Following a triumphant Mozart Requiem, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra goes from power to power with a program of Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Kulesha. It had its first of two performances final night. For a lot of within the viewers, the principle attraction was the TSO debut of star British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason.
To most people, Kanneh-Mason is probably going remembered for his efficiency on the wedding ceremony of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018. On the tender age of 19, this high-profile engagement propelled him to widespread stardom, showing on speak reveals and the like.
Lest you assume he’s a flash within the pan, Kanneh-Mason is the “actual deal” musically. Earlier than his Royal gig, he gained a BBC competitors in 2016, has since toured internationally to nice success and made two acclaimed recordings for Decca. Undoubtedly, he’s a cellist of immense expertise, unusual musicality, and spectacular energy of communication. For extra, learn our interview with him right here.
This week, Toronto music lovers get to expertise his artistry firsthand in his TSO debut. It marks his return to Toronto after a memorable Koerner Corridor recital he gave with is sister, pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason final season. Final night, he was the soloist within the Elgar piece within the second half. Roy Thomson Corridor the fullest I’ve seen it for the reason that Pandemic, a gratifying sight.
However very first thing first. The live performance opened with TSO Conductor Emeritus Peter Oundjian within the beloved Vaughan Williams piece, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. Oundjian led the TS forces in a hushed and ethereal studying of the attractive rating for string orchestra. All of the principals actually shone of their temporary moments within the solar. I notably cherished the viola on this event, a stunning, if quiet opening of this system.
If the Vaughan Williams piece was considerably missing in theatricality, the Fourth Symphony by Canadian composer Gary Kulesha positive made up for it. Among the finest-known and revered of Canadian composers, Kulesha has had a longstanding affiliation with the TSO, the place he’s Composer Advisor. Two of his three earlier symphonies had been premiered proper right here.
As “new music” goes, the Fourth Symphony is tonal, extremely accessible, with a transparent musical construction, characteristically new music however very accessible even on first listening. I used to be grateful that it doesn’t have the wild edginess and head-scratching extramusical sounds that one typically encounters in new compositions today. I discovered myself fairly taken by it and sit up for listening to it once more.
After a brief intermission got here the centrepiece of the night, the Elgar Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85. Premiered in 1919 when the aftermath of WWI was nonetheless haunting England, the cello concerto is autumnal and unhappy, a piece that touches the center. It was additionally Elgar’s final nice composition. Personally talking, I grew up with the incomparable Jacqueline du Pre’s two variations, and I attempted to seek out as many different performances as I may. Along with the Dvorak cello concerto, these two are the desert-island cello items for me.
It all the time astounds me {that a} work as introspective and world-weary because the Elgar would appeal to so many younger musicians, the likes of du Pre and now Kanneh-Mason – it strikes me as one thing that may require an older artist, somebody with a lengthier lived expertise to do it justice. Properly, I suppose I’m unsuitable! I in all probability have listened to 2 dozen cellists taking part in this dwell and on recordings, and I admit age doesn’t appear to play a job.
Final night, from the primary word on, Kanneh-Mason’s taking part in of the opening Adagio transported the listener to a different realm, along with his mixture of the great thing about tone, heartfelt expressivity and technical brilliance. The languorous opening, with the gradual buildup to the primary orchestral tutti, adopted by the bravura show of the quick-silver pizzicato chords, it was an unbelievable pleasure to the ear. To be trustworthy, I felt a lump in my throat greater than as soon as.
Fortunately the viewers was exceptionally well-behaved, with solely a single lapse of undesirable applause, after the showy pizzicato ending of the primary motion. The British Peter Oundjian was in his component with the Elgar, and he led the TS forces with a positive hand, bringing out the inherent magnificence and poignancy of the rating in no unsure phrases. I, for one, am grateful that Maestro Oundjian remains to be a frequent visitor right here.
As anticipated, the viewers gave Kanneh-Mason an enormous reception on the finish. Sure, standing ovations in North America could also be reasonably overdone, however he completely deserved it. To everybody’s delight, after repeated bows, Kanneh-Mason gave an encore, a stunning, hymn-like melody, which later came upon was the Welsh folksong “Myfanwy.” The live performance had solely about an hour and a little bit of music, quick by any commonplace. Nevertheless it was very candy to my ears, and it’ll linger in my reminiscence.
The second and final efficiency is that this night, not-to-be-missed:
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Joseph So is Professor Emeritus at Trent College and Affiliate Editor of Opera Canada.He’s additionally a long-time contributor to La Scena Musicale and Opera (London, UK). His curiosity in music journalism focuses on voice, opera in addition to symphonic and piano repertoires. He seems recurrently as a panel member of the Large COC Podcast.He has co-edited a ebook, Opera in a Multicultural World: Coloniality, Tradition, Efficiency, printed by Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group).
