The North Carolina Symphony brings dance and romance to Chapel Hill

Dovid Friedlander said a violin solo from the original third act of "Swan Lake" was taken out of various performances because it was too difficult to play. Now Friedlander, an associate concertmaster of the North Carolina Symphony, will be performing the solo on Feb. 7 during a romance-themed concert. 

A Dance & Romance musical performance is coming to Memorial Hall courtesy of the NCS. The music will include excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet "Swan Lake," as well as pieces from other classical composers.

Founded in 1932, the NCS is an orchestra that puts on 175 concerts and events annually, with performances across the state in places such as Wilmington, Fayetteville and Chapel Hill.

“The artistry of our NCS musicians is at an all-time high, and the ambition of our creative endeavors grows each year,” said NCS Music Director Grant Llewellyn in a news release. “We look forward to sharing with North Carolinians all that the upcoming season expresses.”

Though this concert features classical pieces that most people might not know by name, that does not stop the music from being familiar and accessible to attendees.

“It’s music that’s probably for a lot of people recognizable as well — it’s these romantic classics,” Meredith Kimball Laing, NCS director of communications said. “It’s things you might have heard featured in movies maybe even if you don’t know what it is.”

The structure of the concert is also framed as a symphony experience that is out of the ordinary.

“I also like that it’s a concert that’s not your standard overture and symphony,” Friedlander said. “There’s a lot of different flavors going on, kind of like going to dinner and eating a lot of different courses.”

The music performed will have a focus on dance-oriented pieces from tango to ballet.

“It’s a beautiful dance," Friedlander said. "It starts with a big cadenza, which means I play by myself with a little bit of accompaniment in the orchestra, but it’s very technical with a very challenging beginning — it’s like fireworks.“

There’s a lot of variety to the pieces being performed, but Friedlander said even music over a century old can be romantic. 

“The romantic aspect of it is that you can imagine yourself with somebody, or you’re at the concert with somebody imagining yourself dancing,” Friedlander said. “Or maybe you would be interested in going to dance after that.”

For Friedlander, musical performance is something intimate he shares as a musician working with the audience, regardless of the piece being performed.

“The goal for me is to really make a deep connection with the audience so that the audience can feel the joy that I have from learning the music and performing it,” Friedlander said. “So when you go to a concert, it’s an energy that’s goes back and forth. It’s not just coming up and stage and telling you to sit there. I should relay something towards you, and you should get something out of it. It’s got to be a win-win.”

Friedlander said the connection with the music transcends how old the piece is, and this is why even those new to the symphony should come to the show.

“As a first time goer, I would say first of all the music is great," Friedlander said. "It’s great music. My argument is always that this music is great. It’s some of the greatest music in two, three hundred years, it’s not dying away because every time people hear it they love it.”

arts@dailytarheel.com

@aaronjsugarman