2009 Friday Masters

2009 Friday Masters

The music at the foundation of the orchestral repertoire, the music of the titans, the heart and soul of classical music.

Stay after the show for Afterthoughts, our popular and casual post-concert reception, where you can meet the conductors and soloists, and gain insight into the performance.

Lexus

Thank you to our Friday Masters series sponsor: Lexus

  • September 18, 2009, 7:30 pm
  • The Red Violin
  • Bill Eddins opens the Masters series with film scores adapted into concert music by two of today's most distinguished composers (from the films Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Red Violin). Gershwin's Second Rhapsody was also originally film music, and Canadian composer Howard Shore's new fanfare receives its Canadian premiere.
  • November 27, 2009, 7:30 pm
  • Katherine Chi plays Beethoven
  • Calgary's Katherine Chi tackles a titan - Beethoven's mighty "Emperor" Concerto. Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger is a titan of the opera repertoire, and this evening marks the first Canadian performance of this glorious orchestral tribute.
  • January 22, 2010, 7:30 pm
  • Ode to Joy
  • This unforgettable night features two choral works - old and new - both pleas for humanity to unite in peace. Beethoven’s epochal Ninth Symphony receives its first Masters series performance of the 21st century. John Estacio’s The Houses Stand Not Far Apart, written in 2008 for the Richard Eaton Singers, is set to text by acclaimed Canadian poet and playwright John Murrell.
  • March 5, 2010, 7:30 pm
  • Mozart Treasures
  • “There’s just something beautiful about Mozart. And it is an everyman drama in a way, beyond all the myths about the great child prodigy, this and that… there’s that element of humanity on the verge of attaining that which is reserved for the gods.” (Bill Eddins)
  • March 26, 2010, 7:30 pm
  • Vivaldi's Guitar Concerto
  • “A superb musician,” wrote the New York Times of Manuel Barrueco, who makes his ESO debut playing Vivaldi’s Guitar Concerto and Sierra’s Folias, based on Spanish dances of the 16th and 17th centuries. Respighi’s popular Ancient Airs and Dances are orchestral jewels. Petroushka, which made Stravinsky a star in Paris in 1911, is a ballet based on the Russian tale of a puppet brought to life.
  • June 11, 2010, 7:30 pm
  • Marc-André Hamelin plays Shostakovich
  • Marc-André Hamelin and our Principal Trumpet Robin Doyon join the ESO for Shostakovich’s popular and infectiously optimistic concerto. Richard Strauss’ light and exuberant Burleske also features Mr. Hamelin. Allan Gilliland’s colourful Shadows and Light (written for the ESO) and Debussy’s stunning La mer (The Sea) complete the program