Well, this is strange. Megadeth’s website claims that Dave Mustaine will be performing with the San Diego Symphony in April 2014 as a featured soloist. The posting says that the selections performed will include Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” from “Die Walküre”, Vivaldi’s “Winter” from “The Four Seasons” and Dvorak’s “Symphony No. 9 (the “New World”Symphony).” Here’s what their site says:
Executive director Edward “Ward” Gill said it’s all about reaching new audiences, while music director Jahja Ling said he had a good meeting with Mustaine, and he may conduct the concert himself (no conductor is listed at this point, and Mustaine’s exact involvement is still being worked out).
I guess it makes a degree of sense to have Mustaine play. The audience for classical music is likely aging and/or dying off, and they could use some younger people in the crowd (that is to say, people under 60). Likewise, as a former member of Metallica that’s often followed in their footsteps, playing with a symphony orchestra is somewhat of a repeat of what Metallica did in 1999 with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, although Dave will be playing classical, not the orchestra learning Megadeth songs. The selections are all equally bombastic, and will likely sound good with a guitar accompanying them. And frankly, Mustaine is at a stage in his career where he can demand respect, and for the most part, get it.
As long as he isn’t near a microphone to spout off conspiracy theories, it’s definitely something that will be interesting to both Megadeth fans and the more open-minded classical fans out there. Yet there are many other guitarists that have been playing classically-inspired music that would likely make at least as much sense. Yngwie Malmsteen comes immediately to mind, but Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and really any orchestral power metal band like Nightwish that already uses an orchestra would be optimal.
