After the success of their riveting performance of Schubert’s Winterreise on our 2014-15 Season, Ian Bostridge and Wenwen Du return to our stage to perform an artfully curated program of songs exploring the music and poetry of the Great War. The program ranges from songs by soldier composers George Butterworth and Ivor Gurney to Britten’s setting of poems about children in wartime.
“Bostridge sings as if from inside the music, as if he has found a way to produce pure, disembodied emotion.” — Los Angeles Times
SONGS OF WORLD WAR I
The Music and Poetry of the Great War
MAHLER: Three songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn
STEPHAN: Ich will dir singen ein Hohelied
BUTTERWORTH: A Shropshire Lad
WEILL: Four Walt Whitman Songs
BRITTEN: Four songs from Who Are These Children?, Op. 84
Concert Sponsor:
Additional Support:
Alice Wenhui Chee
There is a pre-concert talk at 2.15pm
Mark Padmore has established a flourishing career in opera, concert and recital. His performances in Bach’s Passions have garnered particular notice throughout the world. Paul Lewis is one of the VRS’ brightest discoveries and most regular visitors. Mark and Paul have performed and recorded Schubert’s Schwanengesang and Die Schöne Müllerin, as well as the epic Die Winterreise, which won Gramophone Magazine’s Vocal Solo Award in 2010.
“Apart from the sheer intelligence behind the interpretation, Padmore’s voice is lustrous; gleaming but flexible, alive to nuance and color, never overdone.” — International Record Review
SCHUBERT, SCHUMANN, BRAHMS & WOLF
Concert Sponsor: Elaine Adair
In Association With:
There is a pre-concert talk at 2.15pm
Since making his Canadian debut on this series at the age of 22, this celebrated Norwegian pianist has won acclaim worldwide for his stellar performances and award-winning recordings. Over the years, his appearances for the VRS — either solo, or with Ian Bostridge or Christian Tetzlaff — have been amongst the most significant and memorable performances in our history.
“A pianist of magisterial elegance, power and insight.” — New York Times
SIBELIUS: Kyllikki, Three Pieces Op. 41
SIBELIUS: The Birch, Op. 75, No. 4
SIBELIUS: The Spruce, Op. 75, No. 5
SIBELIUS: The Forest Lake, Op. 114, No. 3
SIBELIUS: Song in the Forest, Op. 114, Op. 4
SIBELIUS: Spring Vision, Op. 114, No. 5
BEETHOVEN: Sonata No. 18 in Eb major, Op. 31, No. 3
DEBUSSY: La soirée dans Grenade from Estampes
DEBUSSY: Étude 7 pour les degrés chromatiques
DEBUSSY: Étude 11 pour les arpèges composés
DEBUSSY: Étude 5 pour les octaves
CHOPIN: Impromptu in A flat Major, Op. 29
CHOPIN: Étude in A flat Major from Trois nouvelles études
CHOPIN: Nocturne in F Major, Op. 15, No. 1
CHOPIN: Ballad No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52
Concert sponsor: The Late Dr. Sherold & Mrs. Shirley Fishman
Supported by:
In association with:
With his striking musicality, instinctive stylistic certainty and musical maturity, this young German cellist is taking the international music scene by storm. Don’t miss his Canadian debut with pianist, Benjamin Engeli.
“Hornung seems to come from another planet” –Die Zeit
SCHUMANN: 5 Stücke im Volkston, Op.102
BEETHOVEN: Sonata for Cello and Piano in A major, Op. 69
JANÁČEK: Pohádka (Fairytale) for Cello and Piano
STRAUSS: Sonata for Cello and Piano in F major, Op. 6
Series Sponsor: The Late Edwina & Paul Heller
Supported By:
The members of the Apollon Musagète Quartet were selected by BBC Radio 3 as 2012-13 New Generation Artists, and by the Vienna Konzerthaus and Musikverein as 2010-11 Rising Stars. In January 2014, the ensemble won a prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. Hear this marvelous Polish quartet in its Canadian debut.
“Clever programming and stylish interpretation – it is no surprise that the four young Polish members of the Apollon Musagète have risen to the very top of their profession.” — Münchner Merkur
BEETHOVEN: String Quartet in D major Op. 18 No. 3
WEBERN: Langsamer Satz
SCHUBERT: String Quartet in G major D. 887
Series Sponsor: The Late Edwina & Paul Heller
Concert Sponsor: Maryke Gilmore
Supported By:
After an early musical education that included piano, violin and cello, Raphaël Sévère took up the clarinet at the age of 8. By the time he was 12, he had won 5 international competitions. Another Canadian debut not to be missed!
“In every register of the clarinet his is a sound of rare beauty and dazzling virtuosity in service of the music” — La Nouvelle République.
BORODIN: Sonata in B Minor (adapted for clarinet & piano by Raphaël Sévère)
LUTOSŁAWSKI: Dance Preludes
DEBUSSY: Première Rhapsodie
BERG: Four Pieces for clarinet and piano, Op. 5
BERNSTEIN: Sonata for clarinet and piano (1941-42)
Series Sponsor: The Late Edwina & Paul Heller
Supported By:
There is a pre-concert talk at 2.15pm
Despite their very busy individual careers, the three musicians who comprise this trio — pianist Lars Vogt, violinist Christian Tetzlaff, and cellist Tanja Tetzlaff — get together whenever time permits to play the Piano Trio repertoire. We are delighted to have secured a date on one of their very rare North American tours.
“Whatever they play, you want to hear it. In terms of technical dazzle and lyrical heart, the performance lived up to high expectations.” — The New York Times
SCHUMANN: Trio No.2 in F major, Op.80
DVORÁK: Trio in E minor, Op. 90 “Dumky”
BRAHMS: Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8
In Association With:
There is a pre-concert talk at 2.15pm
One of America’s most thought-provoking, multi-faceted and compelling artists, pianist Jeremy Denk was awarded a 2013 MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, the 2014 Avery Fisher Prize, and Musical America’s 2014 Instrumentalist of the Year Award. And now we’ve secured his Vancouver debut!
“Mr. Denk, clearly, is a pianist you want to hear no matter what he performs, in whatever combination – both for his penetrating intellectual engagement with the music and for the generosity of his playing.” –The New York Times
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808
WILLIAM BYRD: The Passinge Measures: the Ninth Pavan from Lady Nevell’s Book
IGOR STRAVINSKY: Piano-Rag-Music
PAUL HINDEMITH: “Ragtime” from Suite “1922”
SCOTT HAYDEN / SCOTT JOPLIN: “Sunflower Slow Drag”
CONLON NANCARROW: Canon for Ursula, No. 1
WILLIAM BOLCOM: Graceful Ghost Rag
DONALD LAMBERT: “Pilgrims’ Chorus” from Tannhauser
JOSEPH HAYDN: Fantasia in C Major, Hob. XVII:4
ROBERT SCHUMANN: Carnaval, Op. 9
In Association With:
