In this concert, featuring Lola Astanova and Gerard Schwarz, a complex understanding of music was demonstrated. The first play, "The Tsar's Bride" by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, was a historically influenced opera that dealt with the death of the Tsar's third wife almost immediately after her marriage in 1571. The opera was more dramatic than others written by Rimsky-Korsakov because the main character, the tsar, had never sung. He is only known through the music of the orchestra. The opera was first performed in Moscow on November 3, 1899. The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra performed it extremely well. They started out soft, and suddenly got louder, creating mini-climaxes. This happened throughout the piece, until they reached the second theme - it stopped there, but reappeared in the original theme when it came back the second time. A dramatic point occurs when the horn section suddenly becomes louder and dominates the string section. We return to the second theme, and everything becomes sweet. It continues to grow until a third theme is introduced. It was played dolce and the “solo” is transmitted to the woodwinds. They end the piece with a diminuendo and the clarinets finish the piece. The second piece was Scheherazade by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, opus 35. His music is little known outside of Russia, which is surprising because it is beautifully written. His operas are almost never performed in the West and we seem to know him better thanks to his students. He strongly influenced the coloring of orchestral instruments, and we can see this through the music of other Russian composers. His ability to create music by mixing colors remains the biggest part of his legacy. Scheherazade was completed in 1888 and was first performed in Leipzig the following...... middle of paper...... C minor, Op. 18. It begins gently with powerful bass accompaniment in his right hand. However, the orchestra drowns it out. From my seat, I couldn't hear her playing until she hit a cadence. His fingers flew over the keys. When she reached the Adagio Sostenuto (central movement), I heard her better and that was much appreciated. She moved with the music and it really brought out the emotion in her playing. At the end, she finished the piece with a very visual takeoff and the crowd went wild. Overall, this concert was worth the trip. The orchestra played very well and brought together two amazing artists from different parts of the spectrum who came together to make this concert great. I would definitely like to hear more of Gerard Schwarz's conducting and Ms. Astanova's piano playing. I will return to the symphony to hear more.