Unfinished Business

“I am writing my own funeral music. I must not leave it unfinished,” Mozart wrote of his final work, Requiem. But the work remained incomplete at his death, and was finished by one of his pupils. Guest conductor David Robertson leads the Cleveland Orchestra in tonight’s performance of this supremely beautiful work, featuring soprano Jessica Rivera, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong, tenor Garrett Sorenson, bass-baritone John Relyea, and the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus. Opening the concert is Christopher Rouse’s Rapture, followed by the world premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank’s tone poem for piccolo and orchestra, Will-o’-the-Wisp, featuring the Cleveland Orchestra’s principal piccolo, Mary Kay Fink. Frank’s work is typically reflective of her Peruvian heritage, incorporating musical themes from that culture into the Western idiom of classical music, weaving these musical motifs into a narrative image. Tonight’s concert begins at 7:30 with repeat performances Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 3. Friday’s concert at 7 p.m. (sans Will-o’-the-Wisp) is followed by a post-concert after-party featuring gospel legend Theresa Thomason and Cleveland’s Mt. Zion Congregational Church gospel Choir. Tickets start at $35. (Eric Gonzalez)