Impact of smoke on the air quality at the NAC
NAC Podcasts

Explore The Symphony

Join the National Arts Centre Orchestra's Marjolaine Fournier and one of Canada's foremost music journalists, Jean-Jacques van Vlasselaer, as they explore the symphonic form from Haydn to Shostakovich.

Latest Episodes

  • Carl Nielsen’s De fire Temperamenter

    Mar 06, 2020 51:11

    Jean-Jacques Van Vlasselaer and Marjolaine Fournier study The Four Temperaments, the second symphony by Carl Nielsen. The hosts find this Danish composer a little enigmatic and difficult to reach. They...

  • Mozart and Religion

    Jan 22, 2020 57:15

    Marjolaine Fournier and Jean-Jacques van Vlasselaer discuss the role of religion in Mozart’s life and music. This in depth conversation focuses on Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and its beautiful...

  • Edvard Grieg: his music and melodies

    Nov 05, 2019 57:01

    Marjolaine Fournier and Jean-Jacques van Vlasselaer describe the music of Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt, his A minor Piano Concerto, and his C minor Symphony. His music, his melodies and his...

  • Béla Bartók and Witold Lutosławski

    Sep 26, 2019 55:33

    Marjolaine Fournier and Jean-Jacques van Vlasselaer talk about two Concertos for orchestra: one by Béla Bartók and the other by Witold Lutosławski. They take a moment to explain the format...

  • Verdi’s Requiem

    Sep 03, 2019 56:12

    Jean-Jacques van Vlasselaer and Marjolaine Fournier discuss Verdi’s Requiem, first performed in Milan in 1874. The text for this was written in about 1250, when a requiem was meant to...

  • Le Nozze di Figaro

    Jun 25, 2019 49:35

    Marjolaine Fournier and Jean-Jacques Van Vlasselaer discuss Mozart’s beloved opera Le Nozze di Figaro, touching on its history, uniqueness and sheer brilliance.

  • Claude Vivier

    Apr 02, 2019 48:14

    Marjolaine Fournier and Jean-Jacques van Vlasselaer discuss the masterful Claude Vivier, composer from Québec. His music, which can be characterized as “beautiful, immense, tragic, inspiring,” is celebrated and heard regularly...

  • Brahms’ and Schumann’s first symphonies

    Jan 30, 2019 38:34

    Marjolaine Fournier and Jean Jacques van Vlasselaer compare Brahms’ and Schumann’s first symphonies. They explore the relationships between the two composers and Clara Wieck. Schumann was alive in an extraordinary...

  • Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem

    Oct 19, 2018 49:33

    Marjolaine Fournier and Jean-Jacques van Vlasselaer discuss Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem. How much do you know about Benjamin Britten? There is fury in this composition. Where does it come from? ...

  • Schubert’s Ninth Symphony

    Sep 27, 2018 46:04

    John Storgårds will conduct the NAC Orchestra on October 10 and 11, 2018, in their performance of Schubert’s ninth and final symphony. Marjolaine Fournier, NACO double bassist, and Jean-Jacques van...