Ottawa Symphony’s East! Series
For more than 30 years the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra has performed most of its concerts in the National Arts Centre’s Southam Hall. This season two of its five concerts, including the opener on October 2, will be given at the Shenkman Arts Centre in the eastern suburb or Orleans. In another departure, the opening concert is an all-Mozart celebration. It opens with the overture to The Marriage of Figaro and concludes with the Jupiter Symphony. In between are one of Mozart’s horn concertos and five operatic arias and ensembles. The soloists are all advanced students of the Music Department of the University of Ottawa. www.ottawasymphony.com
National Arts Centre – Ideas of North Festival
From October 3–14 The National Arts Centre presents almost 20 concerts and events with a northern theme. Four of the concerts are of special interest. Sibelius’ First Symphony, his final masterpiece Tapiola, and a new concerto for three violins by Alexina Louie, all conducted by Music Director Alexander Shelley, launch the series on October 3. Two nights later Finnish conductor Hannu Lintu leads a program of two more Sibelius works, the Second Symphony and The Océanides, along with the world premiere of Matthew Whittall’s Nameless Seas. This features pianist Angela Hewitt, for whom it was written. Four of Sibelius’s miscellaneous orchestral works, Pohjola’s Daughter, Luonnotar, The Bard and Lemminkäinen Legends are conducted by John Storgårds on October 11. Finally, the Ideas of North Grande Finale on October 14 features Storgårds, this time as the violin soloist in Graal Theatre by the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. The Fifth and Seventh Symphonies of Sibelius are also on the program, under Shelley’s baton. www.nac-cna.ca
Lapland Chamber Orchestra
Another noteworthy concert in the Ideas of North Festival will be given by the Lapland Chamber Orchestra. This is the European Union’s most northerly, fully professional orchestra, here on its first trip to North America. On October 12 the orchestra will present works by Elgar, Debussy, Sibelius, and Kalevi Aho, all under the direction of conductor and violinist John Storgårds. They will also perform in the Almonte in Concert series on the afternoon of October 15. www.nac-cna.com, www.almonteinconcert.com
Metamorphoses – Thirteen Strings
On the afternoon of October 15, at the Dominion-Chalmers United Church, the Thirteen Strings present their concert “Metamorphoses”. Conductor Kevin Mallon leads the orchestra in a new work, The Talk of the Town by Andrew Ager. Works by Lully and Rameau — assisted by the Junior Thirteen Strings — and Richard Strauss’s Metamorphosen complete the program. www.thirteenstrings.ca
András Schiff
Chamberfest’s autumn-winter season begins on the evening of October 23 at the Dominion-Chalmers church. Hungarian-born pianist András Schiff offers Mendelssohn’s Sonate écossaise, Op. 28, Beethoven’s Sonata no. 24 in F-sharp major, several pieces by Brahms, and Bach’s English Suite no. 6 in D minor. www.chamberfest.com
