For its 43rd season, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is offering an exciting mixture of world-class artists, beloved masterworks and a few lesser-known gems that will highlight the orchestra’s return to live performances with its longtime music director, Salvador Brotons.
The musicians are eager to see an audience at Skyview Concert Hall but will offer an online streaming option that will accommodate those who don’t want to take the risk of exposure to COVID-19.
Any regional orchestra of comparable size would be envious of the lineup: violinist Rachel Barton Pine, pianist Alexander Toradze and vocalist Liz Callaway will be joined by guitarist Adam Levin, who appeared with the orchestra last season, and the up-and-coming violinist Francisco Fullana.
To kick things off for the season opener on Sept. 25 and 26, Fullana will play Camille Saint-Saëns Third Violin Concerto, which is imbued with a distinct Spanish sound. This will be counterbalanced with two mainstays from the German side of the ledger: Ludwig van Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture and Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 4, “Tragic.”
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra fundraiser
Internationally acclaimed pianist Orli Shaham will team up with Vancouver Symphony Orchestra conductor Salvador Brotons and the orchestra’s principal musicians to perform music by Mozart, Dvorak, Chopin and others for a fundraising gala at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Hilton Vancouver Washington, 301 W. Sixth St. In-person tickets are $100 and must be reserved by Sept. 8. They are available at vancouversymphony.org/gala-2021/ or by calling 360-735-7278. The event will also be live-streamed at vancouversymphony.org.
An all-orchestral concert on Oct. 23 and 24 revolves around dance. Claude Debussy’s Petite Suite uses dance forms to invoke the countryside and the courtyard. Maurice Ravel envisioned his “Pavane for a Dead Princess” as a slow processional dance from an earlier era. Igor Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite draws on the music of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály’s “Dances from Galánta” was inspired by folk music from an area that is now part of Slovakia.
The holiday show on Dec. 11 and 12 features Liz Callaway, who made her Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along,” received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in “Baby” and starred in “Cats.” She has headlined numerous shows on and off Broadway, and her work for television includes an Emmy Award for hosting “Ready to Go.” She also has released seven solo albums and is featured on several collaborative CDs.
Winners of the orchestra’s 28th Annual Young Artists Competition will play Jan. 22 and 23. The concert will also feature Edward Elgar’s “Enigma Variations,” whose popularity continues to grow with some 60 recordings.
For his return engagement with the orchestra on Feb. 26 and 27, classical guitarist Adam Levin will play Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, which is considered one of the greatest guitar concertos ever written. The orchestra will perform the Ballade in A minor by English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), a Black man who defied the racism of his time to study at the Royal College of Music and tour the United States three times. Also scheduled is Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1, a magisterial work by the great Finnish composer.
In November of 2017, Alexander Toradze delivered a superb performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto. This time around (April 23 and 24), the legendary pianist will perform Stravinsky’s enigmatic Piano Concerto for Winds and Orchestra and Dmitri Shostakovich’s cheerful Second Piano Concerto. Rounding out the all-Russian program is Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2 “Little Russian.”
Internationally acclaimed violinist Rachel Barton Pine will play Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Violin Concerto on May 21 and 22. It draws on themes from film scores that he wrote between 1937 and 1939. Under Brotons, the orchestra will unleash the big emotional roller-coaster of Alexander Glazunov’s Symphony No. 5. George Whitefield Chadwick’s “Rip van Winkle Overture” is sure to reignite the famous American tale in your imagination.
“The livestreams were very successful last season,” said Igor Shakhman, the orchestra’s executive director. “We reached a wide audience nationally and internationally.”
All concerts will take place at Skyview Concert Hall (1300 N.W. 139th St.), with Saturday concerts at 7 p.m. and Sunday concerts at 3 p.m. The orchestra is still working out safety protocols, which will include a mask requirement; details will be posted at vancouversymphony.org. The livestreams will air concurrently, with exclusive video programming before each concert.
Subscriptions range from a five-concert package for $140 to seven concerts for $200.
