Archive for Concert

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s TheConcertHall.ca Continues its Ground Breaking Season

Posted by shiragilbert on
 January 14, 2021
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The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with Music Director Otto Tausk

VSO’s new streaming service amasses 3,000 subscribers and 30,000 concert views, in just 3 months!

During this unusual and unforgettable season, without in-person concerts, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) continues to offer extraordinary music and to build new audiences – all via its new virtual home, TheConcertHall.ca, presented by TELUS. The VSO’s musicians and guest artists are beautifully recorded in 360-degree views, using state-of-the-art audio and video technology, while following strict social distancing protocols. Highlights of the season on TheConcertHall.ca, since its launch in October 2020 – 13 concerts to date – include Bach with James Ehnes, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, holiday programming for families, and VSO Music Director Otto Tausk, leading music by Beethoven, Mussorgsky and Sibelius, as well as contemporary works by Jennifer Butler, George Walker, and others. 

CNN highlights the final performance of the VSO’s BeethovenFest in March 2020, which reached over 100,000 worldwide

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s new initiative was inspired by the Berlin Philharmonic’s Digital Concert Hall and its model of offering audiences access to every concert that has been performed and recorded, all for a monthly subscription fee. (Annual subscriptions to TheConcertHall.ca are $129.99, with options for weekly and monthly viewing). The VSO is the first orchestra in North America to adopt this model, and plans to release more than 40 performances over the course of this inaugural season. With TheConcertHall.ca, the VSO continues to develop new ways to bring the concert experience to its loyal listeners, while attracting many new ones online. To date, 25% of subscribers come from outside the Vancouver area.

In reviewing TheConcertHall.ca’s first performance, the Vancouver Sun praised Maestro Tausk’s “calm confidence” as he navigated the new and “unorthodox setup.” Vancouver Classical Music called it “an impressive and innovative effort” and “a cause for celebration.” VSO audiences have responded enthusiastically, with over 3,000 subscribing to the monthly service. Concerts on the new platform have received well over than 30,000 views to date.

A MONTH OF MOZART AT THE VSO

The VSO celebrates the New Year and Mozart’s birthday with a Month of Mozart! The virtual mini-festival on TheConcertHall.ca features Mozart’s first and last symphonies, the Gran Partita for wind ensemble, as well as music influenced by Mozart from Mahler, Alfred Schnittke, Friedrich Gulda, and former VSO Composer-In-Residence Jocelyn Morlock.

“Mozart always lifts the spirits,” comments Maestro Otto Tausk, “As we head into another year of turbulence, but with hope on the horizon, nothing seems more appropriate than to celebrate Mozart and his impact on our musical world. This music brought much joy to me and the musicians of the VSO as we recorded it. I hope you will share in this emotion as we dive into a new year.”

Mo-Zart! – Release date January 17

RGF Integrated Wealth Management Spotlight Series

Mozart: Gran Partita, the Serenade No. 10 for winds in B-flat major, is notable for its beauty as well as its key appearance in the film Amadeus. Scored for 12 winds and string bass, the work highlights the orchestra’s clarinets and their big brothers, the basset horns, in music that is richly textured, intricate and playful. Listen for contributions by the VSO’s Jeannette Jonquil (principal clarinet), Roger Cole (principal oboe), Michelle Goddard (basset horn), Julia Lockhart (principal bassoon), Olivier de Clercq (principal horn), and their colleagues.

Also on the program is Zart (2006) by former VSO Composer-In-Residence Jocelyn Morlock. The work is inspired by the sweeter side of Mozart, The Magic Flute in particular.

A Tale of Two Mozarts – Release date Jan 22

Assante Vancouver Centre Stars Series

One of history’s greatest prodigies, Mozart wrote his first sonata at the age of five and his first symphony at the age of eight. This program contrasts Mozart’s astonishing 1st Symphony with his last and greatest symphonic achievement, the Symphony No. 41, or “Jupiter” Symphony. Composed just three years before the composer’s tragic, early death at 35, the “Jupiter” is among the most transcendent music ever written, featuring a melody which echoes back to the 1stsymphony.  

Viennese Reflections – Release date Jan 29

Newmont series

Viennese jazz/classical composer-pianist Friedrich Gulda (1930-2000) was renowned for his interpretations of Mozart. Echoes of that genius can be heard in his Concerto for Cello and Wind Orchestra (1988), a surprising and dazzling collage of lyrical tunes and frenetic dances. The performance features the VSO’s newly appointed principal cellist Henry Shapard. At just 21, Shapard is the youngest musician to hold this position with a major orchestra in North America.

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) adored Mozart and, as a conductor, was in large part responsible for the revival of his music on opera and concert stages. The gorgeous Adagietto from Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, scored for harp and string ensemble, was a declaration of love to his wife Alma.

Finally, the great Russian postmodernist Alfred Schnittke dissects Mozart and his mentor, Haydn, in Moz-Art à la Haydn (1977), a clever and virtuosic piece of musical theatre. The work features musical quotations played by two violins, highlighting VSO Concertmaster and Associate Concertmaster Nicholas Wright and Timothy Steeves.

Special Event: Otto Tausk & Rodney Sharman in conversation – Thursday, Jan 21, 2pm

A conversation about Mozart, with Maestro Otto Tausk and former VSO Composer-In-Residence Rodney Sharman. Sharman has spent significant time studying the works of Mozart, extending the master’s works into new compositions, and even uncovering the original notes Mozart wrote for his first symphony – before his father Leopold made a few “corrections.”

HOW TO WATCH

All performances available for streaming in TheConcertHall.ca, the virtual home of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. 30-day passes for a Month of Mozart are available for only $15.99 CAD. Includes access to all previously released concerts as well as new releases.

ABOUT THE VANCOUVER SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 

Founded in 1919, the Grammy and Juno-award winning Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is the third largest orchestra in Canada, the largest arts organizations in Western Canada, and one of the few orchestras in North America to have its own music school. Led by Music Director Otto Tausk since 2018, the VSO performs more than 150 concerts each year, throughout Vancouver and the province of British Columbia, reaching over 270,000 people annually. On tour the VSO has performed in the United States, China, Korea and across Canada. The orchestra presents passionate, high-quality performances of classical, popular and culturally diverse music, creating meaningful engagement with audiences of all ages and backgrounds. For the current season, the VSO may be heard in its virtual home, TheConcertHall.ca. 

THANK YOU!

In this challenging COVID season, the VSO acknowledges the incredible support of its sponsors and many donors. This season celebrates the 70th anniversary of the VSO’s partnership with TELUS, marked fittingly by TELUS presenting TheConcertHall.ca. The VSO also thanks Assante Vancouver Centre, Newmont, RGF Integrated Wealth Management, London Drugs, and OriginO – series sponsors of the 2020-21 season. 

THECONCERTHALL.CA

Inaugural Concert for the Azrieli Music Project: Compositions by Brian Current, Wlad Marhulets, Mahler and Bernstein

Posted by shiragilbert on
 September 16, 2016
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Kent Nagano and the OSMMaestro Kent Nagano is conducting the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal on Wednesday, October 19 at 8 p.m. at Maison symphonique de Montréal in a concert presenting a reflection on tradition, identity and on the universal character of music. Four wonderful soloists – tenor Frédéric Antoun, pianist Serhiy Salov, clarinetist André Moisan and soprano Sharon Azrieli Perez – and the OSM Chorus will join forces with the Orchestra on stage to perform masterworks by Bernstein and Mahler along with a spectacular concerto for clarinet by Wlad Marhulets, the inaugural winner of the Azrieli Prize in Jewish Music. The audience will also hear the world premiere of a groundbreaking and epic work by Brian Current, The Seven Heavenly Halls, winner of the Azrieli Commissioning Competition. The event is being presented in collaboration with the Azrieli Foundation.

The Azrieli Music Project is a daring and ambitious new initiative, fostering the creation of new orchestral works on a grand scale that is rarely seen. This first edition presents composers of two major new works reflecting on the history, culture and traditions of Jewish experience. While the Jewish experience is a  central theme of this program, music remains a universal language that transcends culture, ethnicity, time and place.

Commenting on the partnership with the Azrieli Foundation, Music Director Kent Nagano stated: “The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal is delighted to take part in this ground-breaking new initiative, which sets an impressive example for both philanthropy and creation in Canada. On behalf of the OSM, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Azrieli Foundation for spearheading this collaborative project.”

Dr. Sharon Azrieli Perez (also performing excerpts from Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder) inaugurated the project in 2015, stating, “Music has always played an important role in the development of cultural identities; it reflects history and soul. In creating these extraordinary opportunities for composers of music inspired by Jewish experience, we hope to sustain music’s vital continuity through the long and rich history of Jewish people and culture. The Azrieli Music Project is a medium for innovation, creation and risk-taking by today’s most inspired orchestral composers.”

Programme:

  • The World Premiere of Brian Current’s magisterial The Seven Heavenly Halls for orchestra, chorus and tenor solo (with Frédéric Antoun, tenor)
  • Wlad Marhulets’ virtuoso Concerto for Klezmer Clarinet for orchestra  and clarinet solo (with André Moisan, clarinet)
  • Bernstein’s rarely heard The Age of Anxiety for piano and orchestra (with Serhiy Salov, piano)
  • Mahler’s sublime Adagietto for orchestra and Rückert-Lieder (excerpts) for soprano and orchestra (with Sharon Azrieli Perez, soprano)

A pre-concert discussion will be held in French and English starting at 7:00 pm on the Parterre level lobby of Maison symphonique. Kelly Rice will moderate the discussion which will include composers Brian Current, Wlad Marhulets, and composer and AMP jury member Ana Sokolović.

Details of works to be performed:

Brian Current’s The Seven Heavenly Halls is a work of grand proportions, calling for full orchestra and chorus, and a tenor soloist. This 25-minute piece was inspired by the ancient Kabbalistic book of the Zohar, with a scale harkening back to the golden age of great symphonic music. “While reading through the Zohar, I immediately heard turbulent and gestural music full of orchestral colours,” says Current. “Even more inspiring was the reference to the Sefer Hekalot or the Seven Heavenly Halls, a series of ecstatic stages where each vision is marked by a different colour.”

Wlad Marhulets’ Concerto for Klezmer Clarinet brings the lively folk traditions of central Europe to the concert hall. Born in Minsk in 1986, Marhulets moved with his family to Gdansk, Poland as a child. It was there, at the age of 16, that he first heard a recording by acclaimed klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer. “Listening to this modern reinvention of klezmer music changed my life,” says Marhulets, who soon after moved to  New York City, where he met Krakauer and was taken under the wing of Oscar-winning composer John Corigliano. Marhulets’s Klezmer Clarinet Concerto was premiered by Krakauer and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Andrew Litton, in 2009.

Gustav Mahler, Jewish by birth, fought persecution throughout his entire career. Fifty years later Leonard Bernstein was able to celebrate his Jewish cultural heritage openly and to critical acclaim. Works by Mahler and Bernstein on this program bear witness to the history of composers who struggled to express personal and cultural identity through the universal language of music.

Since its founding in 1934, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) has made a name for itself as a leading orchestra in Quebec and Canada. The OSM is a cultural ambassador of the highest order, having earned an enviable international reputation for its many quality recordings and tours. The OSM proudly upholds this tradition under the leadership of its current music director, Kent Nagano, by featuring innovative programming that aims to rejuvenate the orchestra’s repertoire and strengthen its connection with the community. Over the years, the OSM has gone on tour approximately 40 times (with the most recent being a coast-to-coast tour of the United States from March 14 to 26, 2016) and roughly 30 excursions in Canada and abroad. The Orchestra has more than 100 recordings to its name on the Decca, EMI, Philips, CBC Records, Analekta, ECM and Sony labels, as well as on its own label. These recording have earned some 50 national and international awards.

The Azrieli Music Project (AMP) is a newly-established initiative of the Azrieli Foundation. Inspired by the creative vision of Dr. Sharon Azrieli Perez, AMP aims to celebrate, foster and create opportunities for the performance of high quality new orchestral music on a Jewish theme or subject.

The Azrieli Foundation is a Canadian philanthropic organization that supports a wide range of initiatives and programs in the fields of education, architecture and design, Jewish community, Holocaust commemoration and education, scientific and medical research, and the arts. www.azrielifoundation.org/music

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