The final Accenture Masterworks Gold series concert of the season features French-Canadian pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin and takes place on Saturday & Monday, May 31st & June 2nd at the Orpheum Theatre. Maestro Bramwell Tovey conducts.
This concert is an Impressionist canvass. The fascinating exploration of the sounds of various exotic birdsong that is Messiaen’s Oiseaux exotiques (Exotic Birds) is utterly unique and entirely characteristic of Messiaen. The piece explores the sounds of over forty species of birds, but not in a literal manner; rather, the music is a sonic fantasy on the inspiration provided to Messiaen by the songs of those birds, telling a story rather than imitating the birds or painting a literal picture. Impressionism at its finest!
One of Messiaen’s great muses was Claude Debussy, that giant of the time who single-handedly provided much of the transition from the late-Romantic era to modernism. A lover of the arcane and mysterious, and a deep appreciator of visual art, his body of work speaks of impressionism and mystery, flavoured with an elusiveness uniquely his own. Similar to the Oiseaux exotiques, Debussy’s La Mer creates an emotional soundscape rather than telling a literal and detailed story. La Mer is like an Impressionistic sonic mosaic, rich in colour, motifs and evocation of feelings as opposed to direct description. Deeply felt and powerful music, Debussy’s La Mer is one of the greatest of Impressionistic works.
Montreal native Marc-Andre Hamelin is internationally renowned for his musical virtuosity and refined pianism. The 2008 JUNO Award Winner (for Classical Album of the Year: Solo or Chamber Ensemble) collaborates with the JUNO and GRAMMY winning VSO to perform the type of exotic and adventurous repertoire that has made him famous, including Messiaen’s Oiseaux exotiques and Mozart’s Rondo in D Major. -- www.vancouversymphony.ca
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