Download - 13/14 VSO Allegro Issue #5
May 10 to June 16, 2014 Volume 19, Issue 5
James EhnesThe VSO’s GRAMMY® and JUNO®-winning partner in the Season Finale concert
allegroMagazine of the Vancouver Symphony
Joyce Yang plays Bernstein
Mahler’s Ninth
Chris BottiJazz superstar performs with the VSO
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Bramwell Tovey conducts Bernstein and Tchaikovsky
Poulenc’s Gloriaat the Chan Centre
The Cocktail Hour: Music of the Mad Men Era
Amy Grant with the VSO
September 28 to November 10, 2013 Volume 19, Issue 1
Nicola Benedettiplays Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy
allegroMagazine of the Vancouver Symphony
allegroMagazine of the Vancouver Symphony
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First ViolinsDale Barltrop, ConcertmasterJoan Blackman, Associate ConcertmasterNicholas Wright, Assistant ConcertmasterJennie Press, Second Assistant ConcertmasterRobin Braun Mary Sokol BrownMrs. Cheng Koon Lee Chair
Jenny EssersAkira Nagai, Associate Concertmaster EmeritusXue Feng WeiRebecca WhitlingYi Zhou
Second ViolinsJason Ho, PrincipalKaren Gerbrecht, Associate Principal Jim and Edith le Nobel Chair
Jeanette Bernal-Singh, Assistant PrincipalAdrian Shu-On ChuiDaniel NortonAnn OkagaitoAshley Plaut
ViolasNeil Miskey, Principal Andrew Brown, Associate PrincipalStephen Wilkes, Assistant PrincipalLawrence BlackmanEstelle & Michael Jacobson Chair
Matthew DaviesEmilie Grimes Angela SchneiderProfessors Mr. & Mrs. Ngou Kang Chair
Ian Wenham
CellosAriel Barnes, PrincipalNezhat and Hassan Khosrowshahi Chair
Janet Steinberg, Associate PrincipalZoltan Rozsnyai, Assistant PrincipalOlivia Blander Gerhard and Ariane Bruendl Chair
Natasha Boyko Mary & Gordon Christopher Chair
Joseph Elworthy Dr. Malcolm Hayes and Lester Soo Chair
Charles InkmanCristian Markos
BassesDylan Palmer, Principal Brandon McLean, Associate Principal Brendan Kane, Assistant Principal David BrownJ. Warren LongFrederick Schipizky
FlutesChristie Reside, Principal Ron & Ardelle Cliff Chair
Nadia Kyne, Assistant Principal Rosanne Wieringa §Michael & Estelle Jacobson Chair
PiccoloNadia KyneHermann & Erika Stölting Chair
OboesRoger Cole, PrincipalWayne & Leslie Ann Ingram Chair
Beth Orson, Assistant PrincipalKarin WalshPaul Moritz Chair
English HornBeth OrsonChair in Memory of John S. Hodge
ClarinetsJeanette Jonquil, Principal Cris Inguanti, Assistant Principal
Bass ClarinetCris Inguanti
BassoonsJulia Lockhart, PrincipalSophie Dansereau, Assistant Principal Gwen Seaton
ContrabassoonSophie Dansereau
French HornsOliver de Clercq, PrincipalBenjamin Kinsman Werner & Helga Höing Chair
David Haskins, Associate PrincipalAndrew MeeWinslow & Betsy Bennett Chair
Richard Mingus, Assistant Principal
TrumpetsLarry Knopp, Principal Marcus Goddard, Associate PrincipalVincent Vohradsky W. Neil Harcourt in memory of Frank N. Harcourt Chair
TrombonesMatthew Crozier, Principal Gregory A. Cox
Bass TromboneDouglas Sparkes Arthur H. Willms Family Chair
TubaPeder MacLellan, Principal
TimpaniAaron McDonald, Principal
PercussionVern Griffiths, PrincipalMartha Lou Henley Chair
Tony Phillipps
HarpElizabeth Volpé Bligh, Principal
Piano, CelesteLinda Lee Thomas, PrincipalCarter (Family) Deux Mille Foundation Chair
Orchestra Personnel ManagerDeAnne Eisch
Music LibrarianMinella F. LacsonMaster Carpenter Pierre Boyard
Master ElectricianLeonard Lummis
Piano TechnicianThomas Clarke
*Supported by The Canada Council for the Arts
§ Leave of Absence
Vancouver Symphony OrchestraBRAMWELL TOVEY MUSIC DIRECTORKAZUYOSHI AKIYAMA CONDUCTOR LAUREATEJEFF TYZIK PRINCIPAL POPS CONDUCTOR
GORDON GERRARD ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR*Marsha & George Taylor Chair
EDWARD TOP COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE*
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ConcertsMAY 10, 11, 12 / Air Canada Masterworks Diamond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Rogers Group Financial Symphony Sundays / Kazuyoshi Akiyama conductor, Joyce Yang piano
MAY 15 / PARC Retirement Living Tea & Trumpets / Amadeus! The Music of Mozart . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Gordon Gerrard conductor/piano, Christopher Gaze host
MAY 16, 17 / London Drugs VSO Pops / Let’s Fall in Love: A Romantic Evening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 of Classic and Modern Love Songs / Jeff Tyzik conductor, Curtis Stigers vocals/saxophone
MAY 18 / Kids’ Koncerts / Mother Goose / Gordon Gerrard conductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Enchantment Theatre Company
MAY 24, 26 / Goldcorp Masterworks Gold / Bramwell Tovey conductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25MAY 30, 31, JUNE 2 / Classical Traditions at the Chan Centre / North Shore Classics . . . . . . . . . . .31 James Sommerville conductor/horn
JUNE 1 / The Vancouver Sun Symphony at the Annex / Messenger of the Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Gordon Gerrard conductor, Janet Steinberg cello
JUNE 4 / Specials / Last Night of the Proms / Bramwell Tovey conductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Kristin Hoff mezzo-soprano, Vancouver Bach Choir, Orpheum Voices
JUNE 7, 8 / Mardon Group Insurance Musically Speaking / Rogers Group Financial . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 Symphony Sundays / Bramwell Tovey conductor, Christie Reside flute, Elektra Women’s Choir
JUNE 11 / Specials / Christ Botti with the VSO / Gordon Gerrard conductor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Chris Botti trumpet
JUNE 12, 15 / VSO Chamber Players / Richard Mingus horn, Larry Knopp trumpet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Matthew Crozier trombone, Joan Blackman violin, Jeanette Bernal-Singh violin, Bramwell Tovey piano Ann Okagaito violin, Matthew Davies viola, Zoltan Rozsnyai cello, Ariel Barnes cello
JUNE 14, 16 / Air Canada Masterworks Diamond / Bramwell Tovey conductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 James Ehnes violin
Magazine of the Vancouver Symphony
25Bramwell Tovey
allegro May 10 to June 16, 2014Volume 19, Issue 5
45Vancouver Bach Choir
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We welcome your comments on this magazine. Please forward them to: Vancouver Symphony, 500 – 833 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 0G4 Allegro contact and advertising enquiries: [email protected] / customer service: 604.876.3434 / VSO office: 604.684.9100 / website: vancouversymphony.ca Allegro staff: published by The Vancouver Symphony Society / editor/publisher: Anna Gove / contributors: Don Anderson / orchestra photo credit: Jonathon Vaughn / art direction, design & production: bay6 creative inc. Printed in Canada by Web Impressions Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written consent is prohibited. Contents copyrighted by the Vancouver Symphony, with the exception of material written by contributors.
Allegro Magazine has been endowed by a generous gift from Adera Development Corporation.
In this IssueAdvertise in Allegro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2The Orchestra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Allegro Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Government Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Message from the Chairman . . . . . . . . . . . 7 and the President & CEOVancouver Symphony Foundation . . . . . . 29VSO Group Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32VSO 2014/2015 Season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Patrons’ Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42VSO School of Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43VSO SpringFest 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54VSO Lovers' Ball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Corporate Partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68At the Concert / VSO Staff. . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Board of Directors / Volunteer Council . . . 71VSO Summer Concerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
19Curtis Stigers
57Chris Botti
9Joyce Yang
65James Ehnes
The Vancouver Symphony Society is grateful to the Government of Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts,Province of British Columbia and the BC Arts Council,and the City of Vancouver for their ongoing support.
The combined investment in the VSO by the three levels of government annually funds over 29% of the cost of the orchestra’s extensive programs and activities.
This vital investment enables the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra to present over 150 life-enriching concerts in 16 diverse venues throughout the Lower Mainland and Whistler, attract some of the world’s best musicians to live and work in our community, produce Grammy® and Juno® award-winning recordings, tour domestically and internationally, and, through our renowned educational programs, touch the lives of over 50,000 children annually.
Thank you!Christy Clark, Premier of British Columbia
Shelly Glover, Minister of Canadian Heritage
and Official Languages
Gregor Robertson, Mayor of Vancouver
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FRED G. WITHERS JEFF ALEXANDER
Dear Friends,
In the concluding weeks of the 2013/2014 Season we will be treated to many wonderful performances, and welcome several renowned artists to VSO concerts performed in the Orpheum Theatre, Orpheum Annex, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC, Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver and Pyatt Hall at the VSO School of Music.
Our 95th Anniversary continues to be a wonderful season for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, thanks to the support of our loyal subscribers, single-ticket buyers, donors, sponsors and government funders. On behalf of Maestro Tovey, the musicians, administrative staff, Board of Directors and volunteers, we express our sincere appreciation to you.
We also thank those who have made a commitment to the VSO this year by organizing, donating to or attending the 24th annual Symphony Lovers’ Ball. The Ball took place on February 20th and was a triumph, raising over $640,000 in support of the orchestra’s activities. We invite you to read pages 60 & 61 of this issue of Allegro and to join us in thanking our extraordinary Lovers’ Ball Committee, donors and sponsors.
The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is a cultural institution of which we can all be proud. For 95 years it has been the cornerstone of the performing arts scene in our city and region.
We are pleased to be a part of the very rich cultural fabric that makes up our community, and to annually offer over 150 life-enriching concerts in sixteen venues to a wide and diverse audience, and are proud of our extensive educational programs that touch the lives of over 50,000 children.
The 2014/2015 Season celebrates the 96th anniversary of the VSO. If you have not yet subscribed, we invite you to do so. Subscribers receive significant discounts and numerous other benefits throughout the year. Copies of the new season brochure are available in the lobby. Once you have selected your concerts, or if you have any questions, feel free to call our customer service representatives at 604.876.3434 to select your seats, or visit us online at www.vancouversymphony.ca.
We look forward to seeing you often through the finale of the 2013/2014 Season, and at our concerts this summer in Deer Lake Park, Whistler, and Bard on the Beach!
Thank you once again for your support, and please enjoy today’s concert!
Sincerely yours,
Fred G. Withers Chair, Board of Directors
Jeff Alexander President & Chief Executive Officer
Message from the VSO Chairman and President & CEO
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VISIT THE SYMPHONY GIFT SHOP FOR CD SELECTIONS
AIR CANADA MASTERWORKS DIAMOND ORPHEUM THEATRE, 8PM
Saturday & Monday, May 10 & 12ROGERS GROUP FINANCIAL SYMPHONY SUNDAYSORPHEUM THEATRE, 2PM
Sunday, May 11Kazuyoshi Akiyama conductorJoyce Yang piano
GERSHWIN Cuban Overture
COPLAND Appalachian Spring: Suite
INTERMISSION
BARBER Adagio for Strings
BERNSTEIN Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety Part One I. The Prologue II. The Seven Ages III. The Seven StagesPart Two I. The Dirge II. The Masque III. The Epilogue
PRE-CONCERT TALKS free to ticketholders at 7:05pm.
Concert Program
JOYCE YANG
◆◆
MASTERWORKS DIAMOND SERIES SPONSOR
KAZUYOSHI AKIYAMA
SYMPHONY SUNDAYS SERIES SPONSOR
MAY 10 CONCERT SPONSOR
MAY 11 CONCERT SPONSOR
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Kazuyoshi Akiyama conductor
"Whenever conductor emeritus Kazuyoshi Akiyama returns to Syracuse, performances tend to exhibit an extra spark and zing. It's almost like a group of students placed before a onetime teacher, all eager to show that they remember the lessons they have learned. Akiyama is the kind of conductor that can take us all back to school." —The Post-Standard
Saturday April 17, 2004Kazuyoshi Akiyama has had long-standing relationships with the leading orchestras of Japan and now serves as Principal Conductor of the Hiroshima Symphony and also the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra. The Tokyo Symphony has honored him with the title of Conductor Laureate. He has also been Music Director of the Syracuse Symphony and the Vancouver Symphony. Maestro Akiyama is the recipient of numerous citations, including the Suntory Music Award, the Kyoto Music Award, the Mainichi Arts Award, and the Arts Encouragement Prize of the Minister of Education. In 2001, he was awarded the Emperor’s Purple Ribbon Medal from the Japanese Government for his outstanding contribution to the country’s musical culture.
Joyce Yang piano
Critically acclaimed as "the most gifted young pianist of her generation" with a "million-volt stage presence," pianist Joyce Yang captivates audiences around the globe with her stunning virtuosity combined with heartfelt lyricism and interpretive sensitivity.
Born in Seoul, Korea, Ms. Yang received her first piano lesson at age four from her aunt. By age ten, she had entered the School of Music at the Korea National University of Arts, and subsequently made a number of concerto and recital appearances in Seoul and Daejon. In 1997, Ms. Yang moved to the United States to begin studies at the Pre-College division of The Juilliard School in New York with Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky. She is the recipient of Juilliard's 2010 Arthur Rubinstein Prize and William A. Petschek Piano Recital Award and was honoured with the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.
Ms. Yang is featured in In the Heart of Music, the film documentary about the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and she is a frequent guest on American Public Media's nationally syndicated radio program Performance Today. A Steinway artist, she currently resides in New York City.
George Gershwin b. Brooklyn, New York, USA / September 26, 1898 d. Hollywood, California, USA / July 11, 1937
Cuban Overture Gershwin visited Cuba in 1932. A non-stop round of parties was always accompanied by Latin bands, with their exotic melodies, rhythms and home-grown percussion instruments. Fascinated by what he heard, Gershwin decided to create a musical impression of it. He took some of the instruments home to study, then composed this festive and sultry orchestral souvenir of his trip.
Aaron Copland b. Brooklyn, New York, USA / November 14, 1900 d. Peekskill, New York, USA / December 2, 1990
Appalachian Spring: Suite Copland composed this lovely, folksy dance score for choreographer Martha Graham. The premiere took place in 1944. The scenario unfolds during the early nineteenth century, on the site of a Pennsylvania farmhouse which has just been built as a prewedding gift for a young couple. According to Copland, “The bride-to-be and the young farmer-husband enact the emotions, joyful and apprehensive, which their new domestic partnership invites… At the end they are left quiet and strong in their new house.”
Samuel Barber b. West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA / March 9, 1910 d. New York, New York, USA / January 23, 1981
Adagio for Strings In response to a commission from conductor Arturo Toscanini, Barber transcribed the slow movement from his String Quartet into the Adagio for String Orchestra. Toscanini conducted the premiere in November 1937. The eloquent simplicity and grave beauty
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of the Adagio have led to its becoming not only an international concert favourite, but an appropriate element of solemn public ceremonies. It has also been heard on the soundtrack of several films, including Platoon (1986), where it is performed by the VSO.
Leonard Bernstein b. Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA / August 25, 1918 d. New York, USA / October 14, 1990
Symphony No. 2 The Age of Anxiety Bernstein read W.H. Auden’s poem The Age of Anxiety: A Baroque Eclogue, in 1947. It immediately inspired him to compose a musical response. Following is a synopsis of the composer’s own introduction:
I imagine that the conception of a symphony with piano solo emerges from the extremely personal identification of myself with the poem. In this sense, the pianist provides almost an autobiographical protagonist, set against the orchestral mirror in which he sees himself, analytically, in the modern ambience. The essential line of the poem (and
of the music) is the record of our difficult and problematical search for faith. In the end, two of the characters enunciate the recognition of this faith – even a passive submission to it – at the same time revealing an inability to relate to it personally in their daily lives, except through blind acceptance.
Part One(a) The Prologue finds four lonely characters, a girl and three men, in a Third Avenue bar, all of them insecure and trying, through drink, to detach themselves from their conflicts, or, at best, to resolve them. They are drawn together by this common urge and begin a kind of symposium on the state of man.
(b) The Seven Ages. The life of man is reviewed from the four personal points of view. This is a set of variations which differ from conventional variations in that they do not vary any one common theme. Each variation seizes upon some feature of the preceding one and develops it.
(c) The Seven Stages. The variation form continues for another set of seven, in which
the characters go on an inner and highly symbolic journey according to a geographical plan leading back to a point of comfort and security. The four try every means, going singly and in pairs, exchanging partners, and always missing the objective. When they awaken from this dream-odyssey, they are closely united through a common experience (and through alcohol), and begin to function as one organism.
Part Two(a) The Dirge is sung by the four as they sit in a cab en route to the girl’s apartment for a nightcap. They mourn the loss of the “colossal Dad,” the great leader who can always give the right orders and satisfy the universal need for a father-symbol.
(b) The Masque finds the group in the girl’s apartment, weary, guilty, determined to have a party, each one afraid of spoiling the others’ fun by admitting that he should be home in bed. This is a scherzo for piano and percussion alone, in which a kind of fantastic piano-jazz is employed, by turns nervous, sentimental, self-satisfied, vociferous. The party ends in anti-climax and the dispersal of the actors. When the orchestra stops, as abruptly as it began, a pianino in the orchestra is continuing the Masque, as the Epilogue begins. Thus a kind of separation of the self from the guilt of escapist living has been effected, and the protagonist is free again to examine what is left beneath the emptiness.
(c) The Epilogue. What is left, it turns out, is faith. The trumpet intrudes its statement of “something pure” upon the dying pianino; the strings answer in a melancholy reminiscent of the Prologue; again and again the strings re-iterate “something pure” against the mounting tension of the strings’ loneliness. All at once the strings accept the situation, in a sudden radiant pianissimo, and begin to build, with the rest of the orchestra, to a positive statement of the newly recognized faith. ■Program Notes © 2014 Don Anderson
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VISIT THE SYMPHONY GIFT SHOP FOR CD SELECTIONS
TEA & TRUMPETS SERIES SPONSOR
PARC RETIREMENT L IVING TEA & TRUMPETSORPHEUM THEATRE, 2PM
Thursday, May 15
Amadeus! The Music of MozartGordon Gerrard conductor/pianoChristopher Gaze host
MOZART
The Marriage of Figaro, K. 492: OvertureEine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525The Abduction from the Seraglio, K. 384: OverturePiano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488 II. Adagio
Don Giovanni, K. 527: OvertureGerman Dances, K. 600: No. 5 & 6The Magic Flute, K. 620: Overture
TEA & COOKIES Don’t miss tea and cookies served in the lobby one hour before each concert, compliments of Tetley Tea and LU Biscuits.
Concert Program
GORDON GERRARD WITH THE VSO
◆◆
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Gordon Gerrard conductor
Gordon Gerrard has established a unique place in the new generation of Canadian musicians as one of its fastest rising stars. Trained first as a pianist and subsequently as a specialist in operatic repertoire, Gordon brings a fresh perspective to the podium. His passion and his dedication to producing thrilling musical experiences have endeared him to his fellow musicians and the public alike.
A passionate and gifted educator, Gordon has been engaged as a conductor and lecturer by many institutions, including McGill University, the University of Manitoba, and Iowa State University. In 2012, Gordon conducted a production of Don Giovanni for Opera McGill. He has served as conductor for Opera Nuova (Edmonton) for the past ten years, and on the music staffs of the Opera as Theatre Programme at the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Canadian Vocal Arts Institute (Montreal), Halifax Summer Opera Workshop, and the Undergraduate Opera Studio at the Manhattan School of Music.
Gordon is delighted to be in his second season with Maestro Bramwell Tovey and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Conductor.
Christopher Gaze host
Born and educated in England, Christopher Gaze was inspired to come to Canada in 1975 by his mentor, legendary Shakespearean actor Douglas Campbell. He spent three seasons at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, then moved to Vancouver in 1983. After a couple of experiences with other outdoor Shakespeare events, Christopher recognized the potential in blending excellent Shakespeare productions with Vancouver’s spectacular location. In 1990, he founded Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival where Bard’s signature open-ended performance tent allowed the actors to perform against a backdrop of the city’s skyline and mountains.
A gifted public speaker, Christopher frequently shares his insights on the theatre and Shakespeare out in the community with school groups, service organizations and local businesses.
Christopher’s many honours include induction into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame, Canada’s Meritorious Service Medal (2004), Honorary Doctorates from UBC & SFU, the BC Community Achievement Award (2007), the Gold Medallion from the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America (2007), the Mayor’s Arts Award for Theatre (2011) and the Order of British Columbia (2012). ■
CHRISTOPHER GAZEGORDON GERRARD
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LONDON DRUGS VSO POPS ORPHEUM THEATRE, 8PM
Friday & Saturday, May 16 & 17Let’s Fall in Love: A Romantic Evening of Classic and Modern Love Songs
Jeff Tyzik conductorCurtis Stigers vocals/saxophone
ARR. ANDREW COTTEE Overture
BOB DYLAN/ARR. BRIAN BYRNE I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
G. & I. GERSHWIN/ARR. A. COTTEE Love is Here To Stay
C. STIGERS/B. MANN/ARR. A. COTTEE Never Saw A Miracle
A. CRUDUP That's All Right
J. KERN/D. FIELDS/ARR. R.R. BENNETT The Way You Look Tonight
J. KERN/T. KOEHLER Let’s Fall In Love
T. WAITS/ARR. BRIAN BYRNE San Diego Serenade
INTERMISSION
WILKINS/ARR. TYZIK Basie’s Back In Town
T. JENSEN/C. STIGERS/ARR. A. COTTEE You've Got The Fever
D. RAYE/G. DE PAUL/ARR. A. COTTEE You Don’t Know What Love Is
S. EARLE/ARR. A. COTTEE Valentine’s Day
J. JACKSON Fools In Love
J. KERN/O. HAMMERSTEIN/ ARR. A. COTTEE All The Things You Are
N. FINN/ARR. A. COTTEE Into Temptation
G. BALLARD/C. STIGERS/ ARR. BRIAN BYRNE I Wonder Why
A. BRANDT/B. HAYMES/ARR. A. COTTEE That's All
Concert Program
VSO POPS RADIO SPONSORVSO POPS SERIES SPONSOR
MAY 17 CONCERT SPONSOR
CURTIS STIGERS
VISIT THE SYMPHONY GIFT SHOP FOR CD SELECTIONS
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Jeff Tyzik conductor
Grammy® Award winner Jeff Tyzik is one of America's most innovative and sought after pops conductors. Tyzik is recognized for his brilliant arrangements, original programming, and engaging rapport with audiences of all ages. In August 2013, Jeff Tyzik was named to The Dot and Paul Mason Principal Pops Conductor's Podium at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. This season, he also begins a new role as Principal Pops Conductor of the Seattle Symphony, the Detroit Symphony and The Florida Orchestra. In the 2013/14 concert season, Tyzik will celebrate his 20th season as Principal Pops Conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and continues to serve as Principal Pops Conductor of the Oregon Symphony.
Committed to performing music of all genres, Tyzik has collaborated with such diverse artists as Chris Botti, Matthew Morrison, Wynonna Judd, Tony Bennett, Art Garfunkel, Dawn Upshaw, Marilyn Horne, Arturo Sandoval, The Chieftains, Mark O'Connor, Doc Severinsen, John Pizzarelli and has created numerous original programs that include the greatest music from jazz and classical to Motown, Broadway, film, dance, Latin and
swing. Tyzik holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Eastman School of Music. www.jefftyzik.com.
Curtis Stigers vocals/saxophone
Curtis Stigers has been celebrated for a wide variety of accomplishments, from his early pop chart success with several self-penned top-ten singles and hit albums, to his appearance on the soundtrack for the movie The Bodyguard. Stigers, a singer, saxophonist, and songwriter, has appeared on The Tonight Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Today Show among others. Downbeat Magazine named him one of jazz’s Rising Stars and the London Times selected his recording, You Inspire Me, as jazz album of the year in 2006.
Mr. Stigers was twice named International Male Jazz Singer of the Year by the Deutsche Phono-Akademie at the Jazz Echo Awards. In 2009 Curtis was nominated for an Emmy Award for co-writing (and singing) the theme song to the wildly popular FX-TV show, The Sons Of Anarchy. In April, 2014 Curtis Stigers will release his 11th studio album, the unabashedly romantic Hooray for Love on Concord Records. ■
CURTIS STIGERSJEFF TYZIK
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KIDS' KONCERTS / ORPHEUM THEATRE, 2PM
Sunday, May 18Gordon Gerrard conductor Enchantment Theatre Company
THE VSO IN COLLABORATION WITH ENCHANTMENT THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS
Mother GooseBased on the Ballet Ma Mere L’Oye by Maurice Ravel
Production Created By Jennifer Blatchley Smith, Leslie Reidel, and Landis SmithDirector Leslie ReidelAssociate Director Bradley K. Wrenn
THE ENSEMBLEShannon Fitzsimons Young Mother Goose, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty, Tom Thumb’s Mother, Princess of the PagodasAdrian Plascencia Puppeteer, Young Husband, The Beast, Tom Thumb, Soldier, Servant, The Serpent StatueJennifer Blatchley Smith Mother GooseLandis Smith Puppeteer, Priest, Doctor, Nanny, Flower Merchant, Tax Collector, Soldier, Sorcerer-Suitor
This performance is dedicated to Molly Reidel.
Choreographer Jamie L. McKittrickProduction Designer C. David RussellLighting Designer David O’ConnorTechnical Director Jessica Wallace
Concert Program
MAY 18 CONCERT SPONSOR
PREMIER EDUCATION PARTNER
PREMIER EDUCATION PARTNERTHE VSO’S KIDS’ KONCERTS HAVE BEEN ENDOWED BY A GENEROUS GIFT FROM THE WILLIAM & IRENE MCEWEN FUND.
VISIT THE SYMPHONY GIFT SHOP FOR CD SELECTIONS
GORDON GERRARD ENCHANTMENT THEATRE COMPANY
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Gordon Gerrard conductorFor a biography of Gordon Gerrard please refer to page 17.
Enchantment Theatre CompanyEnchantment Theatre Company has produced original theater for school groups and families since 2000, when it was established as a non-profit arts organization in Philadelphia. The company presents only original work based on classic stories from children's literature, using its signature blend of masked actors, pantomime, magic, large-scale puppets, and original music. Building on the more than 30 years of theatrical experience of its artistic directors, Enchantment has quickly become known for high quality imaginative productions, not only in its home city but throughout the United States and the Far East. Enchantment has toured its original productions all over the world, appearing each year in more than 30-40 states. It has performed in such sophisticated urban arts
venues as Lincoln Center in New York and the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, as well as in small town high school auditoriums and even performance tents. In Philadelphia, Enchantment has appeared at the Kimmel Center and the Annenberg Center. The company has also toured the Far East six times, performing in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. Enchantment has also shared the stage with more than 60 orchestras nationwide in its special symphonic works that pair great stories with great music for the benefit of school and family audiences. ■
VSO Instrument Fair The Kids' Koncerts series continues with the popular VSO Instrument Fair, which allows music lovers of all ages (but especially kids!) to touch and play real orchestra instruments in the Orpheum lobby one hour before concert start time. All instruments are generously provided by Tom Lee Music.
With nurturing and encouragement, they can achieve anything.
As a sponsor of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Kids’ Koncerts, we know we can help inspire children to make their lives a symphony of possibilities.
And that, is music to our ears.
We believe that children are one of our greatest natural resources.
Learn more at spectraenergy.com
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VISIT THE SYMPHONY GIFT SHOP FOR CD SELECTIONS
GOLDCORP MASTERWORKS GOLDORPHEUM THEATRE, 8PM
Saturday & Monday, May 24 & 26
Bramwell Tovey conductor
MAHLER Symphony No. 9 in D Major I. Andante comodo II. Im Tempo eines gemächlichen Ländlers: Etwas täppisch und sehr derb III. Rondo-Burleske: Allegro assai. Sehr trotzig IV. Adagio: Sehr langsam und noch zurückhaltend
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BRAMWELL TOVEY WITH THE VSO
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Bramwell Tovey, O.C. conductor
A musician of striking versatility, Grammy® Award winning conductor Bramwell Tovey is acknowledged around the world for his artistic depth and his warm, charismatic personality on the podium. Tovey’s career as a conductor is uniquely enhanced by his work as a composer and pianist, lending him a remarkable musical perspective. His tenures as music director with the Vancouver Symphony, Luxembourg Philharmonic and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras have been characterized by his expertise in operatic, choral, British and contemporary repertoire.
Mr. Tovey who is entering his fourteenth season as Music Director of the Vancouver Symphony, also continues his association with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and as founding host and conductor of the New York Philharmonic’s Summertime Classics series at Avery Fisher Hall. In 2008, both orchestras co-commissioned him to write a new work, the well-received Urban Runway, which was subsequently programmed by a number of orchestras in the US and Canada. He was honoured with the Best Canadian Classical Composition Juno® Award in 2003 for his Requiem for a Charred Skull.
An esteemed guest conductor, Mr. Tovey has worked with major orchestras in Europe and North America, including the London Philharmonic, London Symphony and Frankfurt Radio Orchestra. His trumpet concerto, Songs of the Paradise Saloon, commissioned by Toronto Symphony, received its premiere in winter of 2009, and a preview of his first full-length opera The Inventor premiered in Calgary in winter 2011. Other recent engagements included visits to the Nashville and Montreal symphonies as well as a return to Australia where he has already worked with the symphonies in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne.
Touring is an important aspect of his artistic leadership with the Vancouver Symphony, and in the winter of 2013 they embarked on a west coast US tour. Finally, to his already busy summer schedule this year, he added return visits to the Philadelphia Orchestra in
Saratoga, NY, and the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center.
Mr. Tovey has been awarded honorary degrees, including a Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Music in London, Honorary Doctorates from the universities of Winnipeg, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Kwantlen University College, as well as a Royal Conservatory of Music Fellowship in Toronto. In 1999, he received the M. Joan Chalmers National Award for Artistic Direction, a Canadian prize awarded to artists for outstanding contributions in the performing arts. In 2013, he also received an honorary appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada for his outstanding achievements as a conductor and composer, and for his commitment to promoting new Canadian music.
Gustav Mahler b. Kalischt, Bohemia / July 7, 1860 d. Vienna, Austria / May 18, 1911
Symphony No. 9 in D Major Mahler’s compound of optimism and neurosis has made him one of the most popular composers of our time. The optimism speaks to the enduring need for a reminder that life can be beautiful: the neurosis reflects the state of western society, to a remarkably accurate degree for a composer who died more than a century ago. “My time will come,” he said, commenting on his music’s lack of widespread acceptance during his lifetime. How right he was!
Some of his music’s variable success during his lifetime can be traced to Mahler himself. His brusque conducting style and quality-first administrative decisions alienated scores of singers, orchestral players, managers and journalists. Those who saw past his difficult exterior found a warm heart, while the rest heaped abuse upon him whenever possible. Mahler lived to see at least part of this venomous tide reversed. His later years brought growing appreciation of his music, climaxing in the triumphant 1910 premiere of his mammoth Symphony No. 8. Time ran out before he could capitalize on it personally. He died just eight months later.
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“A symphony should be like the world,” Mahler told composer Jean Sibelius in 1907, “it must contain everything.” Each of Mahler’s major compositions, in its own way, seeks to express a world’s worth of emotion and experience. The same symphony, or even the same movement of a symphony, may contain any or all of the following: heroism and tragedy, nobility and satire, simplicity and sophistication, despair and contentment. Massive blocks of orchestral sound dissolve into passages scored with the delicacy of chamber music (and vice-versa). Raucous marching bands and whirling, stamping country dancers rub shoulders with angelic, heavenly choirs.
The year 1907 brought a series of fateful developments to Mahler. First, he resigned from his position as Music Director of the Vienna Court Opera. He had finally had his fill of the disputes, major and minor, that he had been waging with the company’s managers and performers (as well as the ultra-conservative press), virtually since he had taken up the job ten years earlier.
Second, Maria, the elder of his two daughters, died of scarlet fever and diphtheria at the age of four-and-a-half. Third, doctors diagnosed him with a serious and progressive heart condition. They advised that it would not only necessitate a severe limitation of his typically strenuous physical activities, but would also result in a drastic shortening of his life expectancy.
The high-strung composer/conductor chose to ignore the advice of his physicians. Instead of reducing his work load, he decided not simply to maintain it, but to increase it. He accepted an invitation to work in America, taking charge of both the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic. As his doctors had predicted, the strain proved too great for his weakened body. Before the end of his second season with the Philharmonic, he collapsed. He was taken back to Vienna to die.
All the intense emotions which Mahler was undergoing during this period found their way into his music. First came Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth), settings for voices and orchestra of six ancient, worldlywise Chinese poems. It concludes
with The Farewell, a heartbreakingly poignant goodbye to life. The entire piece is symphonic in scope. But the superstitious Mahler, recalling that Beethoven and Dvorák, among others had only lived to write nine symphonies, refused to call it his Ninth. He was later able to overcome this dread of tempting fate.
A similar mood of resignation carries over into much of the piece he composed next, his official Ninth Symphony. He wrote it in 1909 and 1910. With what would have been the final panel of this triptych, the Tenth Symphony, he only lived to complete two movements, and to sketch out the other three. In that music may be detected a growing sense of confidence, a renewal of Mahler’s faith both in life and in his creative powers. He did not live to hear any of these last three pieces performed. His protégé, Bruno Walter, conducted the premieres of The Song of the Earth and the Ninth Symphony, the latter in Vienna on June 26, 1912.
Mahler’s Ninth is one of the key works linking the warm, expressive Romanticism of the nineteenth century with the more austere, troubled music of the twentieth. It presents an unusual sequence of movements: two slow sections enclosing two quick ones. Another of its remarkable features is its instrumentation. It represents the end result of a lifetime spent exploring the colouristic possibilities of the large, late-Romantic orchestra.
The first movement opens in a mood of nostalgic tranquility. But before long, deeper, darker emotions well to the surface, rising to several searing climaxes. This section ends as quietly as it began, but in a far less innocent atmosphere. Mahler presented a series of dance themes in his next movement, though he does so with a blend of straightforward enjoyment and subtle parody. The following Rondo-Burleske is a savage, bitter creation, a leering danse macabre clothed in deliberately shrill, military bandstyle scoring. The symphony concludes with a prayerful finale. Its sense of resignation and yearning frequently probe great depths of pathos. Time seems to stand still in the final bars, until the music dies away into nothingness. ■Program Notes © 2014 Don Anderson
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CLASSICAL TRADITIONS CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, 8PM
Friday & Saturday, May 30 & 31NORTH SHORE CLASSICS CENTENNIAL THEATRE, NORTH VANCOUVER, 8PM
Monday, June 2James Sommerville conductor/horn
MOZART The Impresario, K. 486: Overture
MOZART Horn Concerto No. 3 in E-flat Major, K. 447 I. Allegro II. Romanza: Larghetto III. Allegro
RAVEL Mother Goose Suite I. Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty II. Tom Thumb III. Laideronnette, Empress of the Pagodas IV. The Conversation of Beauty and the Beast V. The Fairy Garden
INTERMISSION
OMAR DANIEL Horn Concerto I. Introduzione (piccola cadenza per tre) – Passacaglia I: Courante II. Intermezzo (Presto) III. Corrente – Intermezzo (piccola cadenza per tre) – Passacaglia II
HANDEL Water Music Suite No. 3 in G Major I. Sarabande II. Rigaudon I & II III. Minuet I & II IV. Gigue I & II
HANDEL Water Music Suite No. 2 in D Major I. Overture II. Alla Hornpipe III. Minuet IV. Lentement V. Bourrée
Concert Program
JAMES SOMMERVILLE
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BRAMWELL TOVEY & THE VANCOUVER SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AT THE ORPHEUM
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James Sommerville conductor/horn
James Sommerville is Music Director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Horn of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Sommerville has conducted many first-rate professional orchestras and ensembles throughout Canada and the USA. He has led the Hamilton Philharmonic to great critical acclaim in his five years as Music Director.
The winner of the highest prizes at the Munich, Toulon and CBC competitions, Mr. Sommerville has pursued a career as a French horn player that has spanned 25 years. His disc of the Mozart Horn Concertos with the CBC Vancouver Orchestra won the Juno® Award for Best Classical Recording in Canada. He is a member of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, with whom he tours and records regularly.
Mr. Sommerville has been a member of the Toronto and Montreal Symphony Orchestras, the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia and was acting solo horn of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He has toured and recorded extensively as an orchestral player. He is heard regularly on the CBC network and has recorded all of the standard solo horn repertoire for broadcast.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart b. Salzburg, Austria / January 27, 1756 d. Vienna, Austria / December 5, 1791
The Impresario, K. 486: Overture The Impresario (1786) is a farcical backstage look at opera production. Mozart did not find the libretto a great source of inspiration but nonetheless, the overture is as sparkling and witty a bit of orchestral merriment as ever he composed.Horn Concerto No. 3 in E-flat Major, K. 447 All but the first of the six horn concertos that Mozart at least started appear to have resulted solely from his friendship with horn player Joseph (Ignaz) Leutgeb. They are heavenly pieces, demonstrating that Leutgeb was an agile and poetic performer. The probable date of composition of the
piece published as Concerto No. 3 (the fifth of the six, in order of composition), is 1787. The slow second movement Romanze is exceptionally lyrical, and the final rondo inevitably brings echoes of the hunt.
Maurice Ravel b. Ciboure, Basses Pyrénées, France / March 7, 1875 d. Paris, France / December 28, 1937
Mother Goose Suite Ravel’s music mirrors the face he showed to the world: cool, dapper, sophisticated. Yet beneath this façade beat a heart that yearned for the innocence and simplicity of youth. This nostalgia took concrete form in Mother Goose, a delicate suite of five miniatures for piano duet inspired by fairy tales. He composed it between 1908 and 1910, and prepared this arrangement for small orchestra in 1911. The opening Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty sets the once-upon-a-time scene in gentle, pastel hues. This mood continues in the second
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section. The tiny boy Hop-o’-my-thumb (known in English as Tom Thumb), lost in the forest, discovers to his dismay that birds have eaten up the trail of breadcrumbs he left to help find his way back home. Animation enters in the third section, spiced with a far eastern accent. Laideronnette (Little Ugly One), Empress of the Pagodas, takes her bath, accompanied by a gamelan-like orchestra of instruments made from nuts and shells. Next, Beauty and the Beast converse. She sings a warm, airy clarinet waltz; he growls coarsely via the contrabassoon, making a rare solo appearance. The final section, The Fairy Garden, bids a wistful farewell to the land of enchantment as it rises to a shimmering, radiant climax.
Omar Daniel b. Toronto, Ontario / August 17, 1960
Horn Concerto Omar Daniel has composed extensively in solo, chamber, electronic and orchestral idioms. Among his awards was the 1997 recipient of the Jules Léger Award for New Chamber Music. His music is characterized by a strong sense of drama, and as such his interest in the concerto idiom comes naturally. His style is firmly rooted in the European concert-music tradition, and exhibits a broad palette of instrumental colour, intricate harmonic language, a strong rhythmic profile and rigorous architectural design. He holds the position of Associate Professor at the Department of Music Research and Composition at Western University.
The composer has provided the following note.
Horn Concerto was composed for James Sommerville and the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, with the generous financial assistance of the Canada Council. One of the central ideas that James came to me with was that he would both perform and conduct the work. There is a history of concerti performed in this fashion, but few in the contemporary repertoire. For me the challenge was: how do I create rhythmic, metric and colouristic richness without the composition being too challenging for an
orchestra that is only periodically conducted? My solution was to look primarily to Baroque models: musical forms that had rhythmic and/or formal predictability yet allowed for imaginative freedom. The passacaglia was a natural candidate. It consists of a compact repeated melodic or harmonic pattern with variation ‘on top’. I also utilized two related Baroque dance forms, the Courante and Corrente. Again, like the passacaglia, once the pattern or ‘groove’ of these dances would be established, conducting the orchestra would not be necessary… hopefully. The central Intermezzo was added in the form of a fleeting Presto between the more substantial outer movements.
George Frideric Handel b. Halle, Germany / February 23, 1685 d. London, England / April 14, 1759
Water Music: Suites 2 & 3 The history of this enchanting music is clouded with uncertainty and legend. Here is one familiar version. Handel secured the prestigious post of Music Director to the court of Georg, Elector of Hanover, Germany, in 1710. Winning huge successes in England around the same time led him to turn his back on his obligations and relocate to London. The death of England’s Queen Anne in 1714 threw a wrench into his not-altogether-admirable plans. Through a tangled web of transchannel relationships, her successor proved to be none other than Elector Georg! Handel came to fear that his old employer – now King George I – might justifiably hold a grudge against his wandering maestro.
According to biographer John Mainwaring, two of the King’s courtiers devised a scheme to reconcile composer and monarch. They persuaded the King to stage an elaborate boating party on the river Thames, to take place on the evening of August 22, 1715. When the King expressed his delight with the accompanying music, the royal pair produced Handel. All was forgiven. The Water Music collection offers plentiful variety, from sprightly dances to sweet, relaxed airs. ■Program Notes © 2014 Don Anderson
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SYMPHONY AT THE ANNEX ORPHEUM ANNEX, 8PM
Sunday, June 1
Messenger of the GodsGordon Gerrard conductorJanet Steinberg cello
KEITH HAMEL Wings of Mercury
DANIEL BJARNASON Bow to String
HANS WERNER HENZE In Memoriam: die Weisse Rose
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NICOLAS GILBERT Surenchères
NIKOLAI KORNDORF Amoroso
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40 allegro
Gordon Gerrard conductorFor a biography of Gordon Gerrard please refer to page 17.
Janet Steinberg cello
Originally from San Francisco, Janet Steinberg joined the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as Associate Principal Cellist in September, 1987. Before this she was the Assistant Principal Cellist of the Oakland Symphony Orchestra, and performed frequently as a member of the San Francisco Symphony.
Janet studied cello with esteemed pedagogue Eleanore Schoenfeld at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles where she received her bachelor's and master's degrees in Music Performance. She has also studied and performed at the Orford Arts Centre in Quebec, the Banff Centre in Alberta, the Gregor Piatigorsky Seminars for Cellists in Los Angeles and at Santa Barbara's Music Academy of the West.
Janet has played as a member of the Bellingham Music Festival in Washington, the Lake Tahoe, Ojai and Cabrillo Music Festivals in California, and at the Yellow Barn Music Festival in Putney, Vermont. For the past twenty years she has spent her summers performing (and hiking) at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Program Notes Can music convey messages? Korndorf does so through the purifying influence of Amoroso.
"...musical messenger Bjarnason guides us from the earthly to the ethereal..."
In Gilbert’s Surenchères the message is formed in the listener’s perception, while in Hamel’s Wings of Mercury the subject is the messenger himself. Henze composed his work The White Rose to the memory of those who resisted the Nazi regime in Germany and musical messenger Bjarnason guides us from the earthly to the ethereal with the help of VSO cellist Janet Steinberg in Bow to String.
Keith Hamel b. Morden, Manitoba, Canada / November 21, 1956
Wings of Mercury Wings of Mercury is primarily concerned with the relation between the perceived motion of the surface material and that of the underlying layers. In each of the sections of the composition, a different relationship between these layers is explored.
"In each of the sections... a different relationship between these layers is explored."
The title refers to the Roman god Mercury who had wings on his heels and served as the messenger of the gods. The title seemed appropriate since so much of the piece has a rapid and active surface. The word 'mercury' in the title can also be seen as making reference to metal, since metal percussion instruments and are so prominently featured in the work. Wings of Mercury was commissioned by the Vancouver New Music Ensemble with the assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts.Program Notes © 2014 Keith Hamel
JANET STEINBERG
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Daniel Bjarnasonb. Reykjavík, Iceland / February 26, 1979
Bow to String for Cello and Chamber OrchestraMusic of both furious energy and haunting beauty, Bow to String was originally composed as a studio piece for multi-layered cellos. As Bjarnason explains, “I was only thinking about the studio and I never really thought about how we would perform it live, but then after the album was released, of course we wanted to be able to perform it somehow. The first movement refers to an art installation by Ragnar Kjartansson in which he continually sings this song with the lyrics ‘Sorrow conquers happiness’ accompanied by a small orchestra. That’s the song (the chord progressions) you can hear in the first movement. So that movement is some kind of a remix of that song. The whole piece in its three movements is moving from loud to quiet, from the earthly to the ethereal.”Program Notes © 2014 Daníel Bjarnason
Hans Werner Henzeb. Gütersloh, Germany / July 1, 1926 d. Dresden, Germany / October 27, 2012
In Memoriam: die Weisse Rose I wrote this work as a contribution to the Congress of the European Antifascist Resistance, held in Bologna in March 1965. I chose the occasion to remind audiences of one of the groups who attempted open resistance to the Nazi regime inside Germany.
"They defended themselves with great courage and died proudly for their ideas."
This movement was called “The White Rose”and began its activities in 1942 in Munich, but quickly spread to other important cities. A year later the founders were arrested, tried, condemned, executed. They defended themselves with great courage and died proudly for their ideas. My work in their honour is a double fugue, inspired by Bach’s Musical Offering structures. Program Notes © 2014 Hans Werner Henze
Nicolas Gilbert b. Montréal, Canada / October 9, 1979
Surenchères Surenchères consists of a series of musical moments that have no prior connection with one another. Through a surplus of information the listener might struggle to get a sense of coherence, which can result in frustration as it leaves an impression of incompleteness. Some listeners may choose a different approach in line with Merce Cunningham: ‘Of course, the world, being what it is – or the way we are coming to understand it now – we know that each thing is also every other thing, either actually or potentially. So we don’t, it seems to me, have to worry ourselves about providing relationships and continuities and orders and structures – they cannot be avoided’ (The Impermanent Art, 1955). Surenchères was commissioned by Radio-Canada.Program Notes © 2014 Nicolas Gilbert
Nikolai Korndorf b. Moscow, Russia / January 23, 1947 d. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada / May 30, 2001
Amoroso Born in Moscow in 1947, Nikolai Korndorf spent the last ten years of his life in Vancouver. An eclectic composer, he eventually turned to a kind of minimalist repetitive aesthetic sometimes referred to as 'holy minimalism.' He composed for unconventional ensembles, and also in Amoroso he asks the instrumentalists to sing and play additional percussion instruments. Korndorf states that his music "typically addresses very serious topics: philosophical, religious, moral, the problems of a person's spiritual life, his relationship with the surrounding world, the problem of beauty and its relationship with reality… relationship of the spiritual and the anti-spiritual… As much as possible I strive to ensure that every one of my works contains a message to each listener and that my music leaves no one indifferent.” ■Program Notes © 2014 Edward Top
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BENEFACTORS Gifts from $3,500 to $4,999Kathy and Stephen Bellringer*Hank and Janice KetchamProf. Kin Lo*Christine NicolasDr. and Mrs. Edward Yeung
Gifts from $2,500 to $3,499Ann Claire Angus FundOlin and Suzanne AntonBetsy Bennett* The Ken Birdsall FundGerhard and Ariane Bruendl*Marnie Carter*Janis and Bill ClarkeEdward Colin and Alanna NadeauMs. Judy GarnerJon and Lisa GreyellAlasdair and Alison HamiltonHeather HolmesJohn and Daniella Icke* Olga IlichHerbert JenkinGordon and Kelly JohnsonDon and Lou LaishleyMr. and Mrs. Hebert Menten*M. Lois MilsomJoan Morris in loving memory of Dr. Hugh C. Morris
The Vancouver Symphony is grateful for the generosity shown by the following individuals and foundations, whose annual investment in the VSO has helped the orchestra reach new heights and garner national and international recognition.
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Chantel O'Neil and Colin Erb*Joan and Michael RileyMr. and Mrs. Maurice A. RodenBernard Rowe and Annette StarkDr. Earl and Mrs. Anne ShepherdMs. Dorothy P. ShieldsWallace and Gloria ShoemayMrs. Mary Anne SigalMel and June Tanemura*George and Marsha Taylor*Mr. and Mrs. David H. TrischukAnonymous (4)
PATRONS Gifts from $2,000 to $2,499Leslie G. Cliff and Mark P. Tindle Michael L. Fish In Memory of Betty HowardMr. Hassan and Mrs. Nezhat Khosrowshahi*Bill and Risa LevineNancy and Frank MargitanDr. Robert S. Rothwell*Anonymous (3)
Gifts from $1,500 to $1,999Gordon and Minke Armstrong
Derek and Stella Atkins Mr. R. Paul and Mrs. Elizabeth BeckmannRoberta Lando Beiser*Dr. and Mrs. J. Deen BrosnanMrs. May Brown, C.M., O.B.C.*Mr. Justice Edward Chiasson and Mrs. Dorothy Chiasson*Doug and Anne CourtemancheLeanne Davis and Vern GriffithsBarbara J. DempseyCount and Countess Enrico and Aline DobrzenskyJean DonaldsonSharon F. DouglasDennis Friesen for GwenMrs. San GivenDr. Donald G. HedgesJohn and Marietta Hurst*Michael and Estelle Jacobson*D.L. Janzen in memory of Jeannie KuyperSigne JurcicC.V. KentDrs. Colleen Kirkham and Stephen KurdyakUri and Naomi Kolet in honor of Aviva’s New York OrdinationHugh and Judy Lindsay
Violet and Bruce MacdonaldArt and Angela MonahanNancy MorrisonMr. Dal Richards C.M. and Mrs. Muriel RichardsDr. William H. and Ruthie RossMrs. Joan ScobellDavid and Cathy ScottDr. Peter and Mrs. Sandra Stevenson-MooreL. ThomGarth and Lynette ThurberDr. Hamed Umedaly and Dr. Susan PurkissDr. Johann Van EedenNico and Linda Verbeek*Beverley and Eric Watt*Michael R. WilliamsDr. Brian WilloughbyEric and Shirley WilsonDr. I.D. WoodhouseNancy WuAnonymous (5) ■
* Members of the Patrons’ Circle who have further demonstrated their support by making an additional gift to the VSO Endowment Fund.
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SPECIALSORPHEUM THEATRE, 8PM
Wednesday, June 4
Last Night of the PromsBramwell Tovey conductor Kristin Hoff mezzo-soprano Vancouver Bach ChoirOrpheum Voices
WALTON Crown Imperial (Coronation March)
HANDEL Zadok the Priest
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS English Folk Song Suite I. March in F minor (Seventeen Come Sunday) II. Intermezzo in F minor (My Bonny Boy) III. March in Bb Major (Folk Songs from Somerset)
FORSYTH Three Métis Songs of the Qu’Appelle Valley
COATES Dam Busters March
INTERMISSION
LUNN Music from Downton Abbey
ELGAR Pomp and Circumstance No. 1 (Land of Hope and Glory)
HUPFELD As Time Goes By (from Casablanca)
ARR. WOOD Fantasia on British Sea Songs
ARR. SARGENT Rule, Britannia
PARRY/ELGAR Jerusalem
Concert Program
VISIT THE SYMPHONY GIFT SHOP FOR CD SELECTIONS
BRAMWELL TOVEY
JUNE 4CONCERT SPONSOR
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Bramwell Tovey, O.C. conductor
For a biography of Maestro Tovey please refer to page 27.
Kristin Hoff mezzo-soprano
Kristin Hoff recently debuted at Carnegie Hall with James Levine and the Met Chamber Ensemble. She has also performed as a soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Mark Morris Dance Company, the Tanglewood Orchestra, among others. Kristin was chosen as a Caramoor Vocal Rising Star for 2012 and is a recent 1st prize-winner in the NYCO Mozart Vocal Competition.Kristin’s many operatic experiences include Dryade at Tanglewood, Mrs. Herring at the Green Mountain Opera Festival, and Carmen with Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. This season Kristin joined Vancouver Opera as a young artist where she sang Tebaldo and covered Eboli in Don Carlo, sang Iphigénie in an opera excerpts concert and under-studied the roles of Nancy, Mrs. Herring and Donna Elvira. Future appearances include concerts with the Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestra, Palm Court Light Orchestra, concerts of Messiaen’s Harawi and Ana Sokolovic’s solo a cappella opera Love Songs.
Vancouver Bach ChoirLeslie Dala music director
Situated in Vancouver, the gateway of the Pacific Rim, the Vancouver Bach Choir is an award-winning symphonic choir committed to offering vibrant and culturally diverse choral experiences to its audiences.
As one of the largest choral organizations in Canada, the Vancouver Bach Choir explores a wide range of repertoire from the past to the present with passion and commitment. Through its series of concerts presented at the magnificent Orpheum Theatre, the VBC continues to meet its mandate of commissioning and performing works by British Columbian and Canadian composers, and presenting the world’s favourite symphonic choral works.
Over the past eight decades, the choir has performed with numerous world-class musicians. Under the baton of Maestro Leslie Dala, the VBC continues its mission and tradition to share the beauty of choral music with local, national and international communities. As the Vancouver Bach Choir celebrates its 83rd anniversary in the 2013/2014 season, it is poised to enter its next exciting chapter.
Orpheum Voices
Kevin Zakresky music director
Orpheum Voices is a new mixed choral ensemble at the Vancouver Symphony School of Music. Founded in January 2013 by Kevin Zakresky, the choir has appeared with the Vancouver Symphony in Inspector Tovey Investigates Harmony and with the West Coast Symphony in Fauré's Requiem. This spring the choir performed with Pacifica Singers in a concert of the choral works of Brahms. By focussing on context and content, Orpheum Voices has captured the attention of the classical music scene in Vancouver and aims to continue enlightened performances of the choral repertoire. ■
KRISTIN HOFF VANCOUVER BACH CHOIR
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VISIT THE SYMPHONY GIFT SHOP FOR CD SELECTIONS
MARDON GROUP INSURANCE MUSICALLY SPEAKING ORPHEUM THEATRE, 8PM
Saturday, June 7ROGERS GROUP FINANCIAL SYMPHONY SUNDAYSORPHEUM THEATRE, 2PM
Sunday, June 8Bramwell Tovey conductorChristie Reside fluteElektra Women’s Choir
BRAMWELL TOVEY Songs of Envious Time I. Aubade II. Corinna III. An Epitaph on Husband and Wife
NIELSEN Flute Concerto I. Allegro moderato II. Allegretto – Adagio ma non troppo
INTERMISSION
HOLST The Planets, Op. 32 Mars, the Bringer of War Venus, the Bringer of Peace Mercury, the Winged Messenger Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age Uranus, the Magician Neptune, the Mystic
Concert Program
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THE VSO’S SURREY NIGHTS SERIES HAS BEEN ENDOWED BY A GENEROUS GIFT FROM WERNER AND HELGA HÖING.
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Bramwell Tovey, O.C. conductor
For a biography of Maestro Tovey please refer to page 27.
Christie Reside flute
Christie Reside began her career in the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at the age of nineteen. She received her formal training with Timothy Hutchins at McGill University, and continued her training with Lise Daoust, Marina Piccinini, and Patrick Gallois at the Banff Centre for the Arts.
She has participated in several festivals around the world, including the Spoleto Music Festival in Italy, the Bellingham Music Festival, and the Mountain View Festival. An enthusiastic chamber musician, Ms. Reside has collaborated with artists such as Rudolf Jansen, Yegor Dyachkov, and Lise Daoust. She frequently performs as a soloist and has appeared with the Montréal Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, among others.
Ms. Reside has been the Principal Flute of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra since 2004, and is a member of the acclaimed Vancouver-based Standing Wave Ensemble. She is also Principal Flute of the Seattle Symphony for the 2013/2014 season.
Elektra Women’s ChoirMorna Edmundson artistic director
With a mandate to inspire and lead in the choral art form through excellence in performance and through the creation, exploration and celebration of women’s repertoire, Vancouver’s renowned Elektra Women’s Choir has taken a leadership role in the international classical women’s choir movement. The choir is known for its adventurous programming, seeking out music written specifically for women and frequently commissioning new works. Its appearances include performances at the distinguished National Convention of the American Choral
Directors Association, including memorable New York performances at Carnegie Hall, Riverside Church, and Avery Fisher Hall. In 2010 the choir once again took first place in the “Equal Voices – Women” category of the National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs. Prior to 2009, the choir was awarded first prize for women’s choirs in four consecutive rounds of the biennial CBC National Choral Competition, as well as several major prizes for contemporary music performance.
Bramwell Tovey b. Ilford Essex, England / July 11, 1953
Songs of Envious Time The title of this work for women’s choir and chamber orchestra, is taken from a poem by John Milton – “Fly envious time, till thou run out thy race.”
The first song, Aubade, is from a poem by William Davenant (1603–1663). “The lark now leaves his wat’ry nest...” is evoked by a solo flute as the day dawns for two lovers, one of whom is asleep – “The lover wonders what they are who look for day before his mistress wakes.”
"...evoked by a solo flute as the day dawns for two lovers..."
The second, Corinna, is a setting of Robert Herrick (1591–1674) in which her young friends anxiously encourage Corinna to come ‘a-maying’ – “...while time serves and we are but decaying...”
CHRISTIE RESIDE ELEKTRA WOMEN'S CHOIR
The third and final song, sets words of Richard Crayshaw (1613–1649). An Epitaph on Husband and Wife in which death “could not sever man and wife because they lived but one life” and lie together in eternity.
The cycle is dedicated to my mother and father in memoriam whose deaths were separated by 43 years – “ Whom death again did wed. This grave’s a second marriage bed.”
Songs of Envious Time was commissioned by Elektra Women’s Choir for the massed forces of the Tapestry Women’s Choir Festival and premiered in May 2012, conducted by Morna Edmundson.
Carl Nielsen b. Sortelung, Denmark / June 9, 1865 d. Copenhagen, Denmark / October 3, 1931
Flute Concerto Unlike his contemporary and fellow Scandinavian, Jean Sibelius, Nielsen did not make a major international impact during his lifetime. Until the last fifty years, his music
was hardly known outside his homeland. Thanks to recordings and a dedicated group of performers, his bold, life-enhancing compositions have gradually been reaching the audiences they deserve. His catalogue includes six remarkable symphonies, three concertos, numerous chamber and solo works, pieces for chorus, and incidental music for stage productions.
He also developed a high regard for the members of the Copenhagen Wind Quintet which led to his writing a quintet for them in 1922. He was so pleased with their performances that he promised to write a solo concerto for each player. Unfortunately, his plan proceeded only so far as concertos for flute and clarinet.
He composed the Flute Concerto in Italy during the summer of 1926, and it was premiered by its dedicatee, Holger Gilbert Jespersen, at an all-Nielsen concert in Paris. “This evening’s concert was one of the great experiences of my life,” the composer wrote. “The famous Conservatoire Orchestra played magnificently.
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(The conductor) started the rehearsals in a somewhat cool manner but by the end was glowingly enthusiastic! The cream of musical life was in attendance; Roussel and Honegger and many German conductors paid their respects and the two composers mentioned spoke most highly of me.” Shortly thereafter, Nielsen wrote a new conclusion for the concerto, and it is this revised version that has been the standard edition ever since.
“The flute cannot deny its own nature,” he wrote. “Its home is in Arcadia and it prefers pastoral moods. Hence the composer has to obey its gentle nature, unless he wants to be branded a barbarian.” Mindful of its personality and sound, in this concerto he supports it with a chamber-sized orchestra.
"The second movement opens with gentle humour, only to exchange it for a deep sense of melancholy..."
There are two movements. The first opens in abrupt, dramatic fashion, but this atmosphere is quickly dissipated by the flute’s entrance with a bright, cheeky theme. This rapid alteration of light and dark elements is a primary characteristic of the concerto. As expected, a solo cadenza is included, but instead of being totally unaccompanied, it is backed first by timpani, then clarinet and eventually full orchestra. It winds down to end the movement in an engagingly wistful mood. The second movement opens with gentle humour, only to exchange it for a deep sense of melancholy, even menace. Bolstered by rude remarks from solo trombone, playfulness and wit eventually reassert themselves and the concerto ends in bright spirits.
Gustav Holst b. Cheltenham, England / September 21, 1874 d. London, England / May 25, 1934
The Planets, Op. 32 On a tour of Spain in 1912, a fellow traveler introduced Holst to astrology. The curiosity thus aroused sowed the seeds of this spectacular orchestral suite, his most popular (if not
most representative) creation. It portrays the astrological, rather than the mythological characters of seven planets in our solar system. He composed it between 1914 and 1916. The first performance, a private rehearsal, was given in London under Adrian Boult on September 29, 1918.
Mars, the Bringer of War, presents a harrowing portrait of cold, inhuman power. The brass section takes centre stage, hammering forth harsh blocks of sound over an implacable, motorlike rhythmic tread. Early audiences were convinced that Holst had intended this music as a portrait of the world war that had recently ended. In fact he had completed the sketches before it broke out.
Venus, the Bringer of Peace offers total contrast: a calm, tranquil reverie, set far from the scene of any conflict and shot through with gorgeous instrumental solos. Holst associated Mercury, the Winged Messenger with the process of human thought. It flits by with appropriate speed and delicacy.
Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity has both its jovial feet planted firmly on the ground. Hearty tunes steeped in Holst’s study of English folkdances drive the opening and closing sections. In between rests a hymn-like theme evoking a more ceremonial type of rejoicing. Words were added to it to form the song I Vow to Thee My Country.
In the miniature tone poem Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age, Holst sets forth his views on the stages of human life: the uncertain beginning, the struggles and heartbreaks of maturation, and finally the emergence in late years of wisdom, with its serene acceptance of imperfection and mortality.
Next comes the dynamic conjuring act of Uranus, the Magician. Holst puts the orchestra through many spectacular paces, dramatic and grotesquely humorous alike. The suite concludes with the cool, disembodied meditations of Neptune, the Mystic. Complete with a wordless, off-stage female chorus, they arrive as if having traveled across vast distances of outer and inner space. ■Program Notes © 2014 Don Anderson
The 2015 VSO SPRING FESTIVAL focuses on the music of the greatest composer who ever lived, and one of history’s greatest creative geniuses: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Beginning with the Oscar®-winning film Amadeus, MOZART PLUS explores the music of this extraordinary composer, and the writings of some of the many composers who were influenced by his miraculous music.
Maestro Bramwell Tovey and the VSO lead us through Mozart’s life and career, starting with two very different explorations of the apocryphal legend of Salieri’s poisoning of Mozart; we hear Mozart’s three last, great symphonies; an aria from Don Giovanni; one of Mozart’s great Serenades; funeral music written for Mozart’s Masonic Lodge; and his last composition, the Requiem — an unfinished work that lay at Mozart’s bedside as he died a tragically-early death at the age of 36.
After the resounding success of the first VSO SPRING FESTIVAL, these concerts are sure to sell out! Tickets are on sale now exclusively for VSO Subscribers. PUBLIC ON-SALE MONDAY, JUNE 2nd!
Join Maestro Tovey and the VSO for SPRINGFEST 2015: MOZART PLUS!
ALL PERFORMANCES AT THE ORPHEUM
MOZARTPLUS!
The VSO Spring Festival includes Pre-Concert Talks each night with Maestro Bramwell Tovey. FREE TO TICKETHOLDERS.
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2015
FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 7:30PMAMADEUS, THE MOVIEWinner of 8 ACADEMY AWARDS (including Best Picture), director Milos Forman’s Amadeus chronicles the imagined story of Mozart and Salieri. Relive it in all its cinematic and musical glory on the big screen at the Orpheum!
SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 8PMMOZART AND SALIERIBramwell Tovey conductor Michael Colvin tenor* James Westman baritone*RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Mozart & Salieri*MOZART Symphony No. 39 in E-flat Major
MONDAY, APRIL 13, 8PMTHE LEGEND OF DON JUANBramwell Tovey conductor James Westman baritone*MOZART Serenade No. 6 in D Major, Serenata NotturnaMOZART Don Giovanni: Deh, vieni alla finestra*R. STRAUSS Don JuanMOZART Symphony No. 40 in G minor
THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 8PMJUPITER!Bramwell Tovey conductorHAYDN March for the Royal Society of MusiciansHAYDN (LEOPOLD MOZART) Toy Symphony BRAHMS Variations on a Theme of Joseph HaydnMOZART Symphony No. 41 in C Major, Jupiter
SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 8PMTHE GREAT REQUIEMBramwell Tovey conductor Melanie Krueger soprano* Marion Newman mezzo-soprano* Colin Ainsworth tenor* Stephen Hegedus baritone* UBC Opera Ensemble*MOZART Masonic Funeral MusicTCHAIKOVSKY Suite No. 4 in G Major, MozartianaMOZART Requiem*
AMADEUS, THE MOVIE, APRIL 10VSO SPRING FESTIVALALL TICKETS $ 20
FULL FESTIVAL PASSVSO SPRING FESTIVALSECTION ADULT SENIOR STUDENT SUBSCRIBERDRESS $ 267 $ 267 $ 267 $ 229A 208 195 160 179B 160 155 125 145C 125 120 99 115D 105 99 90 90
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7-year old Mozart on tour in Paris with his sister Nannerl and his father Leopold in 1763.Carmontelle (ca. 1763) watercolour
CONCERTS 2, 3, 4 & 5 - PRICE PER TICKETVSO SPRING FESTIVALSECTION ADULT SENIOR STUDENT SUBSCRIBERDRESS $ 90.00 $ 90.00 $ 90.00 $ 76.50A 69.00 64.50 51.75 58.50B 52.00 50.00 40.00 46.00C 38.00 36.00 28.50 32.25D 25.00 25.00 21.00 21.25
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Bramwell Tovey with the VSO
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SPECIALSORPHEUM THEATRE, 8PM
Wednesday, June 11
Chris Botti with the VSOGordon Gerrard conductor Chris Botti trumpet
One of the world’s top instrumentalists, legendary smooth jazz superstar Chris Botti performs with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
Concert Program
VISIT THE SYMPHONY GIFT SHOP FOR CD SELECTIONS
CHRIS BOTTI
PRESENTED BY
GORDON GERRARD
Gordon Gerrard conductor
Gordon Gerrard has established a unique place in the new generation of Canadian musicians as one of its fastest rising stars. Trained first as a pianist and subsequently as a specialist in operatic repertoire, Gordon brings a fresh perspective to the podium. His passion and his dedication to producing thrilling musical experiences have endeared him to his fellow musicians and the public alike.
A passionate and gifted educator, Gordon has been engaged as a conductor and lecturer by many institutions, including McGill University, the University of Manitoba, and Iowa State University. In 2012, Gordon conducted a production of Don Giovanni for Opera McGill. He has served as conductor for Opera Nuova (Edmonton) for the past ten years, and on the music staffs of the Opera as Theatre Programme at the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Canadian Vocal Arts Institute (Montreal), Halifax Summer Opera Workshop, and the Undergraduate Opera Studio at the Manhattan School of Music.
Gordon is delighted to be in his second season with Maestro Bramwell Tovey and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Conductor.
Chris Botti trumpet
Since the release of his 2004 critically acclaimed CD When I Fall In Love, Chris Botti (pronounced boat-tee) has become the largest selling American instrumental artist. His success has crossed over to audiences usually reserved for pop music and his ongoing association with PBS has led to four number one jazz albums, as well as multiple Gold, Platinum & Grammy® Awards.Over the past three decades, he has recorded and performed with the best in music, including Frank Sinatra, Sting, Josh Groban, Michael Bublé, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, John Mayer, Andrea Bocelli, Joshua Bell and Aerosmith's own Steven Tyler.Hitting the road for 250 plus days per year, Chris and his incredible band have performed with many of the finest symphonies, at some of the world's most prestigious venues, including performances at the World Series and Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony. ■
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24th Annual
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Our Heartfelt ThanksAnita Alberto Photography
Christopher GazeConsul of the United States of America
Domaine ChandonGordon Gibson
Greenscape Design & DécorInnovation Lighting
KiAN Show Services Ltd.Fred Lee
Maestro Bramwell ToveyMusicians of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Tyler Olson, West Coast AuctionsMichael & Joy Phelps
Premier EnvelopeAlan & Gwendoline Pyatt
SLJ Productions Inc.Still Creek Press
Students of the VSO School of MusicTala Florist
Thomas Haas ChocolatesDavid Unruh
Vancouver Convention CentreVancouver Symphony Volunteers
Lucy WangWeb Impressions
Art Willms & Mary Ann Clark
Symphony Lovers’ Ball CommitteeMary Ann Clark, Co-ChairLaura Hansen, Co-ChairNezhat Khosrowshahi, Honorary Chair Sherrill BergMichelle BouffardMargaret BrodieSusie CahillElizabeth GordonAnnabel HawksworthDiane HodginsAndrea JacobNazmeen LaljiBarbara-Jo McIntoshNancy MargitanMollie MassieMaria MentenMichaela MorrisKarin SmithKim Spencer-NairnKathy TraegerColin Upright Fred Withers
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Thanks to the generosity of the sponsors, donors, auction contributors and attendees of the 24th Annual Symphony Lovers’ Ball, over $640,000 was raised in support of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra this season. The VSO and the Symphony Lovers’ Ball Committee extend their gratitude and thanks to the following for their generosity and in-kind contributions.
CANADA’S LARGEST COMMUNITY BUILDER
Super Sponsors
Event Sponsors
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Maestro’s CircleBCLC Ledcor Properties Inc. Macdonald Development CorporationMichael O’Brian Family Foundation
Silver Wheaton Spectra Energy Terus Construction Ltd.
Concertmaster’s CircleAnthem PropertiesBlake, Cassels & Graydon LLPBorden Ladner Gervais LLPCenterplate at the Vancouver Convention CentreDeloitteGenus Capital ManagementHaywood Securities Inc.Image Group Inc.Kingswood Capital Corporation
KPMG LLPMcElhanney Consulting Services Ltd.Mercedes-Benz Vancouver Retail GroupRBC Royal BankScotiaMcLeodStikeman Elliott LLPTD Wealth—Tim WymanTELUS
Gold Sponsor
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VSO CHAMBER PLAYERS ALAN AND GWENDOLINE PYATT HALLDR. H.N. MACCORKINDALE STAGE VSO SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Thursday, June 12, 7:30pm
Sunday, June 15, 2pm
POULENC Sonata for Horn, Trumpet and Trombone
Richard Mingus hornLarry Knopp trumpetMatthew Crozier trombone
SARASATE Navarra for Two Violins
Joan Blackman violinJeanette Bernal-Singh violinBramwell Tovey piano
SMETANA String Quartet No.1 in E minor, From My Life
Jeanette Bernal-Singh violinAnn Okagaito violinMatthew Davies violaZoltan Rozsnyai cello
INTERMISSION
SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67
Joan Blackman violinAriel Barnes celloBramwell Tovey piano
Concert Program
JOAN BLACKMAN
ARIEL BARNES
BRAMWELL TOVEY
WITH SUPPORT FROM
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VISIT THE SYMPHONY GIFT SHOP FOR CD SELECTIONS
AIR CANADA MASTERWORKS DIAMOND ORPHEUM THEATRE, 8PM
Saturday & Monday, June 14 & 16Bramwell Tovey conductorJames Ehnes violin
BRITTEN Peter Grimes: Passacaglia, Op. 33b
ELGAR Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61 I. Allegro II. Andante III. Allegro molto
INTERMISSION
BERLIOZ Roman Carnival, Op. 9
RESPIGHI Pines of Rome I. The Pines of the Villa Borghese II. The Pines Near a Catacomb III. The Pines of the Janiculum IV. The Pines of the Appian Way
PRE-CONCERT TALKS free to ticketholders at 7:05pm.
Concert Program
BRAMWELL TOVEY WITH THE VSO
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MASTERWORKS DIAMOND SERIES SPONSOR
JAMES EHNES
95TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON FINALE CONCERT SPONSOR
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Bramwell Tovey, O.C. conductor
For a biography of Maestro Tovey please refer to page 27.
James Ehnes violin
James Ehnes was born in 1976 in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. He began violin studies at the age of four and, at age nine, became a protégé of Francis Chaplin. He studied with Sally Thomas at the Meadowmount School of Music and at The Juilliard School, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music upon his graduation.
He has won numerous awards and prizes, including the first-ever Ivan Galamian Memorial Award, the Canada Council for the Arts’ Virginia Parker Prize, and a 2005 Avery Fisher Career Grant. In October 2005, James was honoured by Brandon University with a Doctor of Music degree (honoris causa) and, in July 2007, he became the youngest person ever elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada. On July 1, 2010, the Governor General of Canada appointed James a Member of the Order of Canada.
James Ehnes has an extensive discography of over 25 recordings featuring music ranging from J.S. Bach to John Adams. James plays the "Marsick" Stradivarius of 1715 and currently lives in Bradenton, Florida with his wife and daughter.
Benjamin Britten (Lord Britten of Aldeburgh) b. Lowestoft, England / November 22, 1913 d. Aldeburgh, England / December 4, 1976
Peter Grimes: Passacaglia, Op. 33b Premiered in 1945, Britten’s opera Peter Grimes revitalized this musical form in England and launched his distinguished career at composing for the stage. Grimes is a gruff fisherman whom the residents of their town on the east coast of England distrust for his individuality and reclusiveness. He dreams
of a better life with Ellen, the widowed schoolmistress, but a tightening web of circumstance drives him to lose his mind and commit suicide.
Just days after the opera’s premiere, Britten conducted concert versions of the orchestral interludes. The Passacaglia presents an expressionist portrait of Peter Grimes’ ambivalent personality and tormented state of mind. Britten employed this form, a type of theme and variations dating back to the Baroque era, throughout his career. Linking the two scenes of Act Two, this example portrays the inner demons that will lead Grimes to mistreat his latest apprentice. Over a relentlessly plodding bass line, the theme, introduced by solo viola, passes through eleven concise, kaleidoscopically scored variations. After achieving a fevered climax, it dissolves into a haunted, sparely orchestrated coda.
Sir Edward Elgar b. Broadheath, England / June 2, 1857 d. Worcester, England / February 23, 1934
Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61 In 1890, Elgar began a concerto for violin (the instrument he had played as a young man), but did not complete it. Sixteen years later, the eminent soloist Fritz Kreisler invited him to compose another. By that time Elgar was fully prepared to respond. The hugely successful premiere, with Elgar conducting and Kreisler as soloist, took place in London on November 10, 1910.
As with many Elgar compositions, personal matters played a role in its creation. He headed the score with a Spanish-language inscription: Aquí está encerrada el alma de..... (‘Herein is enshrined the soul of.....’). He declined to elaborate, inflaming all manner of speculation. Is it the soul of a lady-love (not necessarily Elgar’s wife), of the composer, the violin, of music itself? Perhaps it is the spirit of England, past its peak as a world power, or the troubled, anxious mood of the time, of a world moving away from its outwardly carefree past toward conflict on an undreamt-of scale.
The concerto is drawn on a vast canvas. Covering a gamut from urgent to reflective, the first movement is underpinned with an
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overreaching sense of melancholy. Elgar offered strong contrast with a lyrical second movement. Relaxed as it is, he withholds a fully-realized sense of blissful serenity until the conclusion. The finale gets off to a flying start with the concerto’s most robust and virtuosic music. Mid-way through, Elgar slows things down and peels away the orchestra, leaving the soloist, in a discreetly accompanied cadenza, to recall themes from the preceding movements. Elgar adds the novel instrumental effect of having the orchestral violinists “thrum” their strings. The finale’s opening animation returns to provide a dashing wrap-up.
Hector Berlioz b. La Côte-St-André, Isère / December 11, 1803 d. Paris, France / March 8, 1869
Roman Carnival, Op. 9As soon as Berlioz read the autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, the spirited, unconventional sixteenth-century Italian goldsmith, artist and adventurer, he sensed such a deep personal affinity with him that he decided to compose an opera based on Cellini’s life. Its debut in Paris in 1838 proved a total fiasco.
Six years later, Berlioz salvaged some of the score by fashioning a concert overture from two of the principal melodies: a love song (memorably transcribed for English horn), and an example of the vigorous Italian dance, the saltarello. He christened the result Roman Carnival, referring to the festive scene in the opera where the saltarello is performed.
Ottorino Respighi b. Bologna, Italy / July 9, 1879 d. Rome, Italy / April 18, 1936
Pines of Rome Respighi relocated to Rome in 1913 and lived there for the rest of his life. He celebrated the past and present beauties of his beloved adopted city in three atmospheric and lavishly orchestrated tone poems or suites: Fountains of Rome (1916), Pines of Rome (1924) and Roman Festivals (1929). Each one has four sections that are performed without interruption.
Regarding Pines of Rome, Respighi wrote, “Children are at play in the pine groves of the Villa Borghese; they dance round in circles, they play at soldiers, marching and fighting, they are wrought up by their own cries like swallows at evening, they come and go in swarms. Suddenly the scene changes, and we see the shades of the pine trees fringing the entrance to a catacomb. From the depths rises the sound of mournful psalm-singing, flowing through the air like a solemn hymn, and gradually and mysteriously dispersing.
“A quiver runs through the air; the pine trees of the Janiculum (one of the seven hills upon which Rome is built) stand distinctly outlined in the clear light of a full moon. A nightingale is singing. Misty dawn on the Appian Way: solitary pine trees guarding the magic landscape; the muffled, ceaseless rhythm of unending footsteps. The poet has a fantastic vision of bygone glories: trumpets sound and, in the brilliance of the newly-risen sun, a consular army bursts forth towards the Sacred Way, mounting in triumph to the Capitol.” ■Program Notes © 2014 Don Anderson
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