MANSFIELD — Mansfield Symphony program commentator Mark Sebastian Jordan will give a pre-concert talk before the orchestra’s Saturday, Feb. 10, “Massive Classics” performance.
The talk will feature images of the surviving paintings and drawings that inspired Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky to write Pictures at an Exhibition, one of the Top 10 most popular classical works.
Viktor Hartmann was an artist and close friend of the composer. When Hartmann unexpectedly died at the age of 39, Mussorgsky was devastated and helped organize an exhibition of Harmann’s works.
This art show inspired Mussorgsky to memorialize his friend by portraying the pictures in music.
The talk will feature images of the surviving artworks and related stories, as well as musical examples.
The talk and concert will take place Saturday, Feb. 10, at the Renaissance Theater, 138 Park Avenue West, in Mansfield.
The talk is free to concert ticket holders, and will take place at 6:45 p.m. on the bridge over the lobby, which can be reached via the elevator.
The concert will follow at 7:30 p.m., conducted by the Mansfield Symphony’s music director, Octavio Más-Arocas, and will also include music of Tchaikovsky and Ginastera.
Jordan serves as program commentator for the Mansfield Symphony, where he has given pre-concert talks for several years.
He also gives talks for the Knox County Symphony in Mount Vernon, and has written program notes for the Cleveland Orchestra.
He reviews concerts in northeast Ohio for the English website Seen & Heard International, and has been honored by the Ohio Arts Council, the Ohioana Library, the Jesse Stuart Memorial Award, the Associated Press, and others.
He currently has a short film screenplay nominated for an award at the Austin Revolution Film Festival, and has two successful history books published with The History Press.
