ESO: music for all ages
Performance by violinist Joshua Bell a highlight as orchestra unveils new season
From Bartok to Bugs Bunny, from Copland to the Celtic Fiddle: the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra announced their 2013-14 season on Wednesday, with their tried-andtested mix designed to appeal to a wide range of audiences.
The undoubted highlight of the new season is the gala concert on Sept. 24. Joshua Bell, one of the finest American violinists today and a familiar name to music lovers worldwide, will join the orchestra for Tchaikovsky’s passionate Violin Concerto. The ESO’s conductor William Eddins has known and worked with Bell for more than two decades, and last September they opened the Cincinnati Symphony’s season together.
For those unfamiliar with the ESO’s somewhat complex system, the orchestra has a number of different series, each with their own separate subscriptions. Concertgoers can also mix and match from various series with the ESO’s sampler pass.
There is a plethora of interesting concertos in the season. Double bassist Edgar Meyer returns to play his own Bass Concerto No. 3 (Nov. 16). One of France’s finest pianists, Jean-Philippe Collard, plays Beethoven’s third piano concerto on Jan. 11, 2014, while Elgar’s mellow but haunting Violin Concerto will be played by the young up-and-coming Elena Urioste (March 8, 2014).
There is also a pair of attractive 20th-century concertos reworked for another instrument: Rampal’s arrangement of Khachaturian’s heavily romantic and tuneful violin concerto for flute and orchestra (Jan. 25, 2014), and Rodrigo’s beloved guitar Concierto de Aranjuez, arranged for harp and orchestra (May 24, 2014).
Armenian pianist Nareh Arghamanyan, winner of the 2008 Montréal International Piano Competition, will play Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (March 29, 2014) in a concert that will likely sell out quickly, as it also includes Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8.
One of the most fascinating concerts promises to be that featuring Bartok’s formidable pantomime ballet The Miraculous Mandarin (May 2 and 3, 2014). “It’s one of the greatest pieces ever written,” says Eddins. “I first saw it as a senior at high school, and I’ve wanted to do it here for some time.”
Eddins is hoping they will be able to present it staged in some form. With its kaleidoscope of colours and instrumental technics, it will be a tour-de-force for the orchestra.
The concert also features Bloch’s lovely, but little-known, neo-classical Concerto Grosso No. 1, with Eddins conducting from the keyboard. It was the first piece he ever played with an orchestra.
The season ends (June 7, 2014) with a concert dear to Eddins’s American heart — American classics from Bernstein, Barber and Copland (the Billy the Kid suite), with soprano Mela Dailey.
There are works by Canadian composers throughout the season, notably two commissions from the ESO’s resident composer, Robert Rival, whose new symphony premièred last month in the Winspear. For one of those commissions, Eddins has thrown what he calls a curve ball: he challenged Rival to write a piece for chorus and orchestra without any strings (May 2 and 3, 2014).
Night owls might also note the pair of attractive latenight concerts on Jan. 4 and June 6, 2014. The first is an all-Ravel concert, the second an all-Bernstein concert, and all tickets are only $29.
The popular Symphony Under the Sky in Hawrelak Park, conducted by Bob Bernhardt, takes place over the Labour Day weekend (Aug. 30 to Sept. 2). Its usual mixture of popular classics includes Dvorak’s cello concerto with Denise Djokic, selections from Broadway and Hollywood, and a concert of popular music celebrating Ray Charles and Motown. The final concert features the Carnival of the Animals, two Procul Harem pieces, and the guns and fireworks of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.
The four afternoon concerts of the Esso Symphony for Kids series (Oct. 26, Nov. 23, Feb. 1 and April 12) are firmly aimed at children and their parents. Here the orchestra backs the action, from Estacio’s staged Twins and the Monster, to storytellers, magician and dare-devil acts, and space music accompanying images from the Hubble telescope and the Mars Curiosity Rover.
And Bugs Bunny? Well, he appears in a feature for Family Day Weekend (Feb. 15 and 16, 2014), where the ESO play old favourites and two new Oscarnominated shorts.
Rather like the ESO’s season, something here for all ages.