TSO and Photo Choreography

I made the notes on this concert ages ago and realized I never actually posted them.  So without further ado, on April 17th the TSO and guest artist Gil Shaham were featured in a program called My Homeland.  

I've loved "The Moldau" (a movement of "Ma Vlast" or "My Fatherland") since having to study Smetana and program music in high school.  Funny how dissecting music doesn't ruin my enjoyment of it in the same way as dissecting literature.  When the TSO put "Ma Vlast" on the program I jumped at the chance to hear "The Moldau" as it should be played and the rest of the work in its entirety.

Gil Shaham
(credit: Christian Steiner)

The concert opened with Mozart's "Turkish Violin Concerto No. 5".  Gil Shaham had entertaining facial expressions and sometimes seemed to be playing directly to conductor Peter Oundjian. When Mr. Shaham was not playing he looked like he could have been dancing to the music in his head.  The smiling, friendly personally he displayed was very fitting for the quick light dance style piece.  It was a shame that after the first movement we had to wait so long for the late comers to find their seats.  Oundjian even commented "there's some lovely seats up here" and pointed to a few in the front row.  I recognized more of the music than I thought I would and it's probably my favourite of the violin concertos I've heard.

Prague (www.gooverseas.com)

Recognizing more than I expected happened with "Ma Vlast" as well.  There was what some people would call a gimmick to the performance.  Two gentleman, James Westwater and Nicholas Bardonnay spent June and October in the Czech Republic taking photos and then fit them to the music.  The end result was pretty astounding and they coined the term "photo choreography" to describe it.  While the orchestra played, the images were projected on three screens above them.  The images weren't meant to tell the same story that Smetana's program music was, but just match/create moods and feelings.

I loved and recognized the opening movement titled "The High Castle".  This was paired with images of what I imagine was Prague, as well as castles and forts on green hills against a gorgeous blue sky.

"The Moldau" was my favourite and fittingly the photos were mostly of water.  At one climax just

The Moldau (www.hberlioz.com)

before the section in the music where the river starts to flow through the city and the melody changes, the somewhat suspensful music was paired with photos of a group of people in various canoes and kayaks going down some rough water beside a water fall.  Some people made it, some capsized but it fit the music absolutely perfectly!

The movement "Sarka" or "A Princess" was paired with images of churches and cathedrals, all very regal looking.  Prior to the performance when Oundjian described the piece, he gave the most details about this section which he admitted to liking very much.  It's the story of a girl who hates all men (at which point he quipped "nothing really changes does it").  She poisons them all and they start falling asleep, "starting with the second bassoon".  Sure enough in the music there were a final series of calls that started with the bassoon so perhaps that's what he was talking about.

The images for an "Encampment" took on a darker tone moving to World War Two and opening with a picture of a swastika.  There were historical pictures from a concentration camp with the more graphic being held in slight shadow, never coming into perfect focus but getting the point across without needing to be.  The music switches abruptly between dark and light and to counter the darkness were images of peace.  One was even of a wall with John Lennon's picture and hearts.

This isn't the first piece that has been paired with images by Westwater and Bardonnay.  I didn't think that it detracted from the music, and it wasn't hard to focus on the orchestra and not watch the pictures.  However, that isn't the same opinion held by others.  "Ma Vlast" with photo choreography was a co-commission and had its debut in Scotland with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.  This is a review of that performance where the photo aspect is lambasted in the comments, 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/mar/24/rsno-oundjian-review

All I can say is experience it yourself before making a judgement.  I'm glad I found the review after I'd already seen the performance.

Mozart @ 257 Festival

The TSO Mozart @ 257 concert series concluded last week.  I attended the final event which featured three works by the prolific composer.  Music director Peter Oundjian provided some opening comments and mentioned that we'd see the orchestra growing as the evening progressed.  He wasn't kidding.  The opening "Serenade No. 12 in C Minor" had only eight musicians, two each of oboe, clarinet, french horn, and bassoon.  It was nice to hear the more chamber size group and be able to pick out the instruments clearly.  I particularly liked the driving force of the 2nd clarinet part and the equality in timing and tone.

Teng Li (www.lizpr.com)

The second piece, "Sinfonia concertante in E-flat Major for Violin, Viola and Orchestra" featured concert master Jonathan Crow and principal violist Teng Li.  Mozart apparently played the viola part when he performed it and why not?  He didn't relegate it to a supporting instrument but used it equally with the violin.  True it doesn't have the higher, easier to project tone, and when both violin and viola were playing, particulary with the now larger orchestral accompaniment, it was sometimes difficult to hear the viola part. However, when they alternated melodic lines, even switching seemlessly in the middle of the phrase, the viola shone through.  The ending had an alternating repetative part violin, viola, violin with embellishment, that was repeated again with the viola starting so it got the embellishment section.  That was a cool moment.

At intermission there was a lobby chat with William Littler and Teng Li.  He asked about the viola not getting the respect it deserves and shared a few viola jokes.  The first joke being if you see a crushed skunk and a crushed viola on the roadway what is the difference between the two?  Answer: There are skid marks in front of the skunk.  He ended the chat with one he'd been told by another viola player, why are viola jokes so short?  So violinists can understand them.  The listening audience and Ms. Li seemed to appreciate that :)

(www.flipkart.com)

The concert concluded with "Symphony 40 in G Minor".  I tend to associate minor keys with dissonance and lack of melody.  Honestly I never really knew this symphony was in a minor key because it is so melodic.  The opening movement is probably my favourite, likely because I'm familiar with it from who knows where.  As Maestro Oundjian also commented Mozart's music is everywhere, even in elevators. As symphonies go it didn't feel very long, but was very full with lots for the ear to latch on to.  It was evident in all the pieces that Mozart's music is open, there may be a lot going on but each section, each part is exposed and can be honed in on.  Nothing sounded off or out of place so I'd say the TSO did a great job in their celebration of Mozart's 257th birthday.  Looking forward to 258!

A Whirlwind of Music

Shamefully this is being written in November and back dated a month (wow, so behind) so it shows in the correct month drop down menu.  So way back on Oct. 14 the Toronto Symphony offered a Whirlwind of Music program.  We started in Germany with the first movement of Mendelssohn's "Italian Symphony No. 4", then moved on to Italy for Vivaldi's "Concerto for Bassoon in F Major" and Rossini's "Overture to William Tell".  After intermission we went to Austria for the "Overture to the Magic Flute" by Mozart, then back to Germany for Mendelssohn's "Konzertstuck No. 1 for Two Clarinets", before finishing the trip with the second and fourth movements of Beethoven's "Symphony No. 7".

Joshua Weilerstein

The concert was conducted by the incredibly energetic (ah, the joys of youth) Joshua Weilerstein.  He's accomplished a lot in his 24 years, completing graduate studies in conducting and violin, assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic, and has had conducting gigs all over the world with orchestras such as the BBC Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Danish National Symphony to name a few.  He had an excellent rapport with the audience, provided interesting tidbits about the pieces and added humour by defining an intellectual as one who can "list to the William Tell Overture without thinking of The Lone Ranger".  True not a quote created by him (wikipedia credits it to Jack Guin of the Denver Post) but fun nonetheless.

Michael Sweeney

Highlights of the concert for me started with the bassoon concerto.  I enjoy the sound of the bassoon, but often find it difficult to pick out from the full orchestra unless it has an obvious melodic line.  So it was really nice to hear principal bassoonist Michael Sweeney take centre stage.  In fact it was an embellished version of the concerto that Mr. Sweeney created himself.  A rather prolific concerto writer with over 500 to his credit and more than three dozen for the bassoon, I've always liked that Vivaldi probably wrote most of these works for the female students at the Venetian orphanage where he worked.

L: Valdepenas, R: Zhai

The spotlight continued to be on principal players when new TSO clarinetist YaoGuang Zhai joined the veteran Joaquin Valdepenas for the "Konzertstuck (or Concert Piece) for Two Clarinets".  What impeccable tone, articulation and ability they both have that showed off the versatility of this wonderful instrument (sorry, I'm biased since that's my instrument too).

Clearly I'm no intellectual because I thought of The Lone Ranger, but I had no idea the "Overture to William Tell" had four sections and is 12 minutes long!  As a whole it's a great piece, and a shame so much gets forgotten about because of the popularity of the final gallop.  It opens with a section called Prelude: Dawn featuring only the cellos and basses, then the full orchestra joins for the Storm.  The third section, Call to the Cows, is the pastorale calm after the storm and features the English horn, before  transitioning to the brass filled finale.

It was a lot of variety packed into an fun filled afternoon concert.

The Season Ends with Opera

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra 2010/2011 Season came to a close on June 26 with a program titled Opera Favourites.  I know very little about opera, the only one I have any interest in seeing is Mozart's Magic Flute, but I missed it when the Canadian Opera Company was performing it.  There is of course Wagner, and the wonderful Puccini who's works I've heard elsewhere (and incidentally blogged about).

Alasdair Neale (wbhm.org)

And while Puccini might be great without words, to do opera justice requires singers.  This role was filled by soprano Leah Crocetto and tenor David Pomeroy.  Guest conductor for the final event was Alasdair Neale, making his TSO debut.

There was a nice mix of vocal and orchestra selections with informative introductions by Mr. Neale, and I would welcome his return to the podium.  Most of the pieces would start and I'd be thinking...hmm, I'm not sure I know this one, but shortly thereafter would be a common theme and suddenly I'd recognize it.  Some of the highlights included what have become the classic, and some may say over done opera pieces.  From Puccini "O mio babbino caro" from Gianni Schicchi (which is pronounced in a completely different way from how it's spelled) and the "famous or infamous", as commented by Maestro Neale, "Nesson dorma" from Turandot (seriously there are SO many versions of this, here's one that covers 3 in 1...The 3 Tenors).  Over done or not, David Pomeroy sang it amazingly well.

After an orchestra interlude of "Intermezzo" from Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, both Mr. Pomeroy and Ms. Crocetto joined forces to tell the love story of Pinkerton and Cio-Cio-San in the "Love Duet" from Madame Butterfly.  From that single song one would never realize what a heal of a guy Pinkerton actually is.  A shame Butterfly loved him so much.  But it's opera, these things come with the territory :)

The second half moved back in time to feature the music of Mozart and Verdi, and opened with the wonderful "Overture to The Marriage of Figaro".  It continued with the "Dove sono" from the same opera, then "Fuor del mar" from Idomeneo sung by Ms. Crocetto and Mr. Pomeroy respectively.  Moving onto Verdi, the segment opened with the "Triumphal March" from Aida, minus the elephants (and chorus that the linked version has, but it showcases the trumpets nicely...well I think there's a rotton note now that I listen to it).  Maestro Neale mentioned his desire to have been there at the debut of the the opera.  Evidently it must have been a very grand affair.  I've played an arrangement of this piece and it is quite fun, especially if you have a great brass section, like the TSO does, led by Andrew McCandless (principal trumpet) and Gordon Wolfe (principal trombone).

Just prior to the quiet finale duet of "Parigi o caro" from La Traviata was the ultimate chauvinist song (according to Mr. Neale) of "La donna e mobile" from Rigoletto.  Mr. Pomeroy acted the part very well beginning with a casual lean on the conductors podium.  This was a piece I remember from it being on a listening exam in High School.  It was much more enjoyable to see live than to listen to on cassette (yep, that's how we were given our listening pieces).

Not to let the audience leave on that quiet, somewhat relaxed note however, the vocalists and orchestra obliged the applause with an upbeat drinking song...which I think was from La Traviata.

It was a nice light end to the season as the audience filled out of the hall and several orchestra members shook others hands, probably wishing them a happy summer.

Thanks to everyone at the TSO for another fantastic season!  I'm eagerly anticipating returning to Roy Thomson Hall for next seasons 90th anniversary.

And with that (because I missed posting this in June), Happy Canada Day to everyone!

Mozart @ 255

Since at least 2005 the Toronto Symphony has been celebrating the month of Mozart's birthday with a Mozart festival, numbered based on what would have been his age.  This year I attended the last show of the series on Jan. 30 entitled Mozart's World.  The orchestra was set up differently from the usual layout.  The first violins were in the usual place, but the seconds sat on the opposite side of the stage facing them.  Beside the 1st's were the cellos, and then the violas beside the 2nd's with the basses behind the cellos.  I'm guessing with was the typical layout in Mozart's day?  Bassoons, clarinets, horns, minimal brass and percussion rounded out the rest of the orchestra, coming and going as called for by the pieces.

The concert opened with the overture to Les Horaces, an opera by Salieri!  Certainly part of Mozart's world, although as it turns out not as detrimental to Mozart as things like the movie Amadeus would have one believe.  For some great back story on Mozart and Salieri check out the Jan. 17, 2011 NACOcast episode.  As conductor Peter Oundjian said at the end of the overture "so you've now heard a public performance of music by Salieri.  It's really quite good.  The rest of the opera wasn't so we stopped here".

The afternoon also included one of Mozart's most famous pieces "Eine Kleine Nechtmusik", the "D major Concerto for Double Bass" by Johann Baptist Vanhal performed by principal double bassist Jeffrey Beecher, and Mozart's "Concerto in C major for Oboe", performed by principal oboist Sarah Jeffrey.  The performance concluded with Haydn's Symphony 8, "Le Soir".   I really enjoyed hearing the other 3 movements to "Eine Kleine", the opening Allegro is so familiar that it's easy to forget there's a Romance, Menuetto and Rondo which follow.

courtesy Silk Road Project site

The double bass concerto was awesome!  The music was very relaxing yet not sleep inducing.  Being in a lower range it didn't carry the way a flute can soar over the orchestra but the balance was well executed in that the orchestra didn't over power the solo and let Jeffrey shine.  Who knew the bass had the range that it did?  At times it seemed more in the range of the cello, and even higher when he was playing at the very end of the finger board.  I believe there was a cadenza at the end of each movement and he really demonstrated what an excellent bass player can do with the instrument.  It's a shame it's not used virtuosically (if that's even a word) more often.

William Littler, a journalist with the Toronto Star, hosted an intermission chat with Jeffrey in the lobby.  Peter Oundjian had mentioned he, as a violinist, looked at the bass like driving a city bus around a Formula 1 track.  Jeffrey modified this to how he thought of it more as a Hummer.  When asked why these bass pieces aren't performed more often, he slightly insulted previous bass players by saying perhaps they didn't gain as much skill as they could have on the instrument to be able to perform some of the concertos written.  Of which I think he said there are only three; two by Vanhal and one by someone else.  His bass is from 1690 and the owners can be traced all the way back to its origins.  If he has to travel, he drives with the bass or it gets its own seat on the airplane.  Understandably, something that valuable does not get put in checked luggage.  Since the TSO just returned from touring Florida, I wonder if he borrowed an instrument or took his?  I always enjoy seeing musicians outside of the stage lights, and Jeffrey demonstrated his amiable nature while discussing his work with YoYo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble and his teaching job.  Thanks to him for taking the time to share with the audience more about himself and bass playing.

courtesy TSO

After intermission Sarah Jeffrey showed off her beauty as well as that of the oboe.  She looked very pretty in a long black dress.  One would never know she had a 3 month old baby (she's married to a French horn player) unless Peter Oundjian had mentioned it.  I've often considered the difference between the oboe and clarinet to be the more nasal sound of the oboe compared to the hollowness of the clarinet.  However, in higher ranges and in the hands of a real professional the nasal goes away and it can have a more flute like quality.  Her cadenzas were also impressive.

I don't recall hearing a full Haydn symphony before.  In fact all I know about Haydn was that he wrote a ton of them and a friend of mine did a project on him in grade 9 music.  She actually attended this concert with me, but couldn't remember much about Haydn either.  I enjoyed "Le Soir" and need to look up the other symphonies Peter mentioned, "Le Matin" and "Le Midi".  Again the balance between the orchestra was well executed.  There were violin (1st and 2nd), cello, and bass solos at various points, and all could be heard clearly.  The final movement, "The Storm", really sounded like one.  I'm glad it stayed in the hall and we didn't walk out to thunder, lightning or snow!

Looking forward to Mozart@256!