Absolutely free

[Update: due to inclement weather, this concert has been cancelled. Bummer.]

David Robertson

When most businesses hand out free samples, you don't get that much. Enough shampoo for one lather and rinse. A couple of pieces of candy. It's free, after all, so you shouldn't expect much. Not so with the St. Louis Symphony.

Tomorrow night (Tuesday, September 9) David Robertson and the SLSO are giving us a free sample of their 135th season, and it's a heaping helping. Starting at 7 p.m. over on Art Hill in Forest Park, you can enjoy the sparkling overture to Leonard Bernstein's 1956 operetta "Candide," the boisterous "Hoedown" from Aaron Copland's "Rodeo" ballet, the finale from Bruch's "Violin Concerto No. 1" (with concertmaster David Halen as soloist), a suite from Klaus Badelt's score for "Pirates of the Caribbean," and Rimski-Korsakov's colorful tribute to the sounds of Spain, "Capriccio Espagnol" (which also has some flashy fiddling).

David Halen

There are even some popular patriotic tunes. The concert opens with an arrangement of "The Star Spangled Banner" by long-time New York Symphony Orchestra conductor Walter Damrosch (he led the world premieres of Gershwin's "Concerto in F" and "An American in Paris"). It closes with an arrangement of "America the Beautiful" prepared by Philip Rothman for the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America as an encore for their 2014 tour, followed by Sousa's venerable "Stars and Stripes Forever" (complete with a fireworks display).

Not bad for a free sample, eh?

But wait, there's more! What the folks at the symphony refer to as 'some of St. Louis' finest food trucks" will be selling comestibles, and both soft drink and "adult beverages" will be for sale as well (cash only). There will also be a Prize Wheel that you can spin to win symphony tickets.

The essentials: The St. Louis Symphony orchestra, conducted by David Robertson and featuring violin soloist David Halen, presents a free season preview concert on Tuesday, September 9th, beginning at 7 p.m. on Art Hill in Forest Park. Bring a blanket, a picnic and your closest friends and enjoy.

For more information on the full symphony season (which starts this Friday), check out their web site.