Four Guitars, One Orchestra

Thursday, October 6, 2011, 8:00 pm

Enmax Hall, Winspear Centre

Four Guitars, One Orchestra

2011-2012 Robbins Lighter Classics

  • Robert Bernhardt, conductor
    Lucas Waldin, conductor
    Canadian Guitar Quartet
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Details

About this Concert
Tchaikovsky does Italian? Rimsky-Korsakov is Spanish? And four guitars all at once? This exciting and unique program presents the ESO debut of the Canadian Guitar Quartet, performing not one, but two works for four guitars. As well, the sunny climes of Spain and Italy have inspired masterpieces by many – including visitors from Russia.

Featured Repertoire
TCHAIKOVSKY: Capriccio Italien
RODRIGO: Concierto Andaluz for Four Guitars
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Capriccio espagnole
TEEHAN: Dreams of Flying
ROUX: Au rhythmes des quartiers latins		 Next Lighter Classics
November 17, 2011
Harmonically Yours

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Bill & Mary Jo Robbins
Series Supporters

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Ticket Information

$75 Dress Circle (A)
$65 Terrace (B)
$52 Orchestra (C)
$38 Upper Circle (D)
$28 Gallery (E)
$20 Orchestra Front (F)
Tickets subject to applicable service charges.
This performance is part of the Robbins Lighter Classics series.

Program

Program

LAVALLÉE (Arr Gilliland)
O Canada (1’)*
 
TCHAIKOVSKY
Capriccio Italien, Opus 45 (15’)*
 
RODRIGO
Concierto Andaluz (25’)*
 Canadian Guitar Quartet
 
INTERMISSION
 
TEEHAN
Dreams of Flying (9’)*
 Lucas Waldin, conductor
 
ROUX
Aux rhythmes des quartiers latins (14’)*
 Canadian Guitar Quartet
 
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Capriccio espagnole, Opus 34 (15’)*

*Indicates approximate performance duration.
Program subject to change.


Program Notes

In the winter of 1879-80, Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) found himself in Rome, from which the germ that became this bright tuneful caprice first took seed. It was based on several melodies he heard while he was there – the opening fanfare, for example, was the bugle call he heard outside his window each morning.
 
“I think (the Capriccio italien) has a bright future,” Tchaikovsky wrote to a friend, “it will be effective because of the wonderful themes I happened to pick up.”  It is not only those themes, but Tchaikovsky’s particular genius for orchestration, which lends this work its utter charm, which the public has been quick to grasp since its first performance on December 18, 1880. A number of melodies and Italian dance forms whirl by following the arresting fanfare, concluding with a brisk Tarantella.
 
Like many promising young Spanish composers, Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999) made his way to Paris, where his burgeoning talent blossomed with his studies under Paul Dukas. Blind from the age of three, Rodrigo nevertheless attained a steady stream of scholarships, enabling him to broaden his musical horizons with visits to Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and again to France. By the time he returned to his native Spain, he was regarded as an important figure in his country’s musical lineage.
 
The Concierto Andaluz was commissioned by Celedonio Romero, for himself and his talented sons (Celin, Pepe, and Angel). It premiered in San Antonio, Texas in 1967. While the melodies are not authentic Spanish folk melodies, the traditional flavour of the music of Andalusia is very much in evidence. The work is in three movements, each in distinctive dance rhythms. At certain times, the four guitars engage in elaborate “conversations” with each other, at other times all four are pitted against the orchestra. It is a colourful, lively, and at times even powerful work.
 
Rob Teehan (b. 1982) is a tuba and sousaphone player, choral singer, and composer based in Toronto. Since 2009, Rob has been composer-in-residence at the Church of the Redeemer in Toronto, a position he also held with the Colours of Music Festival (2010) and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada (2009).  He will be composer-in-residence with Sinfonia Toronto in their 2011-2012 season. Dreams of Flying was written for the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in 2009, and was nominated as Best Canadian Classical Composition at the 2010 Juno Awards. Of his work, Mr. Teehan has written:
 
“Dreams of Flying, a nine-minute orchestral tone poem, tells a literal story: A dreamer is startled to find himself high above the ground and gifted with the power of flight. Ecstatic, he swoops through clouds and flocks of birds, soaring over mountains, lakes, fields, cities, forests and oceans from a great height, gathering speed and energy. Then, as the music melts into a relaxed groove, he settles in at a lower altitude where landmarks are more familiar, the air is warmer, and he is joined by birds – or maybe other dreamers – who fly alongside. Then the sky turns red, and the dreamer realizes he is flying directly into a brilliant sunrise. As the sun comes up, he awakens; the dream begins to fade from memory, portrayed by fragments of the music trailing away into silence.”
 
Patrick Roux (b. 1962) is one of the guitarists of the Canadian Guitar Quartet. But the French-born musician is also a composer, having studied at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Hull, and with David Russell in London. He became enamoured with the tango nuevo music of Astor Piazzolla, and beginning in the early 1990s, he began composing a series which he called Les scènes de quartiers, in which he depicts scenes of daily life in various surroundings. Aux rhythms des quartiers latins is the seventh work in the ongoing series, composed as a concerto for four guitars and small orchestra.
 
“Day dawns as the piece awakens and grows slowly, transporting us deep into the heart of the city,” the quartet has written. “Successive themes alternate from the nostalgic to the energetic to the frantic, presenting a musical kaleidoscope of colourful images, all inspired by the rhythms of life in the latin quarters.” In the slower sections, the guitars are given much of the thematic musical material, while in the energetic dance sections, it is often the strings or solo instruments in the orchestra which state the main thematic ideas, with the guitars playing decorative figures around them.
 
“The opinion formed by both critics and the public that the Capriccio espagnole is a brilliant ‘magnificently orchestrated piece’ is wrong. The Capriccio is a brilliant ‘composition for orchestra’.” So said Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), who penned the work in 1887, and he further explained what he meant by his statement. “The change of timbres, the felicitous choice of melodic designs and figuration patterns, exactly suiting each kind of instrument, brief virtuoso cadenzas for instruments solo, the rhythm of the percussion instruments, constitute here the very essence of the composition, and not its garb. The Spanish themes, of dance character, furnished me with rich material for putting orchestral effects in use.”
 
The exciting orchestral showcase is in five uninterrupted sections, beginning with an Alborada (“Morning Song”) in a lively manner. Next is a set of variations, in which a horn fanfare theme is given various treatments. Next, the Alborada returns in different orchestral clothes, followed by a Gypsy song featuring a series of cadenzas for the violins. The final section is a Fandango, introduced by the trombones. The Alborada returns in the spectacular climax.
 
Program notes © 2011 by D.T. Baker, except as noted.

Artist Info

Robert Bernhardt, conductor

robert bernhardtRobert Bernhardt served as Music Director and Conductor of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera for 19 seasons. He was the second Music Director in the combined company’s history, and is now the first with the title Emeritus. A lover of all genres of music, he is equally at home in symphonic, operatic, pops, and educational performances.  He also nears another milestone in his career with the Louisville Orchestra, with this year representing his 30th consecutive season with the LO, and his 15th as Principal Pops Conductor. This season, he will make his conducting debuts with the Dallas and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, return to the Cincinnati Pops and Detroit Symphony, and will conduct six Boston Pops concerts. His vast symphonic repertoire covers most of the standard canon and his commitment to the music of our time is significant. He has been a frequent guest conductor with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, and the Boston Pops. He has also been a guest with the Houston, Seattle, Phoenix, Nashville, Colorado, Iceland, and Pacific Symphony Orchestras, among others. He has recorded for Vanguard, First Edition, Carlton Classics, and RPO record labels. He has also conducted the Louisville Ballet, the North Carolina Ballet, the Jacksonville Ballet, and the Lonestar Ballet.
 
Born in Rochester, NY, Robert Bernhardt holds a Master's Degree with Honours from the University of Southern California School of Music where he studied with Daniel Lewis. He was a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of Union (NY) College, where he was an Academic All-American baseball player. His son, Alex, lives and works in Seattle with his wife and new daughter, and his daughter, Charlotte, is a resident of New York City. He and his wife, Nora, live on Signal Mountain.
 
Robert Bernhardt holds a special place in the hearts of Edmonton Symphony Orchestra musicians and audiences. This year’s Symphony Under the Sky marked his sixth consecutive as the festival’s conductor, and he frequently leads the ESO in subscription series performances at the Winspear Centre. He last conducted the ESO in December 2010, and returns to lead A Merry Pops Christmas on December 2 & 3.

Canadian Guitar Quartet

On December 8, 2007, the Canadian Guitar Quartet made one of the greatest New York City debuts of any artistic ensemble in decades at the 92nd Street Y. "Fantastic, spirited playing and sheer inventiveness,” said Julia Crowe in her New York column for England’s Classical Guitar Magazine. The CGQ has toured extensively in Europe, North and South America, establishing a reputation as one of the finest guitar ensembles in the world. Portrait I, the CGQ's debut CD, is "quite impressive. Their tight ensemble and group virtuosity make them competitive with the best quartets." (American Record Guide) In 2005, the ensemble's second CD, Les Scènes de Quartiers, was named instrumental album of the year by the Association des Professionels de la Chanson et de la Musique and awarded le Prix Trille Or . The quartet’s third CD, Orchestral Works for Guitar Quartet, was released in 2010.
 
The CGQ has often been featured on English and French national CBC networks, internationally on Radio-Canada, and on national broadcasts in Chile, Austria, and on web casts by Classical Guitar Alive and Northwestern University from the United States. In Canada, they have appeared at venues such as the National Art Gallery, the Palais Montcalme series, the CBC Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Parry Sound’s Festival of the Sound, Festival Vancouver, and the Hornby Island Music Festival. Internationally, the CGQ has performed in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Chile, Germany, and has headlined Yale University's Guitar Extravaganza, Chile’s Entre Cuerdas and Liliana Perez Corey festivals, Yale´s Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and the Guitar Foundation of America Festival. The quartet is in residence at the University of Ottawa. They have also been featured on a national Bravo! TV special. Les Productions d’Oz publishes the special CGQ Collection, distributing world-wide CGQ original music and transcriptions.
 
This is the ensemble’s debut with the ESO.

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