Orchestra’s new lineup is pure gold

The National Arts Centre and its orchestra will mark their 50th anniversary in 2019 with a 2018-19 season designed to lead up to the golden celebration. In the coming months, fans of the orchestra can enjoy a new series for adventurous listeners, a focus on choral works, a thorough exploration of Beethoven’s symphonies and the premiere of new music commissioned by the NAC.

Some familiar faces have also been invited back to take part in the extended celebrations, including conductor emeritus Pinchas Zukerman, former music director Trevor Pinnock, cellist Amanda Forsyth, soprano Renee Fleming, Canadian piano virtuoso Jan Lisiecki and Russia’s gentle giant of a pianist Yefim Bronfman.

“The overriding theme is the 50th anniversary and one way we’ve tried to celebrate is by featuring some of the conductors and musicians who have been a major part of our lives over the years,” said music director Alexander Shelley. The season includes more than 40 concerts, leading up to the orchestra’s grand finale, a 50thanniversary tour of Europe slated for May 2019.

But the toasting starts in September with a Beethoven Festival, set for Sept. 13-22, featuring all nine of Beethoven’s symphonies, along with a series of lectures, chamber music and other related events.

According to Shelley, Beethoven’s Ninth marked the first time the great composer “reached for voices to complete a symphonic work,” which connects to another theme of the coming season: choral works. Shelley is particularly proud of the plan to perform Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem with choirs, guest singers and the National Youth Orchestra of Germany on Nov. 9, just before the 100th anniversary of end of the First World War.

“I’m delighted the National Youth Orchestra of Germany has accepted my invitation to come over and sit side by side with our orchestra and play Britten’s War Requiem, which is a very strong pacifist statement,” Shelley said. “The idea that Britten had was to have the Allied Nations — Russia, the U.K., Canada — and Germany perform together and we’re doing exactly that. We’re going to have a Russian singer, NACO and these young people from Germany, whom I’ve worked with for many years. It’s going to be a very special moment.”

Another important choral work is the St. Matthew Passion, the sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727. To be conducted by Pinnock, it will feature guest soloists, including Swiss tenor Mauro Peter, tenor Andrew Haji, as well as the Cantata Singers of Ottawa and the Capital Chamber Choir of Ottawa. The concerts take place Jan. 16 and 17, 2019.

The fourth pillar of choral work in the season is Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, presented as an opera-in-concert with a cast that includes baritone Joshua Hopkins, Ottawa soprano Wallis Giunta and soprano Erin Wall. Shelley is conducting, while musical theatre hitmaker Donna Feore is directing. It’s scheduled for June 12-14, 2019.

Several concerts will be presented under the banner of the new Vanguard series, including Britten’s Requiem and a revival of the orchestra’s multimedia creation project Life Reflected.

“We wanted to create a brand that’s all about adventure, discovery, pushing your own boundaries and listening to things you may never have heard in concert before,” said Shelley. “It’s something for those individuals who have a thirst for the new and the unusual.”

Among the world premieres in the season is the debut of a cello concerto by Canadian composer Marjan Mozetich to be performed by the NAC’s fondly remembered cello diva Amanda Forsyth, who’s also the wife of maestro Zukerman. The performances are Nov. 14 and 15 and will be conducted by Elim Chan, the young Hong Kong-born woman who’s been taking the classical world by storm in the last few years.

Also being prepped for a world premiere is a guitar concerto penned by Howard Shore, the Canadian composer best known for his scores in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. Performing it will be guest artist and classical guitarist Milos Karadaglic, who will be back on stage after taking a year off to recuperate from an injury. Hear him play May 1 and 2, 2019.

Mark your calendar, too, for the return of Zukerman. The great musician/conductor, who was in charge of the NAC Orchestra for 17 years, returns to Ottawa for two performances. On Nov. 21 and 22, he conducts a program of Chausson, Mozart and Elgar and will play viola as one of the evening’s two guest artists. Viviane Hagner guests on violin. Later in the season, Feb. 20 and 21, 2019, Zukerman brings his violin and baton back to the NAC for a program in which he will be the featured soloist in Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1, but also conduct Weber’s Overture to Der Freischutz and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8.

The orchestra’s season will be rounded out with a robust selection of six Pops concerts, including the circus-meets-Broadway spectacle of Cirque Goes Broadway, complete with acrobats, contortionists and strongmen (June 20-22, 2019), a tribute to Rodgers & Hammerstein (Oct. 25-27), a Holiday Swing seasonal celebration (Dec. 6-8), a Women Rock homage to artists such as Carole King, Tina Turner and Janis Joplin (Jan. 10-12, 2019), Revolution: The Beatles Symphonic Experience (Feb. 28-March 2, 2019) and an 80th-anniversary screening of the Wizard of Oz with live orchestra accompaniment (March 28-30, 2019).

For more details on the season, as well as subscription and ticket information, go to nac-cna.ca.