Toronto Symphony Orchestra Sir Andrew Davis, Interim Artistic Director
Saturday, February 23, 2019 at 8:00pm
National Arts Centre Orchestra Alexander Shelley, Music Director John Storgårds, Principal Guest Conductor Pinchas Zukerman, Conductor Emeritus Jack Everly, Principal Pops Conductor Alain Trudel, Principal Youth and Family Conductor
Alexander Shelley, conductor Yosuke Kawasaki, violin Jessica Linnebach, violin David Fray, piano
Jocelyn Morlock Cobalt
Frédéric Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21 I. Maestoso II. Larghetto III. Allegro vivace
Intermission
Robert Schumann Symphony No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 38 “Spring” I. Andante un poco maestoso – Allegro molto vivace II. Larghetto III. Scherzo: Molto vivace IV. Allegro animato e grazioso
This concert is dedicated to The Honourable Hilary M. Weston and Mr. W. Galen Weston. As a courtesy to musicians, guest artists, and fellow concertgoers, please put your phone away and on silent during the performance.
FEBRUARY 23, 2019 39 ABOUT THE WORKS
Jocelyn Morlock Cobalt
7 Born: St. Boniface, Manitoba, December 14, 1969 min Composed: 2009
Jocelyn Morlock received her Bachelor of city’s innovative concert series Music on Main Music degree in piano performance at Brandon (2012–2014). University, and both a master’s degree and a Most of Morlock’s compositions are for Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University small ensembles, many of them for unusual of British Columbia. Among her teachers were combinations like piano and percussion Pat Carrabré, Stephen Chatman, Keith Hamel, (Quoi?), cello and vibraphone (Shade), bassoon and the late Russian-Canadian composer and harp (Nightsong), and an ensemble Nikolai Korndorf. consisting of clarinet/bass clarinet, trumpet, “With its shimmering sheets of harmonics” violin, and double bass (Velcro Lizards). Cobalt (Georgia Straight) and an approach that is was her third work for full orchestra, an NAC “deftly idiomatic” Vancouver( Sun), Morlock’s Orchestra/CBC co-commission that received music has received numerous national and its World Première in Ottawa on April 30, international accolades, including Top 10 at 2009, with Alain Trudel conducting. In May the 2002 International Rostrum of Composers, 2016, the NAC Orchestra premièred Morlock’s Winner of the 2003 CMC Prairie Region My Name is Amanda Todd, one of four NAC- Emerging Composers competition, and a commissioned compositions that make up the nomination for Best Classical Composition Orchestra’s multimedia project Life Reflected. at the 2006 Western Canadian Music Awards. My Name is Amanda Todd won the JUNO for She received a JUNO nomination for Classical Classical Composition of the Year in 2018. Composition of the Year (Exaudi, 2011), and, Jocelyn Morlock’s first full-length CD, released more recently, the Mayor’s Arts Award for on the Centrediscs label in 2014, is titled Music in Vancouver (2016). In 2005, she was Cobalt, and includes seven of the composer’s chosen to provide the required work for all works. This disc was nominated for three contestants at the Montreal International Western Canadian Music Awards, for Classical Musical Competition. Amore, a tour de Composition and Classical Recording of the force vocal work, went on to receive more Year. The composition Cobalt won Classical than 70 performances and numerous radio Composition of the Year. Here is the composer’s broadcasts. In 2008, she served in the description of the seven-minute work: same capacity for the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition. Morlock has “Cobalt—the colour, the element, and indeed been the Vancouver Symphony Composer the goblin—has a kaleidoscopic array of in Residence since 2014, following a term as associations. The element was originally inaugural Composer in Residence for that named after a kobold, a mischievous and
40 TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA possibly evil goblin or sprite found in German all contained within the associations behind folklore, for its troublesome nature. (Cobalt cobalt. Fear, exhilaration, tranquility, beauty, is poisonous, magnetic, and radioactive.) and a melancholic sense of the passing of time Though it is a necessary element found in are all contained therein. Musically, the piece both humans and animals, in large amounts is something of a collection of variations, but it is highly toxic, and the cobalt salts used to rather than a specific theme, what is varied create this vivid shade of blue in pottery or is the use of (primarily) tonal melodies which glass work can be fatal if touched or inhaled. focus on the minor second. The minor second The luminous cobalt blue of the night sky, just is ambiguous (like cobalt) in that it may before it becomes completely dark, is one sound ominous and fearful (think of Jaws!), or of the most beautiful colors found in nature, anticipatory, or very resolved (as in a cadence.) yet it is visible only for a very short time every Fanfare-like motifs also appear with relative evening. What sustains life can also destroy it; frequency, as they too can be both ominous beauty is transient and fleeting. and exhilarating, depending on context.”
“The inspiration behind the piece was the Program note by Robert Markow myriad, contrasting emotional possibilities
Frédéric Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21
Born: Zelazowa Wola, Poland, March 1, 1810 30 min Died: Paris, France, October 17, 1849 Composed: 1829–1830
In July of 1829, the 19-year-old Chopin spent The enduring appeal of a Chopin concerto lies three weeks in Vienna. The publisher Haslinger in the piano writing—sweetly lyrical melodies, encouraged him to give a recital, which was a quality of intimacy, the expressive nuances so well received that a second was quickly of colour and dynamics, and the improvisatory arranged, and proved equally successful. Upon character provided by such techniques as returning to Poland, Chopin realized that if rubato, arpeggios, and delicate ornamentation he were going to pursue a career as a concert of the melodic lines. pianist (a career move he soon abandoned), The first movement’s two main themes are he would need some major display pieces of stated in the opening orchestral exposition— his own in his repertory. To this end, he soon a strongly rhythmic idea with a quasi-military set about writing the F-minor concerto, which flavour (a rhythm also found in so many Italian he premièred in Warsaw on March 17, 1830, to operas of the period) and a more lyrical, bel great acclaim. Hence, Chopin’s Piano Concerto canto subject announced by the woodwind in F Minor, the so-called No. 2, was actually his choir, the first of several felicitous uses of first, preceding the E-minor concerto by about woodwind colour in this concerto. a year. The reversal in numbering came about because the orchestral parts of the F-minor The Larghetto is a nocturne of heavenly concerto were lost before it was published, beauty and midnight poetry. The central and by the time they were recopied, the episode of this ternary form (ABA) movement E-minor concerto had been published. momentarily disturbs the placid waters, but
FEBRUARY 23, 2019 41 ABOUT THE WORKS
the mood of quiet reverie is restored well in triple metre with a characteristic accent on before the movement ends. the third beat.
The finale is a rondo imbued with the spirit and Program note by Robert Markow rhythm of the mazurka, a Polish country dance
Robert Schumann Symphony No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 38 “Spring”
Born: Zwickau, Germany, June 8, 1810 32 min Died: Endenich, Germany, July 29, 1856 Composed: 1832
After a decade (1829–1839) of writing almost the words of which correspond to the opening exclusively for the piano, and a year (1840) fanfare of the symphony. of concentration on the Lied, Schumann On the title page of the original pencil turned in 1841 to orchestral music for the sketches (now one of the musical treasures first time. (We can discount an early, abortive of the Library of Congress in Washington, attempt at a G-minor symphony in 1832.) D.C.), the emotional content is revealed in the He sketched the entire symphony in a subtitles Schumann gave to each movement: mere four days, from January 23 to 26, and 1) Beginning of Spring; 2) Evening; 3) Cheerful completed the orchestration a month later. Companions; 4) Spring in Full Bloom. However, The first performance took place on March when the work was printed, Schumann 31 with Mendelssohn conducting the Leipzig deleted the associative headings, presumably Gewandhaus Orchestra. because he did not wish his listeners to One cannot fail to question the appellation approach the music with strong programmatic “Spring” for a work composed entirely in the preconceptions. dead of winter. However, the vernal association In a letter to the composer Louis Spohr, in Schumann’s mind was not a calendar season Schumann wrote that the symphony had been but rather a personal, emotional springtime— written “in that springtime mood which seizes a season of romantic ardour, high spirits, and upon us, probably into old age, and returns creative exuberance. He had married Clara afresh each year. I didn’t want to describe or Wieck just four and a half months before he paint anything, but I certainly believe that the began work on the symphony. A further, more time at which the symphony was born had an tangible source of inspiration is found in a effect on its nature.” And later, in a letter to the poem he had read by Adolf Böttger. The last conductor Wilhelm Taubert, the composer line reads: “Im Tale blüht der Frühling auf!” asked, “Could you instill into the playing of your (“In the valley spring is blossoming forth!”),
42 TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA orchestra a sense of the longing for spring? That imaginative use of tone colour can be heard was what I felt most when I wrote the work.” in the coda, where bassoons and trombones (playing for the first time in the movement) join The first movement is introduced by the in a softly glowing, chorale-like passage. fanfare mentioned above. Schumann asked that it be played “as though it were from on The Scherzo includes two Trios which contrast high, like a call to awakening.” It serves as with each other as well as with the adjoining the principal theme of the movement’s main Scherzo. The first of these Trios is of unusual Allegro section as well, and its energetic, length—182 measures in relation to the Scherzo, rhythmic pattern remains prominent which is only 96 measures, including repeats. throughout. The lyrical second theme is heard With scarcely a pause after the Scherzo, the in the woodwinds. finale is heralded by another fanfare whose The Larghetto movement has the quality of a motif returns in various melodic and rhythmic tender cantilena. Violins introduce a long- guises throughout the movement. A sprightly breathed, gracious theme that might well first theme in the violins and a vigorous second deserve the description “of heavenly length” theme for woodwinds and strings in the minor (thus returning the compliment Schumann mode constitute the movement’s main musical paid Schubert’s “Great” C-major symphony). building blocks. A brief but highly imaginative When the theme returns near the end of the episode is the dreamy, sylvan evocation created movement, it is rescored for solo horn and by two solo horns followed by a brief flute oboe, a particularly felicitous blending of cadenza that leads into the recapitulation. tonal colours that Brahms was to exploit also The symphony ends with joyful abandon and in more than one passage in his symphonies. a sense that all is right with the world. Another notable instance of Schumann’s Program note by Robert Markow
THE ARTISTS
Alexander Shelley conductor Alexander Shelley succeeded Pinchas Zukerman as Music Director of Canada’s NAC Orchestra in September 2015. The ensemble has since been praised as being “transformed…hungry, bold, and unleashed” (Ottawa Citizen), and Shelley’s programming credited for turning the orchestra into “one of the more audacious in North America” (Maclean’s). Shelley is a champion of Canadian creation; recent hallmarks include the multimedia project Life Reflected and Encount3rs: three major new ballets in partnership with NAC Dance. He and the NAC Orchestra have made three recordings with Montreal label Analekta: Life Reflected, Encount3rs, and New Worlds. A fourth, The Bounds of Our Dreams, was released in fall 2018. He is passionate about arts education and nurturing the next generation of musicians. He led 1,300 youth in a concert for Ottawa’s Ignite 150, and worked closely with Eskasoni First Nation in
FEBRUARY 23, 2019 43 THE ARTISTS
Nova Scotia during the NAC Orchestra’s Canada 150 Tour. In May 2019, he will lead the Orchestra on its 50th anniversary European tour. Shelley is also Principal Associate Conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and was Chief Conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony from 2009 to 2017. He has conducted the Rotterdam Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Stockholm Philharmonic, and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestras, among others.
Yosuke Kawasaki violin Yosuke Kawasaki currently serves as Concertmaster of the NAC Orchestra. His versatile musicianship allows him to pursue a career in orchestra, solo, and chamber music. His orchestral career began with the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra and soon led to Mito Chamber Orchestra, Saito Kinen Orchestra, and Japan Century Orchestra, all of which he led as Concertmaster. His solo and chamber music career spans five continents, and includes collaborations with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma and Seiji Ozawa, and appearances in the world’s most prestigious halls such as Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall, and The Royal Concertgebouw. Kawasaki’s most current ensembles are Trio Ink and the Arkas String Quartet. He is Music Director of the Affinis Music Festival in Japan and also an artistic advisor to a brand-new chamber music festival in Bulgaria called The Unbeaten Path. Yosuke Kawasaki began his violin studies at the age of six and was accepted into The Juilliard School Pre-College Division at the age of 10. He continued his education and graduated from The Juilliard School in 1998 under the tutorship of Dorothy DeLay, Hyo Kang, Felix Galimir, and Joel Smirnoff. He is now an adjunct professor of violin at the University of Ottawa.
Jessica Linnebach violin Violinist Jessica Linnebach has distinguished herself among the next generation of Canadian classical artists being lauded on concert stages nationally and around the world. Since her soloist début at the age of seven, she has appeared with major orchestras throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Acknowledging the importance of versatility in today’s world, Linnebach has developed a reputation as one of those rare artists who has successfully built a multi-faceted career that encompasses solo, chamber, and orchestral performances. Currently,
44 TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA she is a member of the Ironwood String Quartet and the Artistic Director of the Classical Unbound Festival in Prince Edward County. Accepted to the world-renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at the age of 10, she remains one of the youngest-ever Bachelor of Music graduates in the history of the school. At 18, she received her Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City where she studied with Pinchas Zukerman and Patinka Kopec. Jessica Linnebach has been a member of the NAC Orchestra since 2003 and was named their Associate Concertmaster in April 2010. She plays a circa 1840 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (Guarneri del Gesù 1737) violin. Her bows are crafted by Ron Forrester and Michael Vann.
David Fray piano Described by the press as the “perfect example of a thinking musician” (Die Welt) and acclaimed for his interpretations of music from Bach to Boulez, David Fray continues to thrill audiences worldwide as a recitalist, soloist, and chamber musician. His orchestral appearances have included the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and the Boston Symphony, and he has given recitals at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. He appears regularly at major venues such as the Vienna Konzerthaus and London’s Wigmore Hall. This season, the Théâtre des Champs Elysées presents a Bach cycle with David Fray performing the concerti for two, three, and four pianos, sonatas with Renaud Capuçon, and the Goldberg Variations. He returns to North America with the New York Philharmonic and makes his début with the NAC Orchestra. In 2017, he released a CD of selected Chopin piano works. He holds multiple awards including the German Echo Klassik Prize for Instrumentalist of the Year and the Young Talent Award from the Ruhr Piano Festival. At the 2004 Montreal International Music Competition, he received the prize for the best interpretation of a Canadian work. David Fray studied with Jacques Rouvier at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris.
National Arts Centre Orchestra Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra is a world class ensemble of outstanding classical musicians from across Canada and around the world, under the inspiring leadership of Music Director Alexander Shelley. Formed in 1969, the Orchestra gives about 100 performances a year in Ottawa, across Canada, and around the globe, working with diverse artists of international renown. It breaks boundaries with its regular commissions of new creations including the critically acclaimed, immersive Life Reflected. The NAC Orchestra reaches a wide audience through national and international tours, recordings, extensive educational outreach across Canada and on tour, and via the websites NACmusicbox.ca and ArtsAlive.ca.
FEBRUARY 23, 2019 45 Musicians of the National Arts Centre Orchestra
FIRST VIOLINS CELLOS Louis-Pierre Bergeron Yosuke Kawasaki Rachel Mercer Elizabeth Simpson (concertmaster) (principal) *Micajah Sturgess Jessica Linnebach Julia MacLaine TRUMPETS (associate concertmaster) (assistant principal) Karen Donnelly Noémi Racine Gaudreault Timothy McCoy (principal) (assistant concertmaster) Marc-André Riberdy Steven van Gulik Elaine Klimasko §Leah Wyber *Stéphane Beaulac Carissa Klopoushak *Karen Kang Manuela Milani *Thaddeus Morden TROMBONES §Leah Roseman ‡Agnes Langlois Donald Renshaw Edvard Skerjanc (principal) DOUBLE BASSES Karoly Sziladi Colin Traquair Joel Quarrington *Martine Dubé (principal) BASS TROMBONE *Erica Miller **Hilda Cowie Douglas Burden *Heather Schnarr (acting assistant principal) ‡Emre Engin TUBA **Murielle Bruneau Chris Lee SECOND VIOLIN Marjolaine Fournier (principal) *John Marcus Vincent Gendron (guest principal) *Talia Hatcher TIMPANI Winston Webber *Paul Mach Feza Zweifel (assistant principal) ‡Ben du Toit (principal) Mark Friedman FLUTES PERCUSSION Richard Green Joanna G’froerer Kenneth Simpson §Marjolaine Lambert (principal) Jonathan Wade Jeremy Mastrangelo **Emily Marks Frédéric Moisan HARP *Kaili Maimets Emily Westell Manon Le Comte *Marc Djokic OBOES (principal) *Sara Mastrangelo Charles Hamann PIANO ‡Ah Young Kim (principal) *Angela Park Anna Petersen VIOLAS PRINCIPAL LIBRARIAN Jethro Marks ENGLISH HORN Nancy Elbeck (principal) Anna Petersen §David Marks ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN CLARINETS Corey Rempel (associate principal) Kimball Sykes David Goldblatt (principal) PERSONNEL MANAGER (assistant principal) Sean Rice Meiko Taylor Paul Casey David Thies-Thompson BASSOONS ASSISTANT PERSONNEL *Kelvin Enns Christopher Millard MANAGER Fletcher Gailey-Snell *Sonya Probst (principal) ‡Margaret Klucznik Vincent Parizeau *Additional musicians HORNS **On leave Lawrence Vine § NAC Institute for Orchestral (principal) Studies mentors Julie Fauteux ‡ Apprentices of the Institute (associate principal) for Orchestral Studies
46 TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA NAC Board of Trustees: Adrian Burns, LL.D., Chair (Ottawa, ON); Susan Glass, C.M., Vice-Chair (Winnipeg, MB); Kimberley Bozak (Toronto, ON); Gail O’Brien, LL.D. (Calgary, AB); Enrico A. Scichilone (Moncton, NB); Sanjay Shahani (Edmonton, AB); Tracee Smith (Toronto, ON); Donald Walcot (Montreal, QC); Jim Watson, Mayor of Ottawa (Ottawa, ON); Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin, Mayor of Gatineau (Gatineau, QC).
NAC Foundation Board of Directors: Janice O’Born, Chair (Toronto, ON); Christine Armstrong (Calgary, AB); Matthew Azrieli (Montreal, QC); Reena Bhatt (New York, NY); Bonnie Buhler (Winnipeg, MB); Susan Peterson d’Aquino (Ottawa, ON); Amoryn Engel (Toronto, ON); Margaret Fountain, C.M., DFA(h) (Halifax, NS); Alex E. Graham (Toronto, ON); James Ho (Richmond, BC); D’Arcy Levesque (Calgary, AB); M. Ann McCaig, C.M., A.O.E., LL.D. (Calgary, AB); Grant J. McDonald, FCPA, FCA (Ottawa, ON); Emechete Onuoha (Ottawa, ON); Gregory Pope (Toronto, ON); Karen Prentice, Q.C. (Calgary, AB); Alan P. Rossy (Montreal, QC); J. Serge Sasseville (Montreal, QC); Barbara Seal, C.M. (Montreal, QC); Gary Zed (Ottawa, ON).
Directors Emeritus: Gail Asper, O.C., O.M., LL.D., Emeritus Chair (Winnipeg, MB); Grant Burton (Toronto, ON); Catherine A. (Kiki) Delaney, C.M., LL.D. (Toronto, ON); Dianne Kipnes, C.M. (Edmonton, AB); Gail O’Brien, LL.D (Calgary, AB).
Ex Officio: Adrian Burns, LL.D. (Ottawa, ON); Christopher Deacon (Ottawa, ON). Jayne Watson (Chief Executive Officer), Jane Moore (Chief Advancement Officer), Helle Ottosen (Treasurer).
Official Rail Partner Audi Ottawa & Audi Mark Motors of Ottawa Official Car of the NAC Orchestra
FEBRUARY 23, 2019 47 NATIONALARTS CENTRE CENTRE NATIONAL DES ARTS Canada is our stage. Le Canada en scene.
Canada's National Arts Centre thanks
THE HONOURABLE HILARY M. WESTON AND MR. W. GALEN WESTON
On behalf of Canadian creators, performers and arts organizations, we dedicate this evening's concert. featuring Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra led by Music Director Alexander Shelley, to The Honourable Hilary M. Weston and Mr. W. Galen Weston for their tremendous support of the arts across Canada.