Nationwide Arts Centre Orchestra | Keiko Devaux: Listening Underwater (Carrefour Fee); Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat Main, Ok. 482; Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67. Alexander Shelley, conductor; Yeol Eum Son, piano. Might 16, 2024, Roy Thomson Corridor, Toronto.
As I stood within the lengthy line to get into Roy Thomson Corridor, there was a palpable sense of pleasure for the sold-out live performance. The Nationwide Arts Centre (NAC) Orchestra and their conductor, Alexander Shelley, was again in Toronto for a send-off live performance earlier than they embark on their 99th worldwide tour since their 1969 founding to Japan and Korea.
Shelley, affable and energetic, opened the night with remarks concerning the orchestra’s upcoming tour and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, particularly. Not solely did he recount the premiere of this symphony in a 4 hour lengthy live performance in 1808, however he illuminated the revolutionary concept of this symphony. That’s, it’s a transformation from C minor to C main, from darkness to mild, from wrestle to emancipation.
First Half: Keiko Devaux & Yeol Eum Son’s Mozart
However first, the live performance opened with Canadian composer, Keiko Devaux’s Listening Underwater, a vivid and evocative composition impressed by whale communication and hydro-acoustics. The complete orchestra, together with a superb assortment of percussion devices, was available to create a marvellous aquatic soundscape.
A few of these results had been created by air blown by devices, and a wide range of tremolos within the strings and brass. The piece unfolded very organically, and Shelley allowed the music to breathe naturally. The harmonic pacing was gradual, however there have been many components that stored my curiosity. I assumed using string solos and string micropolyphony was very efficient. It’s a poignant and cinematic piece, that can actually make a splash on their tour.
Following was Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat main, marking Yeol Eum Son’s Toronto debut. Though the variety of musicians was lowered for the Mozart, I felt that it might have been trimmed additional for a greater classical stability. Son’s strategy to this piano concerto was of pleasure, however with delicacy, poise, and refinement. The string sound was a bit too lush to match Son’s interpretation. It was a bit jarring when there have been quick dialogue phrases between the soloist and orchestra.
She dealt with the uncovered passagework stuffed with scales and arpeggios with readability and management. Son clearly has an affinity for Mozart. The viewers responded enthusiastically with a standing ovation, and was rewarded with an encore — an enthralling efficiency of the primary motion of Mozart’s Sonata No. 16 in C main.
Beethoven’s Fifth
After intermission, was, after all, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Shelley carried out this piece from reminiscence. Unimpeded by the conductor’s stand, Shelley was capable of join extra with the musicians. He clearly revelled in conducting this masterpiece.
Having studied this piece and heard it quite a few time myself, this efficiency was contemporary and thrilling. Shelley approached the primary motion with a strong tempo, and lingered little on the finish of phrases. There was at all times a way of ahead path and drive.
He highlighted the wind devices very nicely, and the contrasts throughout the motion had been efficient. Every so often, a number of the inside musical voices had been a bit hidden. However, Shelley discovered many lyrical moments within the first motion and conveyed them fantastically. This prolonged into the second motion, the place Shelley used much less of the baton and extra hand gestures to form the music. The fugato within the third motion took flight and was thrilling.
As well-known because the opening motif of this symphony is, the crux of this piece actually lies within the fourth motion. Shelley delivered on what he had promised in his opening remarks. That this symphony is an exciting journey. It was actually a musical manifestation of emancipation. A lot so, that Shelley carried out the ending utterly with out his baton.
It was a triumphant efficiency! The viewers rose as soon as extra with thunderous applause and was handled with two encores.
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Albert Wong is a author, composer and musician primarily based in Toronto. He’s energetic within the choral group and sings with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and Babεl. He additionally has a specific curiosity in gamelan music, and performs Balinese gendèr wayang with Seka Rat Nadi.