≈ 2 hours · With intermission
Last updated: March 7, 2022
Repertoire
Wildwood*
Over the past decade, Swedish composer Andrea Tarrodi has gained attention and renown for her orchestral works, which are performed worldwide. In a 2019 interview for The Irish Times, she noted that her idea of a “musical heaven” was to have “an orchestra of my own in a really large auditorium.” Indeed, she prefers writing for orchestra, because of the broad range of sounds and timbres that are available to her. Moreover, her compositions are shaped by her synaesthesia, an ability to link various notes and chords with different colours. As she explained in a 2020 Classical Music profile, “I approach music from a visual perspective. I do sketches and drawings of the shape of the music before I write it and then always do a painting or illustration on the scores when I complete them.” She considers her music to be tonal, and notes that people often regard it as impressionistic in style.
Tarrodi composed Wildwood for orchestra in 2016 for the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and tonight’s performance constitutes its Canadian premiere. As she describes, “Wildwood was inspired by trees, especially oaks: how their roots grow deep into the ground and their branches reach up to the sky.” Throughout, she uses variety and texture to provide structure and interest during the work’s substantial arc—from the opening line, rising majestically through the lower strings and over the bass drum’s quiet rumblings, through to massive orchestral swells, and finally closing with harp and glockenspiel in otherworldly juxtaposition.
Program notes by Dr. Hannah Chan-Hartley
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, Op. 35
I. Allegro moderato
II. Lento
III. Moderato –
IV. Allegro con brio
Dmitry Shostakovich composed his Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 35 between March and July in 1933. That it was originally titled “Concerto for Piano with the Accompaniment of String Orchestra and Trumpet” highlights the important role for the trumpet in the piece. At the work’s premiere on October 15, 1933, the part was played by Alexander Schmidt, principal trumpet of the Leningrad Philharmonic, which performed with the composer as soloist, with Yevgeny Mravinsky conducting.
The First Piano Concerto is a highly theatrical piece for which Shostakovich drew on his experience writing music for ballet, theatre, and film. There are numerous “in-joke” quotations throughout, many of them referencing Classical era works. But it’s not only hilarity and parody—there are significant lyrical elements too, which, within the arc of the composer’s career, this work is considered a stylistic turning point.
With a flourish on the piano and a small fanfare on muted trumpet, the Concerto begins. A semi-serious melody (alluding to Beethoven’s “Appassionata” Sonata) follows, played by the piano, then first violins. The tempo picks up, and the piano, with a cheeky new theme, embarks on a frenzied chase with the strings; the trumpet interjects humorously as if to try to call things to order. First violins reprise the opening theme in the original mood, but the hijinks vibe returns with another sparkling little tune. After a lyrical moment in the lower strings, the piano presents the main melody one last time, with the trumpet intoning sustained low notes.
A very sad ghost of a waltz follows, with its main theme first introduced by muted strings. The piano enters on a trill (another nod to Beethoven) and takes up the melody. Gradually, it becomes more agitated, and builds to a powerful climax. Afterward, the trumpet, now muted, plays the waltz melody. The piano responds, then is joined by the cellos who sing poignantly before the piano closes the movement with an ethereal ascent to its upper registers.
The last two movements are played through without pause. First, there’s a fantasia for the piano (it hints at the finale of Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” Sonata). The strings counter with a passionate theme, after which the piano rhapsodizes further, then launches forcefully into the finale. Another quick chase between orchestra and piano begins, skittering about on a nervous tune. Later, the trumpet joins, quoting from a Haydn piano sonata, to which the piano responds grandly; suddenly, piano and trumpet speed up the chase to a more frantic tempo. It comes crashing to a halt, setting the stage for a trumpet solo on the Viennese song “O du Lieber Augustin”, accompanied by strings on the wood of their bows. Following a return of the finale’s first theme, the piano presents its cadenza, which begins with a quote from Beethoven’s Rondo a capriccio (“Rage Over a Lost Penny”). The orchestra rejoins with the trumpet tootling rapid fanfares, and the Concerto hurtles to a finish of high hysterics.
Program notes by Dr. Hannah Chan-Hartley
Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88
I. Allegro con brio
II. Adagio
III. Allegretto grazioso – Molto vivace
IV. Allegro ma non troppo
During the late 1880s, Antonín Dvořák’s international fame as a composer was reaching its peak. In June 1889, he was bestowed the Austrian Order of the Iron Crown and went to Vienna to receive it from the emperor. In celebration of this honour, Dvořák composed his Eighth Symphony beginning in August, and completed it in November. He conducted the premiere on February 2, 1890, in Prague, and subsequently led many performances of it, including in London, Cambridge (when he received an honorary doctorate from the university), and Chicago, in a “Czech Day” concert at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.
The Eighth Symphony is notable for its carefree character—it has a meandering, organic quality about it, in the way its many interrelated musical and rhythmic ideas unfold and are transformed. It is also masterfully orchestrated, with Dvořák using the distinctive timbres of instruments to reference certain ideas, such as bird calls in nature, the pastoral sound of a shepherd’s pipe, and dances courtly and rustic, among others. Throughout, the musicians are given ample opportunity to shine.
The work begins with the cellos singing a noble and slightly melancholy melody. The mood then brightens, with the flute piping a little shepherd’s tune—its dotted rhythms become the movement’s driving force. A series of melodic ideas follow, each building to a climax, including a transformation of the shepherd’s tune into a trumpet fanfare. Later, the dotted rhythms gain new energy, and reach an intense climax, with the trumpets blasting the opening theme, after which the woodwinds play with the shepherd’s tune. Earlier material is reprised but with more exuberance, and the movement ends jubilantly.
Like the first movement, the second consists of two melodic and rhythmic ideas from which the music develops: one, a rising triplet motif at the beginning of a warm melody richly scored for strings; the other, a bird-like call, intoned by the flute. The triplet motif is then adapted—as an accompaniment figure as well as incorporated into a rustic dance melody first sung by flute and oboe. A massive orchestral climax is reached, then subsides on a series of bird calls. Suddenly, the horns break through with the rising motif; the music progresses tensely with ominous strokes on the timpani. However, the mood soon relaxes again, with the violins playing the dance melody, and the movement progresses leisurely to its conclusion.
In the third movement, the typical Scherzo is replaced by an elegant waltz melody (perhaps in homage to the Austrian emperor), accompanied by warbling flutes and burbling clarinets. The central Trio section features a lilting tune, alternately played by flute with oboe and lush strings. After a reprise of the waltz, the movement closes wittily with a quick-stepping dance based on the Trio.
A brilliant trumpet fanfare announces the finale; the cellos then reveal a stately theme, which becomes the basis for seven variations. The first is a forceful version, intoned by cellos and basses with violins and violas in counterpoint. The theme then lets loose as an ecstatic dance for the entire orchestra, after which solo flute takes it for a virtuosic spin. After a reprise of the dance, the theme is transformed into a march tune in minor mode for oboes and clarinets; it’s further developed, reaching a climax with the return of the trumpet fanfare. Cellos reiterate the main theme, now given varied context, which then gives way to two variations of wistful character. Continuing in this vein, the seventh variation seems to wander off and get lost...but is then suddenly picked up by the ecstatic dance, which whirls joyfully to the end.
Program notes by Dr. Hannah Chan-Hartley
Artists
Dalia Stasevska’s charismatic and dynamic musicianship has established her as a conductor of exceptional versatility. Chief Conductor of Lahti Symphony Orchestra from 2021/22 season and Artistic Director to the International Sibelius Festival; Dalia also holds the post of Principal Guest Conductor to the BBC Symphony Orchestra. She made her BBC Proms debut in 2019 and conducted the Last Night of the Proms in 2020. In 2021 she conducted the First Night of the BBC Proms and together with BBC Symphony they opened the 2021 Edinburgh International Festival.
Highlights of the 2021/22 season include debuts with New York Philharmonic, Baltimore and Seattle Symphonies as well as the opening of Tongyeong Festival with soloist Truls Mørk. Dalia will return to the Oslo Philharmonic, NAC Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and to the Finnish National Opera to conduct a double bill of Poulenc’s La voix humane and Weill’s Songs with Karita Mattila. With the BBC Symphony Orchestra Dalia will conduct at the Barbican Hall as well as elsewhere in the UK and in Germany. Recent engagements have included Orchestre National de France, Swedish Radio Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Seoul Philharmonic and Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
A passionate opera conductor, Dalia Stasevska returned to Norske Opera to conduct Madama Butterfly and Lucia di Lammermoor. She has conducted Don Giovanni with Kungliga Opera Stockholm, directed by Ole Anders Tandberg as well as Opéra de Toulon conducting Eugene Onegin. Other productions include Cunning Little Vixen with Finnish National Opera as well as Sebastian Fagerlund’s Höstsonaten at the 2018 Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm, featuring Anne-Sofie von Otter.
Dalia originally studied as a violinist and composer at the Tampere Conservatoire and violin, viola and conducting at the Sibelius Academy. As a conductor her teachers include Jorma Panula and Leif Segerstam. In December 2018, she had the honour of conducting the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic at the Nobel Prize Ceremony in Stockholm. Dalia was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Conductor Award in 2020.
Gabriela Montero’s visionary interpretations and unique compositional gifts have garnered her critical acclaim and a devoted following on the world stage. Anthony Tommasini remarked in The New York Times that “Montero’s playing had everything: crackling rhythmic brio, subtle shadings, steely power…soulful lyricism…unsentimental expressivity.”
Recipient of the prestigious 2018 Heidelberger Frühling Music Prize, Montero’s recent and forthcoming highlights include debuts with the New World Symphony (Michael Tilson Thomas), Yomiuri Nippon Symphony in Tokyo (Aziz Shokhakimov), Orquesta de Valencia (Pablo Heras-Casado), and the Bournemouth Symphony (Carlos Miguel Prieto), the latter of which featured her as Artist-in-Residence for the 2019–20 season. She made her debut with the NAC Orchestra in 2016.
A graduate and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London, Montero is also a frequent recitalist and chamber musician, having given concerts at such distinguished venues as the Wigmore Hall, Kennedy Center, Vienna Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus.
Montero is also an award-winning and bestselling recording artist. Her most recent album, released in autumn 2019 on the Orchid Classics label, features her own “Latin” Concerto and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major, recorded with the Orchestra of the Americas in Frutillar, Chile.
Born in Venezuela, Montero made her concerto debut at age eight in her hometown of Caracas. She is a committed advocate for human rights, whose voice regularly reaches beyond the concert hall. She was named an Honorary Consul by Amnesty International in 2015, and recognized with Outstanding Work in the Field of Human Rights by the Human Rights Foundation for her ongoing commitment to human rights advocacy in Venezuela.
Following three successful seasons (1996-1999) as Acting Principal Trumpet of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Karen Donnelly was unanimously appointed Principal Trumpet in October 1999, and continues to enjoy each year with this wonderful ensemble.
A native of Regina, Saskatchewan, Karen picked up a trumpet for the first time in her elementary school band program and she was hooked. Her formal training includes a Bachelor of Arts in Music program at the University of Regina and later a Master's of Music from McGill University.
Karen held the position of Principal Trumpet with Orchestra London (Canada) from 1994-1996, and performed with many ensembles in southwestern Ontario during her time there.
Since she burst on the Ottawa scene in 1996, Ms. Donnelly has done concerts and interviews for CBC (French and English), performances with the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Rideau Lakes Brass Quintet, and the large ensemble, Capital BrassWorks. In 2008, Capital Brass Works released its third album, Gabriel’s Sister featuring Ms. Donnelly as soloist.
Karen has been featured with professional orchestras, community amateur orchestras, and many local school bands. These include the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra, Kington Symphony, Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra London, Hannaford Silver Street Band, Maple Leaf Brass Band, Parkdale Orchestra and the Regina Catholic Schools Honour Band.
Music education has always been, and continues to be, very close to Karen’s heart. Her work with the Rideau Lakes Brass Quintet and Capital BrassWorks creates opportunities for educational concerts and workshops in schools. Through the NAC Music Education programs, Karen has given master classes in Switzerland, Mexico, China, United States, United Kingdom and Canada from coast to coast. Ms. Donnelly joined the teaching staff at the University of Ottawa in 2002, and since 2009, Karen has been assisting with the Leadingnote OrKidstra program.
NAC Orchestra
FIRST VIOLINS
Yosuke Kawasaki (concertmaster)
Jessica Linnebach (associate concertmaster)
Noémi Racine Gaudreault (assistant concertmaster)
Elaine Klimasko**
Marjolaine Lambert
Jeremy Mastrangelo
Manuela Milani
Leah Roseman
Martine Dubé*
Soo Gyeong Lee*
Erica Miller*
SECOND VIOLINS
Mintje van Lier (principal)
Winston Webber (assistant principal)
Mark Friedman
Carissa Klopoushak
Frédéric Moisan
Edvard Skerjanc**
Karoly Sziladi
Emily Westell**
Andréa Armijo-Fortin*
Renée London*
Sara Mastrangelo*
Heather Schnarr*
VIOLAS
Jethro Marks (principal)
David Marks (associate principal)
David Goldblatt (assistant principal)
Paul Casey
Ren Martin-Doike
David Thies-Thompson
CELLOS
Rachel Mercer (principal)
Julia MacLaine (assistant principal)
Timothy McCoy
Marc-André Riberdy
Leah Wyber
Desiree Abbey*
DOUBLE BASSES
Tony Flynt (guest principal)*
Hilda Cowie (acting assistant principal)**
Marjolaine Fournier
Vincent Gendron
Paul Mach*
FLUTES
Joanna G'froerer (principal)
Stephanie Morin
OBOES
Charles Hamann (principal)
Anna Petersen
CLARINETS
Kimball Sykes (principal)
Sean Rice
BASSOONS
Christopher Millard (principal)
Vincent Parizeau
HORNS
Lawrence Vine (principal)
Julie Fauteux (associate principal)
Lauren Anker
Louis-Pierre Bergeron
Elizabeth Simpson
TRUMPETS
Steven Woomert*
Karen Donnelly (principal)
Steven van Gulik
Luise Heyerhoff*
TROMBONES
Donald Renshaw (principal)
Douglas Burden
Colin Traquair
Matthew Rowsell*
TUBA
Chris Lee (principal)
TIMPANI
Feza Zweifel (principal)
PERCUSSION
Jonathan Wade
Dan Morphy*
HARP
Angela Schwarzkopf*
PRINCIPAL LIBRARIAN
Nancy Elbeck
ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN
Corey Rempel
PERSONNEL MANAGER
Meiko Lydall
*Additional musicians
**On leave
Non-titled members of the Orchestra are listed alphabetically