Celtic Christmas with Leahy

The Toronto Symphony went Celtic for Christmas this year.  I almost didn't go having found the concert a few years ago with a similar theme somewhat boring, but I'm certainly glad I did.

Donnell Leahy and Natalie MacMaster
(all photos from TSO Facebook page)

The special guest this year was Leahy.  Headed by Donnell, he was joined by two of his fiddling brothers (I'm not sure what the relation was with the pianist and drummer), his wife the incomparable Natalie MacMaster, their six children, and a few of their cousins.

Steven Reineke

With Steven Reineke at the helm, the TSO got the Christmas theme rolling with a rich and dense "Holiday Overture".  They played my favourite arrangement of "Winter Wonderland" (by Ralph Hermann) and a familiar but not overplayed version of "Carol of the Bells".

Reineke's arranging skills were featured in a gospel take of "Go Tell it on the Mountain".  Vocals were provided by the Etobicoke School of the Arts, the standard choir for the TSO Christmas concerts.

Step Dancing

Leahy took the stage with enthusiasm and infused the audience with their spirit.  Highlights were the introduction of the children step dancing in the last piece before intermission.  At each phrase of the music another youngster, getting younger and younger danced out for their turn in the spotlight.  The audience leapt to their feet at the end.

Michael Joseph

Michael Joseph (there was also a Joseph Michael) at 7 years old made his TSO solo debut playing "Silent Night" on a small fiddle.  As Donnell said it only took him about 40 more years (as Leahy was making their debut as well) to get to the same spot.  The rest of the children also demonstrated their music skills joining Michael for "Away in a Manger".  Donnell was very gracious, thanking the TSO for the opportunity for multiple generations to have the experience of playing with a wonderful symphony.

As always the evening concluded with a sing along.  But wait!  There was an encore with one of my favourite songs.  The entire Leahy clan, the TSO, and choir joined forces for the very fitting "Christmas in Killarney".

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

What Makes The Four Seasons Great?

amazon.com

I enjoy Rob Kapilow.  I learn more about music in an hour of his talks deconstructing a piece then I did in all of my high school music history class.  Granted that classes didn't focus on the same things, but it was so boring compared to the enthusiasm and insight Kapilow provides.

He was in town as part of the Toronto Symphony's "Exposed" series.  The piece of music in question: Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, "Autumn" and "Winter".  Apparently several seasons ago he covered "Spring" and "Summer".  Unfortunately I missed that concert. Chee-Yun was the guest violinist and is a beautiful player.  In the Q&A after the concert she told us she had started learning the piece in middle school, a "long, long time ago".  My understanding of her story, which I hope I heard correctly, was that the violin she was playing was from 1669 and was actually buried with a guy for a while.  Obviously it has been well looked after since then as it still has the original varnish.  She's decorated it a bit by adding a glittering fine tuning post and mute, which was a gift from a student.  They matched her shimmering dress and shoes.  She doesn't practice in the heels though :)

Chee-Yun (chee-yun.net)

While we're on the subject of violins, someone asked about the one played by concertmaster Mark Skazinetsky.  His was made in 2008 by a friend in Salt Lake City.  Talk about old meeting new.

But let's get to Vivaldi.  I had no idea The Four Seasons had accompanying poetry!  Granted, it's not great poetry which has led some to believe Vivaldi wrote it himself.  Given how well it fits the music, that makes sense to me.  I also never thought about "Autumn" and "Winter" each having three movements.  I generally classified The Four Seasons itself as a piece with 4 movements, never thinking they were further divided.

thisismyjoystick.com

A highlight in the deconstruction of the first movement of "Autumn" was the seven ways Vivaldi makes music sound drunk, including a cello that can't find the beat paired with double stops in the solo violin.  Kapilow also pointed out examples of sequencing where the same pattern is repeated higher or lower.  It was fun to listen for this and be able to recognize it elsewhere as well.  In the second movement the orchestra goes to sleep, not literally, but the music has descending arcs as if each time they can't get back to the top note to repeat the pattern.  The concluding movement is made exciting by the dotted rhythm which we sang out along with Kapilow.  A boring version using a straight rhythm was demonstrated by the orchestra with the instructions to play it in as dull a manner as possible.  There's nothing quite like a little rhythmic pattern to add interest.

shirt.woot.com

The poetry of "Winter" is perfect for the music.  So we could see this the appropriate lines of text were projected above the orchestra in the second half of the concert where they performed the full piece.  The trembling notes represent shivering while the solo violin breaks in as the "bitter blast of a horrible wind".  This then gives way to "...run, constantly stamping one's feet".  It's so easy to hear what's happening with the words put to it.  The second movement text opens with "to spend restful, happy days at the fireside".   Musically this is matched perfectly by the lovely solo melody, while the pizzicato in the orchestra is the rain outside.  Ice arrives in the third movement "to walk on the ice, and with slow steps to move about cautiously for fear of falling".  Then "to go fast, to slip and fall down" represented by the downward running notes.  It finishes with "that's winter, but of a kind to gladden one's heart".  At Kapilow said, how very Canadian.  Here's hoping this winter is like movement two more than three.

Vivaldi has always been one of my favourite composers, but this work is even more enjoyable now that I know more about the music, and all you have to do is listen.

The Best of the Beatles

What do you do with The Beatles?  "Best of" can be a misnomer as each listener has their own definition of "best" and their favourite tunes.  A fact that was not ignored and even acknowledged by a member of Rajaton saying that he hoped peoples favourites were included in the show.

But let's go back a step.  The TSO Pops season opened with Finnish guest vocal group Rajaton in an evening of Beatles music.  Known for their acappella work, Rajaton were mostly accompanied by the fine Toronto Symphony, except for "Lady Madonna" in the second half and "Eleanor Rigby" as an encore.  It seemed an odd choice for an encore as it's not a very happy ending to the evening.  Although as a vocal showcase it was impressive.  As it turned out, "Let It Be" was a second encore which actually concluded the evening.

Principal Pops Conductor, Steven Reineke's approach to the Beatles was to program the album Sgt.

Steven Reineke

Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in its entirety as the first half.  The second half featured a selection of number one hits.  The Sgt. Pepper era is not my favourite of the Beatles music.  A lot of the songs from the album I don't know.  I enjoyed "When I'm 64" which was probably my favourite.  "With a Little Help from My Friends" will always remind me of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's 2009 performance at the National Arts Centre gala, a year after he won re-election with a minority government.  Not that I was there but it made the papers and, as with everything else, it's on youtube.

Features from the second half included "Yesterday" (interesting to hear with a slight Finnish accent), "Ticket to Ride", "She Loves You", "Penny Lane", "All You Need is Love", and "Hey Jude".  The transition between these last two was great with the trumpets picking up the "Hey Jude" tune.  I probably will never understand the appeal of that song, but it did get the audience singing.  Rajaton had tried to get us clapping along earlier and it worked briefly but then fizzled.

Rajaton

As always the orchestra wasn't left out.  The evening opened with what I believe was Reineke's arrangement titled "Ed Sullivan Welcomes the Beatles".  It was a medley of the five songs the Beatles played on his show in February 1964, "All My Loving", "Till There Was You" (apparently they didn't know this was Meredith Willson's song from The Music Man until much later and never sang anything from Broadway again), "She Loves You", "I Saw Her Standing There", and "I Want to Hold Your Hand".  The orchestra also opened the second act with "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da".

There were some audience members who had also been at Maple Leaf Gardens when the Beatles played Toronto in September 1964.  50 years later, the appeal of their music has clearly not waned.

Starting the 14/15 Season with the TSO

Saturday night I attended my first concert of the  TSO season.  As Peter Oundjian explained, he decided to open the season with a program to showcase the orchestra, ie: no special featured soloist.  It was titled Arabian Nights.

The evening opened with one of my favourite pieces, which never fails to conjure up images of Torvill and Dean in my mind...yep, it was "Bolero".  Snare drum player John Rudolph was moved to a place of honour in the centre of the orchestra, rather than remaining at the back in the percussion section.  The orchestra started so quietly it was hard to tell that the piece actually had started.  It took a moment for people to stop fidgeting and strain their ears for that familiar beat.

Torvill and Dean Bolero Program
(http://debralschubert.blogspot.ca)

I've seen the TSO perform this before, but it's such a great piece to watch being played.  There are still times when I'm looking around asking myself, what instrument is that?   The extra saxophone player had the quickest instrument swap completing the melody on one sax then switching to the soprano sax and picking it right up again.  "Bolero" grows so subtly and smoothly that by the time it gets to the end it's just a fantastic climax.

The second piece was another I'd heard before, but really like.  As I hear it more the other sections are starting to grow on me, but I still love the finale.  This was 1919 suite of "The Firebird", shorter than the other suite Stravinsky also wrote from the ballet score.  As Mr. Oundjian said in his introduction it has the same pull to your feet as the Bolero.  I was more inclined to get to my feet after Bolero, but perhaps that's just a personal preference.

There were multiple player switch-outs in the winds and brass for various pieces.   It was nice to see a lot of familiar faces in one evening.  Congratulations to the newest brass player, Steven Woomert, winning the Associate Principal Trumpet position and replacing his father Barton who retired last season.

"Scheherazade" by Rimsky-Korsakov, the teacher of Stavinsky, closed the program.  This piece seems to be programmed often, yet I've never gone to see it.  This time though it was accompanied by two others I new I liked, so there was no doubt it wouldn't be a great evening of music.  Concertmaster Jonathan Crow played the violin solo sections beautifully.  The very high note near the end, that slightly misplaced could have been very cringe worthy, was of course perfectly placed and sustained.  In all the pieces there were brief solos in the sections which I always enjoy.  An arrangement of the third movement, "The Young Prince and Princess" I've played before in quite a small ensemble.    It was thrilling to hear that theme as it was meant to be, played by 30 violins in perfect pitch.  "The Sea" section of the final movement is so cool.  I had no idea what the section was called but was thinking, wow this really sounds like the sea.  Kudos to the crash cymbal and bass drum players.  Timing the wind up and impacts seems like it could be pretty stressful.  Having not read the program, but knowing that it was somewhat based on the 1001 Nights, I was sucked into a story through music.  It doesn't get any better than that.

10th New Creations Festival

A many months late, Happy New Year!  It was a slow winter for my attendance at musical events, and the first concert I went to was the opening of the 10th annual New Creations Festival with the TSO.  The concert, titled Adams: Doctor Atomic, included the title work as this years featured composer was American John Adams.  Unfortunately he wasn't on hand to do the conducting honours, but was schedule to arrive in time for some of the later concerts.

I don't know what was different this year, but I found myself liking the music.   All of it, even the opening lobby entertainment by The Glenn Gould School of New Music Ensemble, was enjoyable.  "My Twentieth Century" the pre-concert Ensemble piece was different, sure, but the mixture of poetry and music worked for me.

Kevin Lau
(www.sneakpeekorchestra.com)

The concert began with a new work by affiliate composer, Kevin Lau, "Down the Rivers of Windfall Light".  It's based off the Dylan Thomas poem Fern Hill, about a child escaping into their imagination. Maybe it was the premise or the fact I was listening to the cast recording of Alice in Wonderland on my drive down, but it reminded me of that story.  I didn't find it weird, but programmatic with an overarching story that was understandable.  The brass was exquisitely used and one five note theme reminded me of the theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  It had some interesting instrumentation in the percussion section, even a rain stick.

Completely switching gears, Adams' "Doctor Atomic Symphony" was up next.  It's a 25 minute, single movement work based on his opera of the same name

(www.scena.org)

about the making of the atomic bomb.  The scenes evoked are of the test site: the electrical storm that occurred a few hours before the test, a ritual "corn dance" by Tewa Indians, and the poem "Batter my heart, three person'd God" that inspired the naming of the site "Trinity".  At times it was bombastic and at others excruciatingly longing.  Andrew McCandless played the trumpet solo beautifully, as did the other brass soloists on the horn, trombone, and tuba.  In the percussion section were some things I hadn't seen before.  There was a huge set of chimes that had a set of stairs up to them, two thunder sheets, and cymbals being played by running a bow along the edges.

Magnus Lindburg
(symfonieorkest.be)

The last piece was "Piano Concerto No. 2" by Magnus Lindberg, featuring guest soloist Yefim Bronfman, who didn't look very much like his picture in the program.  Moments reminded me of "Rhapsody in Blue", and there's no doubt he's a powerful pianist.  Perhaps it was because of where I was sitting, but it sounded like the orchestra overpowered the piano at times.  The cadenza, written very late in the composing process, was impressive.  It was not my favourite piece of the night, but got a rousing ovation and multiple curtain calls.

For an analysis by a real critic, try the National Post.

Ashley Brown Joins the TSO for Christmas

The TSO Pops Christmas is a tradition that helps get everyone in the holiday spirit.  This year Ashley Brown joined the celebration as the guest vocalist.  There aren't enough adjectives to describe how great she is and how well she hosted the concert.  Apparently it's a program she jointly created with TSO Pops conductor Steven Reineke, well at least the vocal parts.  Ashley mentioned collaborating a year ago on creating medleys and introducing Steven to a new song, a feat she was particularly proud of given his vast knowledge of the music world.

One of the collaborations was the "Holiday Hits Medley" which closed the first half.  It was a mix of popular songs from the radio that are rarely heard in a concert setting.  Backed with a strong percussion section, Patricia Krueger on piano, and the rest of the orchestra Ashley demonstrated her pops singing style.  The medley started with Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You", moved to "Hard Candy Christmas" delivered with a twinge of Dolly Parton twang, and finished with the always popular "Feliz Navidad".

I can't believe I missed
her red shoes in this photo!

Shifting back to earlier in the program, Ashley brought a Judy Garland swing sound to "Winter Wonderland Medley" and even wore shiny ruby slippers :)  Cindy Lou Who's version of "Christmas, Why Can't I Find You" from The Grinch and "The Secret of Christmas" (popularized by Ella Fitzgerald, this was the song Ashley introduced to Steven) were touching and tender.

There were also multiple times where Ashley was just herself as she talked about her family, the meaning songs held for her, and sang in her beautiful clear voice.  One of my favourites was "Yes, Virginia" which is from a
musical created in partnership with Macy's based on the popular letter to the editor of the New York Sun.  It's a great song and she's clearly no stranger to interacting with children as she invited kids from the audience to join her on stage as she sang.

Ashley's final song, "O Holy Night", proved there was no need to visit Yuletide Celebration with the Indianapolis Symphony this year.  She sang the same arrangement I expect Yuletide host Sandi Patty did and it was fantastic!

Santa getting in on the
conducting action!

The orchestra wasn't left out and showed their skill with steadfast tempos and dynamic variations in "Little Bolero Boy" (one of my favourites), and got swinging to show off the brass in "Jingle Bell Rock".

Yet another wonderful Christmas concert with everything except "Sleigh Ride" (which I heard someone else comment on when leaving).  But that's okay because dropping it every now and again leaves room for some new music, and I thoroughly enjoyed the new pieces I hadn't heard before that were included this year.  Merry Christmas!

Beethoven and Strauss

In my quest to hear all the Beethoven symphonies live, I attended the Toronto Symphony concert that included Symphony #4 on Nov. 20.  That was what I went for, but as usual found some other hidden gems.  The conductor for the occasion was Sir Andrew Davis, conductor laureate of the TSO.

The program opened with "Overture to The Consecration of the House".  The title struck me as familiar, yet I can't say I recognized any of the music.  Doing a bit of research I discovered I'd heard it as part of Jorma Elo's ballet Pur ti Miro performed by the National Ballet of Canada in 2010.  It's one of the few overtures Beethoven wrote that was meant to be a stand alone piece and is pretty impressive, not to mention great ballet music.

I can understand why Beethoven's 4th symphony doesn't seem to be performed all that often.   It doesn't have the same draw of #5 or scope of #9.  It's good music, but I think I needed to read more of the notes or know more about the form to deeply appreciate it.  I did like the opening where the rich chords jump keys and don't give you any idea where it's going.

Guest soprano Erin Wall joined the orchestra for "Seven Early Songs", by Alban Berg.  The songs had a nice variety with a love theme throughout.  The English translations were a welcome addition to the program.  I'm not usually a poetry person, but this series I actually read again.

Erin Wall (photo by Josh Clavir)

The evening ended with "Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche" (or "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks") by Richard Strauss.  This was probably my favourite of the evening.  Till Eulenspiegel was a quick witted prankster, and apparently a real German peasant who died around 1350.  What jumped out at me  was the horn solo which I'm familiar with from its use in one of my favourite versions of the "12 Days of Christmas" by the Indianapolis Symphony.  There's a story in this piece of music as well that I should have read the notes for in advance to fully appreciate.  Lessons learned for the next concert.

Professional review of the concert can be found here.

Carmina Burana For Halloween

There were no witches, ghosts or goblins on the Roy Thomson Hall stage this October 31.  Just a group of people dressed up as musicians, with none pretending to be something they aren't.  This Halloween the TSO was more formal, performing three works that culminated with "Carmina Burana".  It seems like this has been programmed recently by all the other orchestras I follow, so I was anxiously awaiting the chance to hear it.  It was so good I tried to get tickets to go again, but the Saturday night was sold out.

The evening started with the audience being wished a "Happy Hallowe'en, if such a thing is appropriate" by maestro Peter Oundjian.  "Dances from Powder Her Face" by British composer Thomas Ades, received it's Canadian premiere to open the concert.  It had just enough lyrical bits to outweigh it being another odd contemporary piece.  It's one I could sit through again.  Oundjian mentioned in his introduction that it had some tango moments in the style of Astor Piazzolla which I was listening for.  There were a few near the end, although brief enough that just when you're looking forward to it going somewhere, it changed and disappeared.

Music by Benjamin Britten seems to be popular everywhere this season since it would be his 100th

Phan and Deland (Photo by Josh Clavir)

birthday.  Tenor Nicholas Phan (who would return again in "Carmina Burana") and TSO Principal Horn, Neil Deland, were the soloists in "Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings".  The piece is sung in English to six poems by various writers including "Pastoral" by Charles Cotton, "Nocturne" by Alfred Lord Tennyson, "Elergy" by William Blake, and "Sonnet" by John Keats.  The styles varied and I really liked the opening and closing horn solos, which were played beautifully.

Finally after intermission, what I had been waiting for.  The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir filled the loft and launched into the opening "O Fortuna" with power.  How could you not with a full orchestra and two concert grand pianos on stage!  I hadn't read the text before and had no idea it was actually broken up into three segments (Spring, In the Tavern, and The Courts of Love) after the opening Fortune, Empress of the World.  The sections within the segments range from powerful and deep, to the somewhat silly "The Roast Swan Sings" (although maybe there's something profound I'm missing).  Phan added a few gestures that provided a humerous interlude to lighten what is otherwise a pretty serious piece.

TSO and soloists (jameswestman.com)

Joining Phan were soprano Valenina Farcas and baritone James Westman.  The baritone seemed to have the most to do and all had awesome voices.  Today we hardly bat an eye at some of the text regarding drinking and love, however I would think that in the 12th and 13th centuries when the manuscripts, from which the lyrics are taken, were written there would have been a different reaction.  Although a lot can get by in the name of art.

Hopefully the TSO brings this piece back again soon.  I know I'd love to hear it again!

Symphony Meets Circus

A symphonic concert is typically meant to be a feast for the ears and less so for the eyes.  That wasn't the case on October 15 at the  opening concert of the Toronto Symphony Pops series.  Cirque de la Symphonie was in town and there was plenty of eye candy in addition to wonderful playing.  

Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke, looking classy as always, and the TSO opened the program with "Festive Overture" by Shostakovich.  I've seen this on multiple programs but have never attended those concerts.  Now I know why it's popular.  It has a great opening fanfare that fit the circus theme of the evening.  Perhaps what thrilled me the most though was hearing a very short transition melody in the lower brass about 40 seconds in that is identical to that used in a piece called "Christmas Prelude" (from the ISO Yuletide album) as a transition into "Deck the Halls".  No doubt musicians playing "Prelude" for the first time would get the in joke right away.  It may take me a while longer (ok, like 4 years longer) but I was excited to piece the two segments of music together.

The Cirque artists acts were set to classical pieces that one has likely heard, at least in part, before.  There were a few I didn't recognize but then ones like "Capriccio espagnol" by Rimsky-Korsakov (featuring Mark Skazinetsky with the violin solo) accompanied by Aloysia Gavre and Sagiv Ben Binyamin with an act that was a bit tango dance, balancing, contortion and hat swapping.

Aloysia and Sagiv (Photo by Matt Gade)

Aloysia reappeared to close the first half of the program with an aerial hoop routine to "Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah".  This was stellar!  She didn't just flip or hang from the hoop while suspended, she got is swinging!  The tight spin while hanging from the hoop and flying off the floor was dizzying and exciting to watch.

Aloysia (Photo by Matt Gade)

The second half opened with a no less impressive, but less death defying than flight, quick change act.  This featured the mime and juggler Vladimir, and Elena Tsarkov (who would later perform a lovely

Elena in Clair de lune
(Photo by Matt Gade)

balance/contortion segment with exquisite movements that fit the music of "Clair de Lune" beautifully).    

Then the evening really entered the acts with a major "wow" factor.  Sagiv started his aerial rope routine to "The Ride of the Valkyries" by hoisting himself all the way up the thick rope using just his arms!  He then hung, spun, twisted and even flew over the orchestra landing what looked to be very close to the cello section at one point.

Christine and Alexander
(www.pitchengine.com/artspr) 

Alexander Streltsov and Christine Van Loo performed a duet on aerial silks to the "Valse" from Swan Lake.  Dressed in white with red silks they were impressive.  He flew over the orchestra and audience and she ended the routine by wrapping the material around her waist and slowly spinning back down to the stage.  That's always a crowd pleaser.

The most stoic act was the finale Jarek and Darek, the gold covered strongmen.  Set to "Finlandia", they walked out to a small platform centre stage and proceeded to demonstrate amazing feats of strength and balance.  They fluidly moved between hand holds and other positions including a single handed balance by one on the others head!

Jarek and Darek (www.cirquedelasymphonie.com/photos)

It was an exciting spectacle and I don't know how the orchestra was able to concentrate on what they were playing but it sounded as good as it looked!

Invitation to the Dance

Conductors Andrew Grams and James Gaffigan have been on my "to see" list since they were both on the NACOcast back in March 2010.  Host Christopher Millard had them pull questions out of a hat to answer.  I'm pretty sure Gaffigan has been to Toronto, I just haven't made it to the concert.  So my task to see them both started on June 22 when Andrew Grams conducted the last series of TSO 2012/2013 season concerts titled Invitation to the Dance.

The concert opened with the title piece by Carl Maria Von Weber.  There's a story that plays out as the cello, being the gentleman, asks the lady, the woodwinds, to dance.  She says maybe, eventually agrees and they dance!  At the conclusion they go their separate ways and fade away.

"Carmen Fantasie" was written for the 1945 Joan Crawford movie Humoresque about a virtuosic violinist.  Sixteen year old Kerson Leong, making his TSO debut, certainly fit the bill.  Based on themes from Bizet's opera Carmen, there's no lack of great content and Leong had the whole orchestra and audience applauding when he finished.

Leong and the TSO (TSO photo)

The first half finished with the always popular "Can-Can" from Offenbach's operetta Orpheus and the Underworld.  I've played an arrangement of this piece and whether listening or playing it has been forever converted in my mind from the words I knew as a child "can can can you do the can-can..." to the Straight No Chaser lyrics from their "Christmas Can-Can", "it's time to do the Christmas can-can if you can't can't dance well that's ok, not going to do the kickline..." etc.  Great song really no matter how you think of it.  One of those tunes guaranteed to stick in your head.

Andrew Grams (musicvinearts.com)

Having been a violinist with the New York City Ballet, Grams said he'd played about 300 performances of The Nutcracker.  Yet he still is able to like Tchaikovsky and conduced a "Suite from The Sleeping Beauty".  It featured the intrduction of the Lilac Fairy, the Waltz (known to me as "Once Upon a Dream" from the Disney version), and the Rose Adagio.

Grams also shared that one of the common questions he's asked is what's his favourite music to conduct?  He said that people expect a young person like himself to say Mahler or Shostakovich.  But he really likes polkas and waltzes because they're the most fun!  He got to have fun and brought the audience along with him as the concert concluded with "On the Beautiful Blue Danube Waltz" by Strauss Jr. and "Radetzky March" by Strauss Sr.

"Radetzky's" was the other reason I wanted to attend this concert.  It was the recessional all through high school for commencement so we played it a lot and I was looking forward to hearing how it should sound.  I wasn't disappointed!  It's one of my favourites.  I had no idea there was a whole audience participation tradition though.  It took a bit to get the hang of the dynamics but finally we followed the conductor and got it right.

In addition to being the season ending for the TSO, it was the last concert for second trombonist William Cross, who is retiring.  He was acknowledged with enthusiastic applause from the audience.

Thanks to the Toronto Symphony for another great season.  See you in September!

High and Low Guest Artists

On June 6 the TSO performed a concert titled Joshua Bell and Edgar Meyer, artists who play instruments at opposite ends of the sonic spectrum.  My reasons for wanting to go were to hear (in no particular order):
-  the acclaimed Bell who I'd heard about, including the busking in the Washington DC subway story
- "Appalachian Spring" because I like the piece and haven't ever heard a great recording of it
-  "Pines of Rome" because I heard the name of the composer, Respighi, mentioned in an interview and turns out this is one of his famous pieces.
The heart of the concert, according to the program, was the "Concerto for Violin and Double Bass" composed by bassist Meyer with Bell in mind.

The evening opened with "Appalachian Spring".  It was "wow" for me.  Soft and soaring in all the right spots.  The layering at the start of the strings and the winds was spot on.  I've never heard it clearly before because recordings are always so quiet I have to turn up the volume and then when the dynamic changes and the tempo picks up it blows you away, and not in a good way.  The balance live was perfect.  Associate Principal clarinet Yao Guang Zhai seemed to have a good time with the solos and I love that the "Simple Gifts" melody appears in the clarinet first.  In fact there were notable clarinet parts in every piece.

Bell and Meyer during the concerto (TSO photo)

The concerto followed with Meyer adding a bit of a casual flair to the evening dressed in shirt sleeves rolled to the elbows, bow tie and suspenders.  There was some dissonance in the piece, but enough to peak interest as to where it was going to go, and most often satisfactorily resolved.  I particularly liked the melodic theme and rhythmic drive in movements 1 and 3, named "Quarter Note = 135" and "Half Note = 80" respectively.  The theme from the third particularly got into your head and I heard people humming the theme at intermission.  Meyer's bass looked smaller than the others in the orchestra and had an extended finger board on one side allowing him to get to the upper end of the basses 6 octaves and into the register of Bell's violin part.  The middle movement was more reflective, fitting in that it was a memorial to a student they both knew at Curtis.

Post intermission Joshua Bell got his solo chance to dazzle in "Tzigane, rapsodie de concert for Violin and Orchestra" by Ravel.  Honestly all I know of Ravel is "Bolero".  This was completely different and Bell demonstrated his very impressive skills elegantly.

Finally, "The Pines of Rome".  Honestly I was expecting to recognize more.  I've had the same

problem with recordings of this as with "Appalachian Spring" since there is such dynamic contrast.  It involves a large orchestra; there were 8 basses, 3 trombones and 3 trumpets on stage plus another 2 of each above the choir loft.  There's something about a huge brass sound that's thrilling, particularly when it builds like the final movement "The Pines of the Appian Way".  I could have sat through the entire concert again right away.

West Side Story With Orchestra

Getting in on the movie of the year (several orchestras have had it on the program recently), and following up on the successful Oz with Orchestra from last season, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra played the score to West Side Story live, accompanied by the movie, at the end of May.  For me the movie was indeed secondary.  I don't much care for the plot (what can I say, I'm a sucker for happy endings), but adore the music!  The dancing is worth watching too.

50 years after it's debut in 1961 MGM released a restored, high definition print of the film.  It's pretty stunning.  I watched an older DVD not that long ago and didn't notice some things, but the colours just popped out in the HD version.  Of course watching it on a huge screen above the orchestra might have helped too.

High flying Jets  (MGM photo)

The tech behind the concert is impressive as well.  A sound technology developed by Audionamix was "taught" to distinguish between the orchestral score and all the other sounds in the movie.  The score was removed and everything else (vocals, sound effects etc.) remained.

But there was a problem with the score.  Namely there wasn't one.  The original musical arrangements for the film were lost.  Research uncovered papers from the original orchestrator Sid Ramin, conductor/music director Johnny Green, director Robert Wise and producer Walter Mirisch that were used to piece together a new score.

Then of course the conductor needs some indications of what should happen when in order to keep everything synchronized.    In addition to a click-track, in fact the orchestra wore single ear headphones for the concert, conductor Steven Reineke had a monitor playing the movie with timing indications superimposed.  Quite simply these were bars that moved across the screen.  I found myself watching that more often than the big screen.  From what I could determine the white bars and flashes were a steady beat, a green bar was start, red for stop, and magenta bars for tempo changes.

TSO pre concert

Regardless of how it's heard, the music is the best part of West Side Story.  But there really is something special when it's played by a live orchestra.  Unfortunately I couldn't see the brass section because of the screen, and there's so many good brass parts.  Nothing I heard though indicated any problems.  In fact the French horn solo at the end of the opening credits and to close the first half, was spot on.   The percussion was certainly on top of things as well.  I imagine the rhythms in the mambo section of "Dance at the Gym" aren't easy at the best of times but when it has to be spot on with the film, it seems it would be an extra challenge.  That piece and "America" are probably my favourites from the movie and they were perfect to my ears, as was the whole evening.  It was touching and a testament to how much the audience enjoyed the concert that they cheered for Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and others in the credits.

Next year they're doing Casablanca.  Stay tuned.

The Music of James Bond

Bond through the years
(www.torontovka.com)

Conductor John Morris Russell, another of my favourites, returned to the Toronto Symphony this past week bringing with him the original scores from some of the best music in the 23 James Bond movies.  Composed by various people such as John Barry, Monty Norman, David Arnold, and even John McCartney, the person who really gave Bond his sound was someone not nearly as well known, arranger Nic Raine.  It was those arrangements the TSO brilliantly performed, and appeared to have an enjoyable time doing it.  

The night opened with the "James Bond Main Theme" before

Capathia Jenkins
(broadwayworld.com)

moving on to some of the hits from the Sean Connery era.  Guest vocalist Ron Bohmer made his TSO debut singing "Thunderball" to great effect.  Capathia Jenkins followed with "For Your Eyes Only", also her debut performance.  She has a gorgeous sultry voice that totally suited the James Bond style.  I think that was my favourite vocal song of the evening, although Bohmer's "From Russia With Love" was a close second.  Both singers, but especially Jenkins, seemed so pleased with the audience reaction and generously indicated their thanks to the audience and orchestra.

As usual the orchestra was not left out.  They played a short suite from Dr. No, complete with a recorded voice over of the most famous line in movie history (according to Conductor Russell), "martini, shaken not stirred".  

Mrs. Peel

Opening the second half was a series of orchestral selections featuring guest saxophonist John Johnson and brassy solos by trumpeter James Gardiner.  It started with the "Soul Bossa Nova" better known as the theme from Austin Powers, then moved to the piece that started the spy-fi genre, the "Peter Gunn Theme".  Russell broke in to continue the history and stories he was providing between pieces to discuss the appeal a character named Mrs. Peel, who "wore leather and kicked butt", had for a young boy growing up in Ohio.  The orchestra followed with the theme from the TV series The Avengers.  

Ron Bohmer
(www.imdb.com)

Also included were Mission Impossible with it's identifying 5/4 time, the Pink Panther, and the theme from Shaft where Bohmer reappeared in his own leathers.

Moving on to more recent Bond movies, Jenkins sounded just like Adele singing "Skyfall" then switched to Gladys Knight for "Licence to Kill".  "The Look of Love" from the original Casino Royale had Russell get in on the non conducting action to join Jenkins for a classy slow dance.  Bohmer returned a final time to sing "You Know My Name" from the Daniel Craig as Bond version of Casino Royale.

Of course one couldn't leave until perhaps the most popular Bond song, made famous with the Shirley Bassey vocals but left as an orchestral encore piece, was played.  The evening was brought to a final close with "Goldfinger"!

Check out a photo of the TSO in rehearsal

TSO rehearsal with Maestro Russell (www.680news.com)

and a pre-show interview Maestro Russell gave with 680 news here: http://www.680news.com/2013/04/02/interview-john-morris-russell-guest-conductor-for-the-toronto-symphony-orchestra/

Love Will Keep Us Together

The Toronto Symphony's new Pops Conductor, Steven Reineke, introduced something new this season, a love themed concert, titled Love Will Keep Us Together that occurred a week after Valentine's Day.  I'm not sure how I feel about Valentine's concerts, there's no lack of good "love" music, but being single it can feel like a slap in the face from the world sometimes.  But I went with a friend and we just enjoyed the evening.  It will be interesting to see if this trend continues since the house was not full on the Wednesday evening I attended.

The opening piece "Love's Theme" by Barry White could have been a bit stronger, there was some muddling in the horns and it just didn't have the hook that gets you on the edge of your seat for the remainder of the evening.

Principal trumpet Andrew McCandless nailed a few wonderful solos throughout the evening.  The first was glorious and soaring in the "Cinema Paradiso Suite", then in "Almost Paradise" from Footloose he showed versatility with a much more jazzy sound.

Reineke, Eldred, Wolfe, and the TSO
(www.theatromania.ca)

Guest vocalists were Mike Eldred and Betsy Wolfe (making her TSO debut).  Mr. Eldred was okay, I enjoyed him best in "Sarah".  It's a piece from the musical The Civil War, and he just let the story and lyricism unfolded naturally.

Wolfe in one of many lovely evening gowns
(www.tumblr.com)

Ms. Wolfe has a lovely voice that was well suited to the heartfelt and belt portions of "The Music That Makes Me Dance" from Funny Girl.  I don't recall hearing the piece before, but then can't say I know much from Funny Girl, but I quite liked it.

They joined forces for a humerous version of "Anything You Can Do" from Annie Get Your Gun.  When they got to "anything you can buy, I can buy cheaper" and started throwing out numbers of "50 cents", "40 cents", "30 cents" etc.  Betsy side barred to the audience "the song's a bit outdated".  A true fact but it hasn't lost any of Irving Berlin's magic, even if the value of money has changed.

There were a few orchestra only pieces as well.  "Unchained Melody" made the list, and while melodically there isn't a lot of variation, they threw it around between the violins, winds, and celli which helped keep it interesting.  "Copacabana" was a good choice to open the second half with some energy.

The evening concluded with a lively encore of "Love Will Keep Us Together", complete with dancing vocalists and conductor while the orchestra played along left mostly to their own devices.  The audience didn't jump to their feet to join in, but there was a healthy applauce and light steps as people left the hall.