PATRICIA C. SYAK | Symphony notes 'La Boheme,' Mozart highlight season

The Youngstown Symphony Society presents a variety of musical experiences during the coming weeks, from opera to Broadway to Symphony Orchestra classical and pop concerts.
At 8 p.m. Oct. 28, one of the most beloved operas of all time will be performed by Western Theatre Opera.
Fully staged and costumed with a live orchestra, "La Boheme" will be performed in Italian with English supertitles.
"La Boheme" remains perennially fresh and enticing, offering a magical score of celebrated arias and ensembles.
The audience will be swept away by the story -- at times romantic, comic and tragic -- of young lovers who boldly confront despair and love with the passion of youth.
The revolutionary spirit of 1960's Paris is recalled in the new production of Puccini's timeless classic and the inspiration for the musical "Rent."
It's really not surprising that opera is the fastest-growing art form in the United States today -- its powerful mix of music and drama touches everyone.
This production, sponsored in part by Ricciuti Balog & amp; Partners Architects, will make stunning theater in Powers Auditorium.
Tickets are on sale now at the Symphony Center box office.
Mozart and Feliciano
The worlds of Mozart and Jos & eacute; Feliciano, musicians separated by centuries and yet each setting a standard for those who will follow, begin the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra Masterworks and Pops Series respectively.
The all-Mozart program with guest artists Ida and Ani Kavafian performing the composer's Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola opens the season at 8 p.m. Oct. 26 at Powers Auditorium.
Since the middle of the 18th century, Mozart stands as the benchmark by which many measure musical genius.
No form of music, known at the time, was not enriched by his creativity.
The Youngstown Symphony under Isaiah Jackson perform Mozart's Overture to the opera "The Magic Flute" and Symphony No. 40, considered by one devotee to be "one of the most perfect things in art."
The Mozart compositions to be performed during this concert are all from the composer's later years, beginning in 1779 with the Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola, written while Mozart was in service (he often referenced this period as "slavery") to the Archbishop of Salzburg.
The Symphony No. 40 is one of an incomparable triptych of symphonies written within a span of six weeks in 1788, three years before his death.
'Magic Flute' selection
The orchestra opens the concert with Mozart's Overture to the comic opera "The Magic Flute."
A product of his last few months when Mozart was caught in the maze of debts, illness, loneliness and despair, this comic opera remains the forerunner of German opera.
Just as Mozart stands as a cornerstone in the world of classical music, the orchestra's opening Pops Series artist, Jos & eacute; Feliciano, is credited to be the first Latin artist to cross over into the English music market, opening the door to the current Latino craze.
The six-time Grammy Award winner was voted best pop guitarist for five years running by Guitar Player magazine and placed in their Gallery of the Greats. He has been honored with 16 Grammy nominations and received Billboard Magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award.
Feliciano has always been an eclectic musician. His unique style of acoustic guitar artistry and vocal inflections of the jazz and American influences of his adolescence -- merged with the flamenco and bolero sounds of his Spanish heritage -- will be heard in his YSO appearance when he performs his hits "California Dreamin'," "Light My Fire," "Rain" and "Through the Eyes of Love."
Tickets to the Oct. 26 Masterworks concert sponsored by the Youngstown Symphony Guild and media promoter Lamar Advertising, and the Nov. 2 Pops concert sponsored by Anthony, Mary, Natalie and Dana Lariccia, are available by calling the box office.
'Fosse' in November
At 8 p.m. Nov. 4-5, the Youngstown Symphony Society's 2002/2003 Broadway Series, presented in conjunction with First Place Bank Community Foundation, begins with the Tony Award-winning hit musical "Fosse."
The career of legendary dancer, choreographer and director Bob Fosse spanned four decades, earning him nine Tony Awards, an Oscar and an Emmy.
He reached his professional zenith in 1973, when he won all three major awards in one year. His stage shows and films, many of which are highlighted in "Fosse," included "The Pajama Game," "Damn Yankees," "Sweet Charity," "Cabaret," "Pippin," "Chicago," "Dancin'" and "All That Jazz."
"Fosse" is a retrospective of this dazzling career -- an all-singing, all-dancing evening that never lets up in energy and style. A cast of superb performers has been assembled to perform the great numbers from Fosse's portfolio.
Audiences are sure to thrill to the nonstop parade of choreographic magic that made Bob Fosse a legend.
Tickets for "Fosse" are available by calling the box office.
The phone number is (330) 744-0264.
XPatricia C. Syak is executive director of the Youngstown Symphony Society.