!” Movement titles, including “A Ball” or “March to the Scaffold” for instance, are mere prompts for scenes, as the music takes listeners’ imaginations on the wild ride.
Beck likened Berioz’s1830 work to movie music before movies even existed. “He was literally 50 years ahead of his time. This piece is a genius stroke, and he never repeated it, the rest of his life.
“In my opinion, nothing touched Symphonie Fantastique.”
The evening’s opening half spotlights MSO Principal Clarinetist Jorge Diez, maximizing the instrument’s Impressionistic potential in Debussy’s Premiere Rhapsody and diving into its virtuosity in Weber’s Concertino in E Flat.
Tickets for “Epic Dreamscape” start at $43 for adults and are $5 for students, kindergarten through college (with valid ID). Purchase advance tickets at www.msorchestra.com or contact Patron Services at 601-414-6005. The box office will open at 6:30 p.m. on the evening of the concert and tickets will be available at the door.
MSO’s Bravo Series is presented by the Selby & Richard McRae Foundation. MSO is supported in part by the Mississippi Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
Who: Mississippi Symphony Orchestra
What: Epic Dreamscape, Bravo Series Concert
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025
Where: Jackson Academy Performing Arts Center, 4908 Ridgewood Road, Jackson, MS
Website: msorchestra.com
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