National Ballet of Canada Stages a Classic

I didn't want to let the opportunity to see the classic ballet Swan Lake pass by, yet not wanting to spend a considerable amount of money (ballet tickets are one of the most expensive in town), I opted to try for a rush ticket.  That didn't exactly work out but standing room did!  The absolute cheapest way to see some pretty fantastic ballet!  The rough story line of Swan Lake is well known.  My favourite version is the one told by Tchaikovsky himself (well how it could be imagined he'd tell it) in Tchaikovsky Discover's America.  There was some deviation from that since choreographers take license and obviously there are sections of music purely for the opportunity to put a solo or group number, but I enjoyed it.

Act 1 is the Hunting Ground where Siegfried (Piotr Stanczyk at the performance I saw) is melancholy even though it's his birthday.  So what else to do in a ballet, but to dance and try to cheer up the Prince.  The program notes describe the dances as "growing increasing unsettling and violent".  This is true, but one of the most exciting parts was the wench (Jordana Daumec) being thrown between the knights and servants.  There's actually only that one main female dancing part in Act 1.  The rest is a chance for the men to show their power with leaps and jumps.

What surprised me the most was that the famous theme from Swan Lake didn't have any swans dancing to it!  It is first heard in Act 2 when Benno (the Prince's friend) and Siegfried are walking through the forest going hunting for the swans.  There's not really any dancing to it at all, it's more scene change music as trees fly in and out symbolizing their travelling to the marsh.

The company (Photo by Bruce Zinger)

Now the swans get to dance, and here the artists of the ballet were awesome!  This is what I came to see, about 20 dancers in the classical white tutus floating around the stage.  We meet Odette (Sonia Rodriguez) and the duets between her and Siegfried were impressive.  If only all it took to fall in love was one dance.  In these duets the fantastic playing of the orchestra was especially apparent with cello and violin solos.  I do love how Tchaikovsky has various instruments take over a phrase and passes it around the orchestra.  The fact that it can sound like one instrument is a testament to the skill of the players.

Rebekah Rimsey as the
Hungarian Princess from a
previous performance
(photo by David Cooper)

Act 3 is in the ballroom where Siegfried is being forced to choose a wife from four princesses: Hungarian (Stephanie Hutchison), Russian (Elena Lobsonova), Spanish (Tiffany Mosher), and Italian (Shino Mori).  Each of course gets a dance and a chance to woo the Prince.  They were all good and I liked how the styles fit the country.  The Italian was my favourite though, maybe because I also recognized that bit of music (which seems to also be called the Neapolitan Dance).

Of course Siegfried has already fallen in love, so can't choose one of the princesses.  But, surprise, suddenly there's another lady, dressed in black, who looks exactly like Odette!  Unknown to Siegfried it's actually Odile, brought by the evil villain Rothbart.  Of course they dance and here Sonia was deliciously sensuous and seducing.  If Siegfried wasn't already in love with her, he would have been!  The black swan pas de duex is where the 32 fouette turns come it and to my untrained eye Sonia looked spot on.  The ballerina gets all the glory but Piotr's set of turns just after it were pretty stunning too.  (Similar choreography here, with a different ballet company)

Siegfried's choosing of Odile brings calamity as he's betrayed Odette, and a flood sweeps through killing everyone.  This was the moment where I was most awed and it was by the use of a simple piece of silk.  The silk was used as the water and was held on the sides by dancers and swept in circles causing people to be engulfed or ejected.  Then just as quickly as it appeared, Rothbart arrives, grabs the silk in the middle and it collapses in spectacular fashion as he runs off stage with it.  Simple yet so effective.

Artists of the National Ballet
(photo by David Cooper)

Back at the lakeside for Act 4, the host of swans have now turned black and dance (the famous Tchaikovsky melody reappears) while Siegfried stands at the back on the driftwood/rocks pining for Odette.  She forgives him but a storm appears.  Siegfried fights Rothbart and when the dust clears Odette is left to mourn her dead Prince.

Not a happy ending, but with the wonderful music and dancing it was a very happy way to spend an afternoon.  The National Ballet is bringing it back in March so there's still a chance to check it out if you missed it.

TSO Allows the Audience to Pick

For many months the Toronto Symphony posted polls listing pieces of music and inviting potential  audience members to pick their favourites.  After several rounds and finals the six top pieces were combined into an Audience Choice concert.  Not a lot of the music I voted for made the final list, but I was getting excited just listening to the orchestra warm up and hearing snippets from Star Wars!

The "Main Title Theme from Star Wars" opened the evening with a soaring brass section that let loose to great effect.  There's nothing quite like John Williams.  I was left wondering if it's the first time anyone in attendance had heard that piece live given that there isn't always a lot of crossover between people who favour classical concerts and ones who prefer the Pops series.  Maybe programs like this will help in the promotion of each.

Next up was the "long, short, short, long" movement from Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 (ok, technically movement 2).  The theme was introduced so beautifully by the strings and then got even quieter.   Wow, just lovely.

Ms. Rizikov
(ttp://glenngouldvariations.tumblr.com)

Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini" is probably my favourite piano piece, and I'll admit to being cliche and name Variation 18 as my favourite within it.  That variation proved to be another winner and made the program.  We also helped to fulfill a dream of sorts for the young pianist.  Thirteen year old Anastasia Rizikov had told the conductor who announced to the audience that it was her dream to perform with the TSO.  She took to the stage looking every bit a polished young lady.  Raising off the piano bench at times to get the sound from the piano to counter the orchestra, she got the job done, and musically at that.  I expect this won't be her last time on the Roy Thomson Hall stage.

Next was Movement 4 from Dvorak's "Symphony No. 9: From the New World".  It was a good book end to the first half with the Jaws sounding opening and brass fanfare that could slip right into a John Williams movie score.

Resident Conductor
Shalom Bard (tso.ca)

The audience voting continued even during the concert as after intermission we were tasked with making a selection between "The Great Gate of Kiev" from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, or "Intermezzo" from the opera Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascangni.  The method of voting by was shouting the favourite phrase of the conductor for the evening, the TSO's new resident conductor, Shalom Bard.  No idea what it means but to me it sounded like "oy mon choi".  The brassy sounds of Kiev won.

Then a drastic change of pace for "Adagio for Strings", which was poignant as always.  I had forgotten this was in the movie Lorenzo's Oil, and while listening my mind wandered back to when I saw that movie in high school.

The evening concluded with the full "1812 Overture"!  Another smashingly exciting piece.  Particularly the finale that accompanies fireworks shows, yet I like hearing the whole thing in a concert setting, even if the real cannon fire is replaced with recorded shots.

But wait!  That ended up not being the end of the evening.  Letting those who lost the vote still be winners, "Intermezzo" was played as an encore.  It was my vote and I'm glad they played it.  The theme is likely to be known by many but it's not a piece I've ever heard in it's entirety and really had no idea where the melody that's so popular was from.  It was a wonderful conclusion.

I think the audience choice idea went over well and perhaps there will be more in the future.

TSO Goes Outside!

For the first time in a decade the Toronto Symphony ventured outside the comfy confines of Roy Thomson Hall.  They didn't go very far, just next door to Metro Square (well ok, David Pecaut Square, it was renamed last year), but it was a departure from the norm none the less.  From what I saw and heard, it was a departure welcomed by fans.  But let's go back a bit.

June 17 was the finale of the 6th annual Toronto arts festival called Luminato.  This year is also the bicentennial anniversary of the War of 1812 which has sparked interest both north and south of the border.  It's a war both sides think they won.  In Canada it's remembered because we got to DC, burned down the White House and repelled an American invasion.  In America it's remembered for the defence of Fort McHenry in Baltimore which inspired the writing of their National Anthem.  So I was eagerly awaiting the results of a co-commissioned piece from the TSO and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) by Philip Glass, a native of Baltimore.  How would this play out with both sides thinking they're the victors?  How patriotic a piece would an American write and would it be something Canadians could really care about?  But really there isn't anything wrong with each side winning.  No one really wins in a war, and it ended with each side occupying some of the others territory which was ultimately given back, so let's celebrate that both sides developed a stronger national pride and call it a day.

An added quirk was that this piece was receiving a joint world premiere.  Not that you'd know that from the BSO promo material, although various other US articles have mentioned the TSO.  But the 7pm BSO concert of other American music included the Glass piece as well.  It would have been fun to be a fly on the wall to see if the TSO was mentioned at the BSO concert.  They were in Toronto.

After welcoming and thank you speeches from Luminato people, and concert master Jonathan Crow (very cool to see him back again for this concert) led the orchestra tuning, the concert opened with Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man".   Eventually the camera crew figured out what shot showed the brass so their image finally made the screen.  Hidden at the back of the orchestra with all the audience on a rather flat ground limited our view substantially.  There were a few brief imperfections, but I love this piece and it didn't hurt the overall grandeur of it.

(From Luminato facebook page)

Upon conclusion we heard piccolos in the distance.  Was this aural competition or part of the show?  The answer quickly provided itself as the players and honour guard complete with muskets marched in and up to the stage.  The audience and part of the orchestra stood while both the Canadian and American national anthems were performed (you can bet that didn't happen in Baltimore!).  I know there are some Americans in the orchestra, but I'd guess that "The Star Spangled Banner" isn't a piece Canadian Maestro Peter Oundjian has often been called upon to conduct.

As the soldiers marched away CBC personality Tom Allen announced them as the "Fort York Honour Guard ladies and gentlemen, keeping out invaders for 200 years".  And we're very thankful they did :)

Philip Glass
(www.colineatock.com)

Finally it was time for the much anticipated "Overture for 2012".  There was a video introduction by composer Philip Glass who could not have looked less energetic or enthusiastic for the piece.  Does he dislike it that much?  My gut reaction: seriously dude we helped pay you for this, the least you could do is look happy we're debuting your work!  The piece itself wasn't bad.  It was typically minimalist with lots of repetition and a brassy melodic line that transfered a bit throughout the orchestra.  There was the underlying motor of the driving incessant, not quite arpeggio rhythmic patterns.  At times it got boring, and I was hoping for a change in pattern, often one came shortly after.  It was suppose to be a 12 min long piece and seemed longer than the closer to 5 it was, which I'm not sure is a good thing.  I'll second Tim Smith's comments in his blog regarding the BSO's performance "can we get some money back?"

Tom Allen, one of the highlights of the evening with his humorous and information introductions, returned with an invitation for the audience to imagine:  To imagine that we were to go home after the concert and find a job offer waiting for us.  The job is in New York and pays six times our current salary.  So we go, and then end up leaving for a church organist position in Iowa (I wonder if it was River City?).  This is what Dvorak did.  He discovered he didn't like city live and ended up in Iowa where the entertainment one summer was an Indian Medicine Man Snake Oil type show.  He went to every one to absorb the music and incorporated the themes into his most popular symphony.  That would be Symphony No. 9 "From the New World".  The TSO then played the 4th movement.

Moving onto some Canadian music, the first piece was by Malcolm Forsyth (incidentally the father of NAC Orchestra principal cellist Amanda), and was inspired by his first trip to the barren beauty that is Canada's far north.  The orchestra played "The Dance" from his orchestral suite Atayoskewin which is the Cree word for "sacred legend".  Youtube lacked a quick search result for the piece, but the NAC musicbox came through.  Take a listen here.  At times it reminds me of Copland's "Rodeo", particularly the first few bars.

View of audience from the back of the stage
(from Luminato facebook page)

Mr. Allen then tested our knowledge with a multiple choice question, who wrote the music for Lord of the Rings?  Was it John Williams, someone else I don't remember, or the Canadian Howard Shore who won three Oscar's, scored the film Mrs. Doubtfire, and suggested the name "The Blues Brothers" to Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi?  Not a tricky question to figure out.  They played a short suite excerpt from Lord of the Rings.  Having only seen the movies once I'm not familiar with the music.  It was good, but perhaps I'd find it more epic if I knew it better.

Maestro Oundjian dedicated the next piece to all the cyclists who go wizzing around the city.  Less than 4 bars in I figured it out as "The Flying Theme" from ET.  Very fitting :)

Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" is a masterpiece (well in my opinion).  Mr. Allen began by describing an invasion by a force that thought they'd get in, meet little resistance, take over, and be out of there by winter.  I, along with others I'm sure, assumed he was talking about the War of 1812, until he continued by saying that was what happened with France and Russia.  France thought it would be no problem to take Moscow, and Tchaikovsky's piece is celebrating the Russian defeat of Napoleon and his army. "But the parallels are similar.  So when you hear "La Marseillaise" that's them, and the bold brassy trombones, that's us!"  I'm not sure if the TSO played the full version (the recording I have runs 17 mins and includes the rarely performed vocal part), although it sounded like they did, and it didn't feel like 17 mins.  I'm also not sure if the carillons in the final section were recorded because I couldn't see if there were chimes on stage, but if it was live they were perfect.  Often I find the sound of the bells random, but this fit and the balance was superb.  They got to the climax and would you believe it FIREWORKS shot off behind the stage!  Who needs military cannon fire?  These were impeccably on the beat, and could not have have been better!  The finale even had a few extra shots that exploded in the air rather than just the single straight up shooting star type.  A Capitol Fourth (which concludes with an abridged version of the "1812 Overture" every year as the fireworks begin) could not have done it better!!

1812 Overture Finale Fireworks
(from Luminato facebook page)

The audience was on their feet immediately, not a begrudging out of obligation or slow standing ovation from this crowd, it was the real thing.  We were treated to an upbeat encore that I couldn't name but had a stick in your head tune that stayed with us all the way home.

I hope concerts like this become a tradition with Luminato and the TSO, there was a great turnout, great music, and thankfully the rain almost held off, but the few sprinkles only resulted in the opening of umbrellas, people didn't leave.  A testament to a thrilling evening of music.

Russian Romantics

Those Russians, they knew how to write music!  Even with Tchaikovsky not considered one of the Mighty Five (his music was considered too "western" and not "Russian" enough) and Rachmaninoff living 50 years too late (his style was pure romantic when the musical tastes had moved on) an evening of Russian music is not to be missed.

(tso.ca)

Adding to the interest factor for the TSO concerts on March 24-25th was the debut of two young artists.  The first was conductor Nathan Brock, a native Torontonian and graduate of the University of Toronto.  Since 2009 he's been the Assistant Conductor for l'Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal.  He's conducted the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra in the debut last season of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but never the TSO.  As an added bonus on the 24th he was presented with the Heinz Unger Award by the Ontario Arts Council.  It's an award of $8000 given every two years to highlight the career of a young to mid-career Canadian conductor in memory of conductor Heinz Unger.

(www.sanfranciscosentinel.com)

The second guest was cellist Joshua Roman.  He looks about 16, but is actually closer to 28 and has had a pretty impressive career thus far.  Before embarking on solo endeavours he spent two seasons as principal cello with the Seattle Symphony, a position that he won at 22 years old!  He also was the only person to play an unaccompanied solo in the YouTube Symphony Orchestra Carnegie Hall 2009 debut.

But back to the music.  The evening began at the beginning (*singing "a very good place to start"*, sorry couldn't resist) with a composer that is considered by many to be the first important one in Russia, Glinka's "Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila" (listen here).  An incredibly bouncy piece if ever there was one and a finger workout for the strings.  Doing a quick listen to some other versions on youtube I agree with the comment on this one that the tempo is just right.  Some of the others go way too fast.  The TSO's didn't feel rushed at all, so I'll guess it was more along these lines.  Mr. Brock didn't use a score and had some violent hand motions, but it can sound that way at times.

Catching his breath, Mr. Brock discussed the pieces, the history of the Russian composer and how he was glad to be debuting in Toronto.  Then attention was turned to Alexander Borodin's "Polovtzian Dance" written for the opera Prince Igor.  By far the most popular segment of this is what was given words in the musical Kismet to become "Strangers in Paradise", but the whole thing is a really quite beautiful especially the clarinet parts :)  Principal keyboardist Patricia Krueger said in an interview that she enjoys playing the triangle when she joins her percussion colleagues on the other side of the stage away from the piano, and indeed she played it with enthusiasm here.

Tchaikovsky appeared via "Variations on a Rococo Theme", with cello soloist.  I enjoy theme and variations pieces and this one seemed particularly fun in that the players seemed to be enjoying it.  In I believe the second variation there's an echo back and forth in the same styles between the solo cello and violins.  Mr. Roman played his part then glanced at the violins as if saying "ok, your turn.  Beat that."  Variations change mood though and it went from light hearted fun to more series and somber, which was also very convincing played.  It's also been used as ballet music to a work called Reflections by Gerald Arpino, check it out.

(torvillanddean.com)

"Capriccio espagnol" by Rimsky-Korsakov opened the second half.  It was originally written as a violin concerto and remnants of opportunities for violinist showmanship still exist.  This piece had segments I recognized.  Oh to be able to play like the clarinetist at the beginning here.  But really I know parts of this because Torvill and Dean skated to it in a paso doble number.  Who knew that before that performance no one had thought of the girl representing the cape to the guys matador?

A vocalise is a song without words and Rachmanioff arranged his "Vocalise" as a real vocal version, for various instruments, and full orchestra.  Relaxing and beautiful, nothing else to say.

Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" was originally written for piano, complete with the Promenade theme between each segment to represent changing location in the gallery. That theme started the piece before we stopped to look at The Gnome, Dispute Between Children at Play, Polish Oxcart, Baba Yaga and The Great Gate of Kiev.  I've liked the Promenade ever since it showed up in my high school music book.  Principal trumpet Andrew McCandless joined for this piece and trombonist Gordon Wolfe switched to a baritone for parts as well, which I don't think I've ever seen before.  You never know what might happen at a TSO concert!

 

The Sleeping Beauty

As part of its 60th anniversary season, the National Ballet Canada included the classic ballet, The Sleeping Beauty.  According to the always enlightning pre-ballet talk by ballet master Lindsay Fischer it is the ballet that all other classical ballet is based on because it's the only one that had the transcript saved and taken out of Russia.  No notations of the time period exist for any other ballets, so choreographers have gone back to The Sleeping Beauty as a guide book of how the originals might have been, then of course taken artistic license.

At the performance I saw Greta Hodgkinson was Aurora and a guest principal dancer with the Stuttgart Ballet, Evan McKie, was Prince Florimund.  Mr. McKie actually is from Toronto and trained at the National Ballet School.  These performances marked his first performances here as an adult.

Greta and Evan (torontoist.com)

There were some unique quirks at the performance as well, beginning with the overture.  The orchestra started playing and continued for quite a while with no curtain raising.  In fact it seemed like they even repeated a section.  A few moments later a stage hand appeared in the pit and for the first time ever I heard a professional orchestra stop playing.  An announcement was made that there were technical difficulties and to keep our seats.  About 5 minutes later, the orchestra got the signal from the stage and started again a few phrases before the curtain up cue.  This time, it went up without a hitch.  The disappointing part was that in the final act the Pas de Cinq was cut.  I assume this was because of the extra time taken due to the difficulties at the start.  The Bluebird and Pussycats still made their appearances, but there were no Diamonds, Silver, Emerald or Gold except in costuming.  Even having never seen the ballet before, it wasn't hard to put together that the different costumes and lack of those dancers having solos didn't match the program.

Tchaikovsky's score is timeless.  The Russians really knew how to write cool clarinet music.  A sentiment which is shared by National Ballet Orchestra clarinetist Max Christie.  In a recent WholeNote article he described The Sleeping Beauty music as "terrifying.  It never lets up.  [I] have to practice for it."  As for Prokofiev and his Cinderella score, Mr. Christie calls it fun because it contains "wicked stuff for the clarinet".  That was my consensus when I saw the ballet as well.

What did surprise me was that the famous musical theme, popularized in the Disney movie where it was given lyrics (Disney version here), wasn't danced by Aurora at all, but by the Corps/Ensemble at the start of the 16th birthday scene.  The most memorable part of Act 1 is the Rose Adagio.  Danced by Aurora it contains a series of balances that take a lot of guts on the dancer's part as well as demonstrate that Aurora is growing up and being able to handle a more balanced life.  They were all well executed by Ms. Hodgkinson.  There were a few other variations that I found especially exciting as well.  One was the Fifth Fairy Variation.  It's danced with index fingers outstretched, the idea being that it represents electrodes and she is giving the gift of energy and vitality to the baby princess.  The end of the Sixth Variation features a very challenging hop and pirouette type step performed repeatedly.  This fairy is giving the princess the gift of grace; both grace in elegance and grace under pressure, since the dancer has to make it look like the dance is no challenge at all and she did an excellent job.

I also liked the Naiads number with the Corps de Ballet.  The patterns they created were very unique.

National Ballet of Canada

Now if only finding a prince was as easy as falling asleep and waiting!

Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker

The current National Ballet of Canada's version of The Nutcracker was created in 1995 by choreographer James Kudelka.  I saw this version shortly after it debuted, and wasn't too impressed.  The story line has been twisted from what I'd call "the original" (although there have been so many variations, maybe there is no more "original"), and at that point having a party in a barn seemed completely weird and out of place.  Now, 17 years later, I figured it was time to give it another shot.  Plus who can resist the fantastic Tchaikovsky score performed live?

(national.ballet.ca &
theballetbag.com)

At the Dec. 15 performance the Sugar Plum Fairy was principal dancer Greta Hodgkinson and Peter, a stable boy (aka: cavalier/the Prince in the second act), was Steven McRae.  He is a guest artist from The Royal Ballet who also appeared with the National Ballet last season in Alice in Wonderland.

(ontariotravelblog.com)

Prior to the performance was a short skit by a grown up Misha and Marie (the two children replacing Clara and Fritz in this version) who recall the magical Christmas Eve that we, the audience, are about to see.  It was a great intro for children to the story (and for people who were expecting "the original").

(thestar.com)

Uncle Nikolai (danced by an unrecognizable Robert Stephen under the beard, hat, and 10lb costume) takes the place of Drosselmeyer, although is just as eccentric a character.  His female counterpart is the children's nurse, Baba (Alejandra Perez-Gomez)  This couple become a duke and empress in Act 2.  Other than some swapping of characters, and relocation to a barn, the party is still the majority of Act 1, followed by the growing Christmas tree and Mouse King fight.  What I do miss at the party is the duet of the wind up dancing dolls presented by Drosselmeyer.  This versions speciality party dance numbers involve a horse, and another with two bears (one on pointe shoes, the other on roller blades).

(cbc.ca)

Otherwise, the children dance, the adults dance, and Peter dances.  In other versions I don't recall Peter being a main part of the party scene.  I remember him not really showing up until the Nutcracker magically comes alive when the clock strikes midnight.  There were some fun parts I didn't remember: the capture/release of a rat, and snow ball fight come to mind.   The mice that crawled out from under the children's beds were adorable.

(national.ballet.ca)

The snowflake waltz which closes Act 1, is one of my favourite scenes.  I adore the music, and I love they symmetry of the dancers as they create complex patterns and dance amongst each other.  Elena Lobsanova, McGee Maddox, and Aarik Wells were the Snow Queen and her Icicles trio.

Highlights in the second act were the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (exquisitely executed, although hopping on one foot on pointe has got to be a killer) the Spanish Chocolate, and Arabian Coffee dances.  The double pas de deux in Coffee was very well done, there were even double fish lifts.  The Trepek involved Peter and there was no Chinese Dance.

Heather Ogden as the Sugar Plum Fairy
(theestar.com)

There was a lively segment involving chefs preparing a feast for Marie and Misha, including leaping over the table, and another adorable piece for the students of the National Ballet School as sheep.  In place of a Dewdrop Fairy, a bee started off the Waltz of the Flowers.  Peter and the Sugar Plum Fairy fall in love and the resulting pas de deux was lovely.  I'd classify it as more traditional in the purpose being to show off the ballerina, but he had plenty of other opportunities to shine.

Empress Baba and Sheep
(national.ballet.ca)

I still prefer the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Nutcracker and wouldn't want to make this a yearly tradition, but once every 5 or so years, it's worth checking out.

TSO Begins the Season of Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky
(wikipedia.com)

With no real facts to back this up, I'll say that Tchaikovsky's music is performed most often in December.  Granted I expect most of those performances are of The Nutcracker.  The National Ballet of Canada alone is putting on 26 shows this year.  But the Toronto Symphony helped begin the season of Tchaikovsky on Dec. 8 (I saw the Dec. 10 performance) with nary a sugar plum fairy in sight, and a full evening of Tchaikovsky's music.  In place of a dancing Cavalier they had the dashing, almost 36 year old (his birthday is Jan. 27, the same day as Mozart), Canadian violinist James Ehnes.

Mr. and Mrs. Ehnes
(www.thestar.com)

Rick Philips hosted a pre-concert chat about the music of the evening and some background on Mr. Ehnes.  He started the violin at age 4; his father is a musician and his mother a dancer; his wife is also dancer (so any kids he has are genetically destined to go down an artistic path); he plays the piano, and is a car buff.  The owner of two 1979 cars, a Ferrari and Corvette, he decided to teach himself auto mechanics after car repairs became too expensive.  His technique to accomplish this was to take apart the Corvette bolt by bolt and put it back together again.  As Philips said "Don't you hate people like this?".  Perhaps yes, on paper anyway, but after seeing him perform he doesn't come across as having any sort of ego.  The music flows out of him and while some of his movements may be intense and not entirely effortless, they're totally invested for the purpose of the music, not added as an extra flamboyance.

The first piece on the program was the polonaise from the opera Eugene Onegin.  I was surprised I recognized it.  Polonaise is just a dance with a specific rhythm pattern (long, short, short, long, long, long, long) but it was lively and fun.  Click here for a link to the scene/dance from the opera.

James and Peter Oundjian backstage on
Jan 2011 Florida tour
(tsoontheroad.files.wordpress.com)

Next was the Violin Concerto in D major (Op. 35), one of the famous ones in the violin repertoire.  It received scathing reviews when first debuted.  The worst from Hanslick who said the violin was "beaten black and blue", it "stunk", and the slow movement was lyrical before being interrupted by the "bombastic final movement" .  Apparently Tchaikovsky could recite the entire review for the rest of his life.  Thankfully saner heads have prevailed and it has became a beloved piece, understandably so.  It's exciting!  A virtuosic show piece that makes no apologies for it.

One of the highlights of the first movement is the cadenza in the middle (which Tchaikovsky actually wrote rather than leaving it up to the soloist), that has lots of double stops at an almost frantic pace.  At the end Ehnes looked at his bow and had to pull off broken bow hairs.  The piece has a fiddle like sound to it, particularly in the final movement which is reminiscent of a cossack Russian dance.  For an insightful discussion on the piece by none other than James Ehnes himself (complete with instrumental demonstrations) check out this link.  The audience was on their feet immediately and wouldn't settle without an encore which turned out to be Caprice 16 by Paganini.

tradebit.com

Post intermission things moved onto Symphony #2 in C Minor.  Apparently there's a popular joke where a professor asks a class of music students how many symphonies Tchaikovsky wrote.  A student in the back row puts up his hand and answers "Three, sir.  Numbers 4, 5, and 6."  All this to indicate that his other symphonies are not often performed.  Number 2 is nicknamed "The Little Russian" since it has a basis in Ukrainian folk song.  This is no longer politically correct since the Ukraine is now it's own republic, but there's still historical significance.

The opening begins with a horn solo, excellently performed by TSO principal horn Neil Deland, and there were great clarinet solo/duets with various other wind instruments.  The lively fourth movement was my favourite and reminded me at the start of the "1812 Overture", which wouldn't be written for another eight years.  There are parts that remind me of his Nutcracker music as well, although that didn't debut for another 10 years after the "1812 Overture".  Great composers never throw any ideas away perhaps?  It was extremely enjoyable to hear this uncommon symphony performed with such devotion and skill.  Looking forward to hearing more of the Tchaikovsky symphonies and concertos featuring Mr. Ehnes.  Go Canada!