Kansas City Symphony’s Spring Fling will highlight Ravel and Dvorak

Jeffrey Kahane is a serious double threat. Not only is he a fine conductor, leading the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and guest conducting orchestras around the world, he is also a superb pianist. Both talents will be on full display when he leads the Kansas City Symphony in “Spring Fling” at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

Kahane, winner of the grand prize in the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Israel in 1983, will be the soloist for Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto. He will conduct that work from the keyboard and will also conduct Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 88 and two symphonic poems by Antonin Dvořák.

Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G is pure sunshine. Written shortly after Ravel’s concert tour of the United States, the work is full of sprightly jazz rhythms and bluesy riffs. But the work is still French to the core, and, although Ravel is considered an impressionist, the work is a model of classical form and spirit.

It will lead nicely into Haydn’s Symphony No. 88, one of the best-known of Haydn’s 104 symphonies. No. 88 is distinguished from Haydn’s other symphonies as the first to use trumpets and timpani in the slow movement.

Dvořák wrote four symphonic poems based on stories from “Kytice” (“Bouquet”), a collection of traditional Czech fairy tales by folklorist Karel Jaromír Erben. The Symphony will perform two: “The Water Goblin” and “The Noonday Witch.”

Even though they are on a spring program, I think of these symphonic poems as autumnal pieces. For me, they evoke dark Bohemian forests in November, with barren trees and the smell of damp decay. It’s rare to hear these works performed live, and I don’t know why. They’re some of Dvořák’s most beautiful music.

“The Water Goblin” is a genuinely scary tale of a goblin who abducts a young woman, drags her to his underwater lair and, with crawfish for groomsmen and fish for bridesmaids, forcibly marries her. He gets the young woman pregnant but is hardly the world’s greatest dad: He becomes enraged when the woman sings their baby a lullaby. He makes her life a living hell, but in good fairy tale fashion, gets his comeuppance.

“The Noonday Witch” has its roots in Slavic mythology. A mother scolds her disobedient son and tells him that unless he behaves, a witch will come and take him away. It turns out this is no idle threat. A witch, indeed, arrives and attempts to drag the boy away. The mother struggles with the witch and, well, let’s just say this fairy tale doesn’t have a happy ending.

8 p.m. Friday, June 3, and Saturday, June 4; 2 p.m. Sunday, June 5. Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. $23-$92. 816-471-0400 or KCSymphony.org.

Celebration at the Station

There’s no better proof that Kansas City is one of America’s most vibrant, exciting cities than the Symphony’s Celebration at the Station.

The popular annual event at Union Station overflows with people, music, food and fun. The evening concert by the Symphony, is, of course, the main attraction, but a full day of events featuring fantastic local talent precedes the concert. This year, Kansas City favorites Victor & Penny will perform from 3 to 4 p.m., the United States Air Force Band from 4:30 to 5 p.m. and the A la Mode swing band from 5:45 to 6:45 p.m.

Food trucks will be available, and the city’s new streetcars will be running until 11 p.m.

The Symphony will cap things off at 8 p.m. with a concert conducted by Aram Demirjian. The orchestra will be joined by saxophonist Bobby Watson and vocalist Kevin Mahogany for patriotic fare, popular classics and, to accompany the grand finale fireworks display, the 1812 Overture.

8 p.m. Sunday, May 29. Union Station, Pershing and Main. Free. For more information, visit KCSymphony.org.

This story was originally published May 27, 2016 at 6:40 AM with the headline "Kansas City Symphony’s Spring Fling will highlight Ravel and Dvorak."