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In 2006, virtuoso violinist Itzhak Perlman performed live at the Academy Awards, showcasing the soundtracks of Oscar-nominated films including Brokeback Mountain and Memoirs of a Geisha. Now, the winner of 15 Grammy Awards serenades us with his favourite music from 50 years of cinematic history. From the heart-breaking theme of Schindler’s List, to the heart-melting love song As Time Goes By, savour the sweeping emotional range of Perlman’s 1714 Stradivarius violin in the hands of an undisputed master.

A hymn to our common humanity in times of war and ethnic strife, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy remains as relevant today as the day it was first performed. After struggling for years to compose his masterpiece, Beethoven never heard it — he was completely deaf by the time it premiered in 1824.  Now, nearly two centuries later, the hope expressed in the chorus still resonates: that joy shall bind us together, though customs tear us apart. In an uncertain world, feel the uplifting power of Beethoven’s immortal Ninth Symphony.

The Symphony that Inspired a Nation

As the Russian Empire tightened its colonial grip on Finland, Jean Sibelius wrote the music that expressed his people's desire for freedom.  Touring Europe to rave reviews in 1900, Sibelius’ First Symphony brought worldwide attention to the composer -- and to the cause of Finnish independence.  Hear the symphony that inspired a nation in the opening concert of our Ideas of North festival.

*Sesquicentennial co-commission for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, NAC Orchestra, and Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.

Waves of Sound and Sea

Surrender to the siren-song of the sea in this evening of music inspired by the ocean. Special guest Hannu Lintu, Chief Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, summons naiads with every note of Sibelius’ symphonic poem The Oceanides. Juno-award winning pianist Angela Hewitt carries us across Nameless Seas* in a new composition written especially for her.  Close your eyes and let the soundwaves sweep you away.

*NAC co-commission with PianoEspoo; world premiere

Thursday Bravo series subscribers attend this concert.

Songs of Goddesses and Heroes

Lose yourself in a world of legends with the incantatory music of Jean Sibelius. Swirling with primal energy, this series of symphonic poems evokes the Finnish creation-goddess Luonnotar, the celestial Maiden of Pojohla who spins golden threads in the sky, and the hero Lemminkainen, who meets death and resurrection in the netherworld of Tuonela. Resonant of ancient Scandinavian ballads, these works express Sibelius’ belief that “music begins where the possibilities of language end.”

Wednesday night Signature subscribers attend this concert.

Ideas of North Grande Finale

In 1997, solo violinist John Storgards dazzled audiences in the chamber orchestra premiere of Graal Theatre. NAC Orchestra principal guest conductor once again takes up his bow in an authoritative performance of this contemporary concerto, inspired by legends of King Arthur and the search for the Holy Grail. Jean Sibelius’ final symphony, considered by many his greatest achievement, crowns the grande finale concert of our Ideas of North festival.

Thursday night Signature subscribers attend this concert.

The Pipa can trace its popularity in China to the second century BC.  A four-stringed, lute-like instrument, it is said that its musical name derives from the two basic strumming techniques used to play the instrument: “pi” is the outward stroke, “pa” the inward.  Enormously versatile, in the hands of a master such as Wu Man, this ancient instrument makes remarkable music that honours its history while embracing new challenges, such as lending its distinct tones to the soundtrack for Kung Fu Panda 3!  

After touring the concert halls of the world, Pinchas Zukerman returns for a special guest appearance with the orchestra he led to international acclaim. First, the maestro brings Beethoven and Haydn to life with his prodigious violin technique. Then, he steps to the podium to conduct the symphony Mozart wrote at the age of just 17. Pulsating with dark urgency, Mozart’s 25th symphony underscores the dramatic opening sequence of the movie Amadeus, where Mozart’s rival Antonio Salieri is carried, bleeding, through the torchlit streets, while genteel Vienna dances the night away.

Embark on an orchestral journey to Central Europe, in this evening dedicated to three composers who brought the music of peasants to the opera houses of the world. Dvořák, the son of a Bohemian innkeeper, wove the rustic melodies of his childhood into romantic symphonies, while Bartók used the ancient scales of Hungarian folk songs to inject new vitality into classical music. Smetana’s frolicsome The Bartered Bride remains one of the world’s most beloved comic operas.

Friday Bravo series subscribers attend Wednesday performance.

Few musicians in the world have the skill to master Dmitri Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1. The original soloist reportedly begged the composer in rehearsal: “For God’s sake Dmitri, give me eight bars of rest, so that I can wipe the sweat off my neck!” Thrill to the prowess of violin sensation Alina Ibragimova as she matches her mettle to the electrifying works of two Russian masters.

From the concert halls of Europe to the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor has always been a hit with the crowds. An instant success when it premiered in 1869, the concerto quickly took its place in the classical music repertoire. It crossed over to rock’n’roll in 1961, when jazz artist Jimmy Wisner created the top-10 single “Asia Minor” by playing an excerpt from the first movement on a cheap piano in boogie-woogie style. After recording the Concerto on her 2016 album Wonderland — praised by the BBC for “deep lyricism and light, glittering finger work,” — 29-year-old Alice Sara Ott regales the NAC audience with this perennial favourite.

Soar away on a musical magic-carpet ride to the enchanted world of the Arabian Nights. Rimsky-Korsakov’s spellbinding orchestral suite weaves a dreamscape around a sweet, solo violin part that represents the voice of the storyteller Scheherazade, as she recounts ancient tales of love and adventure to her cruel, jealous husband. By turns thrilling, suspenseful, sinister and beautiful, the music of Scheherazade is sure to evoke, in the words of the composer, “an Oriental narrative of some numerous and varied fairy-tale wonders.”

When a Russian conductor teams up with an American jazzman to perform classical music, the result is saxophone as you’ve never heard it before. Composed in 1934 when Alexander Glazunov was living in self-imposed exile in Paris, the Saxophone Concerto brims with homesickness, yet flows with a musical freedom impermissable in Soviet-era Russia. After performing to rave reviews with the New York Philharmonic and Toronto Symphony Orchestra, three-time Grammy award winner Branford Marsalis pairs up once again with internationally-renowned conductor Andrey Boreyko for a concert hailed by critics as an “unmitigated delight.”

Thursday Bravo series subscribers attend this concert. 

Beloved pianist Angela Hewitt performs The Bach Odyssey in recital. Her ambitious exploration of J.S. Bach’s complete solo keyboard works continues with Recital IV. The Bach Odyssey is presented in partnership with the Ottawa Chamber Music Society.

Shake off the end-of-winter doldrums with this evening of sunny melodies and toe-tapping mischief. Hold on to your hats as the nimble fingers of soloist Boris Giltburg dance their way through Shostakovich’s cheeky Piano Concerto No. 2. Giltburg’s 2017 recording of the concerto won rave reviews for its “dashing virtuosity” and “reckless, to-hell-with-it abandon.” End the evening on a bucolic note with Brahms’ Pastoral Symphony, a piece once decribed as “all rippling streams, blue sky, sunshine, and cool green shadows.”

“…Giltburg has the capacity to identify with and encapsulate the moods of each piece while artlessly crafting them into a shapely span.” –Daily Telegraph

*World premiere; NAC Orchestra commission. 

Succumb to the tempestuous emotion of Brahm’s most passionate piano concerto. Conceived after the attempted suicide of Brahm’s friend and mentor Robert Schumann, this stormy piece finds fierce expression at the hands of 23-year-old Italian prodigy Beatrice Rana. The youngest winner ever of the Montreal International Piano Competition in 2011, Rana makes her NAC debut by special invitation of our music director Alexander Shelley. The evening culminates with Schumann’s own Second Symphony, written as the composer attempted to overcome his feelings of depression through music.

Thursday Ovation series subscribers attend Friday performance.

“Ah, we shall never be able to do anything like that!” Beethoven told a friend, when he first heard Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24. Grandly orchestrated, moody, and tumultuous, Mozart’s greatest piano concerto has held audiences spellbound for more than 200 years. Savour the elegant musicianship of three-time Juno award winning soloist Louis Lortie, and discover the concerto that struck awe into the heart of Beethoven.

Thrill to the music of the last great romantic composer, in this evening dedicated to the works of Sergei Rachmaninoff. A son of imperial Russia, Rachmaninoff sought to express his country’s innermost soul, “with its overtones of suffering and unrest, its pastoral but tragic beauty, its ancient and enduring glory.” No pianist captures the music’s essence better than Stephen Hough, named International Artist of the Year in 2016 by Limelight Magazine and one of the 25 “Best Piano Players of All Time” by Classic FM. Hear why Hough’s 2005 live recording of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos became the fastest selling album in the history of Hyperion Records.

“Hough is simply one of the most interesting musicians around.” —Boston Globe​

Bruckner's radiant eighth symphony unleashes the full power of the TSO and is sure to be a riveting performance, bringing the remarkable Oundjian era to a close.

Discover a long-lost musical treasure with Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C. Written in the 1760s for the private orchestra of Prince Eszterhazy of Austria, the concerto disappeared for 200 years — until a young musicologist found a hand-written copy in the Czech National Library in 1961. Shining in the solo role, 25-year-old cellist Harriet Krijgh brings tender lyricism to her performance, living up to her promise as a 2015/16 “Rising Star” of the European Concert Hall Organization.

Thursday Bravo series subscribers attend this concert. 

Our season-long musical exploration of heros and heroines culminates in a grande finale concert, featuring two world-famous soloists and two epic works. Seven-time Grammy Award winning pianist Emanuel Ax brings majesty and melancholy to Beethoven’s most famous piano concerto, in a performance hailed by critics as “pure magic.” Topping off the evening, our concertmaster Yosuke Kawasaki takes on the ‘voice of the hero,’ with his virtuosic solo violin in NAC’s first-ever performance of Richard Strauss’ A Hero’s Life. A triumphant end to a tremendous season!

Canadian virtuoso James Ehnes is acclaimed worldwide for technical prowess and insightful musicianship. He returns to Ottawa, this time with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. With Elgar’s mysterious and hugely popular Enigma Variations.