Raff's Picks: Seattle Symphony 2022/2023 Season Playlist

By Raff Wilson

Concerto for Orchestra by Witold Lutosławski
It's been nearly 20 years since the Seattle Symphony performed the Concerto for Orchestra by Witold Lutosławski, one of the last century’s very greatest composers. I love this genre, where the demands of playing a concerto are shared among the symphony orchestra on stage. Bartók’s is the best known, but this piece by Lutosławski is a thrilling ride, full of propulsive rhythms, but also a feather touch. It blends woodwinds, delicate percussion and muted violin to hypnotic effect, as we hear at the end of this first movement. The recording below features the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ed Gardner. The Seattle Symphony performs s concerto October 20 & 22, 2022.

Nocturne in C Sharp Minor by Frédéric Chopin
Jan Lisiecki performed a marvelous solo recital in January at Benaroya Hall, and revealed via his all-Chopin program just how poetic and insightful an artist he is. This September he opened our season, again playing music by Chopin; this week, September 22–24, 2022, he sits in again to deliver Grieg’s Piano Concerto. A taste of the intimacy of his Chopin is the Nocturne in C Sharp Minor; a cut from his 2021 album is included below.

Lost Coast I by Gabriella Smith
During the 2022/2023 season, we’ll be performing several works by composer and environmentalist Gabriella Smith. You’ll hear her works in our first Masterworks program of the year, conducted by Ludovic Morlot, and also in our Family concerts. Gabriella Smith shares concerns and hopes about climate change and our environmental crisis through her music. It’s visceral sound, full of energy and joy. The playlist includes "Lost Coast I" from her recent album, Lost Coast.

"Tico Tico (No Fubá)"by Carmen Miranda
For a bit of fun, I've also added a song by the great Carmen Miranda — her 1945 version of "Tico Tico (No Fubá)." This is the kind of music that is coming up in our Latin Fire concerts! 

Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest  by Claude Debussy
It’s always a pleasure to see Jean-Yves Thibaudet perform, and in October, he will be in Seattle to play the complete Préludes by Claude Debussy. Each Prélude is an evocative tour de force, and Debussy chose to place the title of each at the end of the piece in the score — so that the performer would have the opportunity to explore the music without being encumbered by its title. Below, you'll find a recording of Thibaudet playing Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest  ("What the west wind saw").

Nanobots byEnrico Chapela
When a new commission receives its world premiere, there’s a lot of anticipation and also guesswork. Enrico Chapela’s Antiphaser, a concerto for electric violin, will be played for the first time ever by the Seattle Symphony (as conducted by Alexander Shelley and with soloist Pekka Kuusisto) on November 3, 5 & 6, 2022. What has he created for us? We’ll have to wait and see! But one can get a taste of his style through his recent album Bitácora. The delightful piece included below, for small ensemble, is titled Nanobots.

Danse Générale by Maurice Ravel
And to send you off on top of the world, let’s finish this playlist with the thrilling Danse Générale from Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloé — one of the most exciting creations ever made for orchestra. It’s no surprise that we began our 2022/2023 season with the Suite from Daphnis and Chloé, with our Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot on the podium; the below version is performed by the Orchestre de Paris and conducted by Daniel Barenboim.