Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Ligeti: Lontano. Wagner: Prelude to Act 1 of Parsifal. Samy Moussa: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra “Yericho” (Jörgen van Rijen, soloist). Strauss: Don Quixote (Joseph Johnson, cello; Rémi Pelletier, viola). Gustavo Gimeno, conductor. Roy Thomson Corridor on April 3, 2024. Repeats April 6 at 8 p.m. tickets right here.
Gustavo Gimeno has made new works a precedence for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with inconsistent returns on the field workplace. Roy Thomson Corridor was not full Wednesday for the North American premiere of Samy Moussa’s Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra however the applause was strong and sustained.
Subtitled “Yericho,” the 25-minute work references Jericho with seven brass devices (solo trombone, plus 4 horns and two trumpets) that correspond to the shofars (ram horns) that introduced the partitions tumbling down. Although not with out its passages of calm, the rating was considerably in forte-to-fortissimo mode and equal to the implications of the Biblical story.
The bizarre Italian indication connected to the primary of seven actions was inesorabile, inexorable. Sawing violas obtained issues began in an enormous manner. Different devices grew to become concerned, together with, after all, the trombone. A lot elaborate articulation and fast tonguing was required. Jörgen van Rijen, principal trombone of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, was definitely as much as the job. However he spoke much less usually alone, as a conventional soloist, than in a spirit of what is perhaps referred to as aggressive cooperation with the orchestra. This was not a call-and-response concerto.
As in different Moussa works, the harmonic language was tonal however severe and distinctive. Rising scalar patterns steered turning into moderately than arrival. The palette included a distinguished (and, arguably, sacred) half for the organ, making amends for the lacking woodwinds. Jonathan Oldengarm was the uncredited participant.
There was additionally a quick passage for solo double bass (Jeffrey Beecher). These and different innovations labored nicely. If I had a reservation regarding this considerate rating, it involved the relative scarcity of top-line motivic materials. Nonetheless, that is music I need to hear once more. The TSO and the Orchestre nationwide de Lyon have been the co-commissioners.
Starting this system was György Ligeti’s Lontano, an enchanting and largely quiet train in condensed polyphony and slowly shifting densities. The efficiency was appropriately supple and hypnotic.
Then got here Wagner’s Prelude to Act 1 of Parsifal (performed and not using a break, as was one other Ligeti-Wagner diptych, of Atmosphères and the Prelude to Act 1 of Lohengrin, in 2022). The Parsifal music is definitely a slow-motion basic, however it has heroic parts that this static presentation largely disregarded.
The large work after intermission was Don Quixote, Richard Strauss’s vibrant rendering of the Cervantes novel. Principal cello Joseph Johnson, a soft-spoken exponent of the title position, naturally was given precedence seating, however there have been many different soloists, together with affiliate principal viola Rémi Pelletier, a vivid Sancho Panza, and principal oboe Sarah Jeffrey, candy as Dulcinea (or a minimum of the knight-errant’s idealized notion of Dulcinea).
Gimeno saved issues clear but additionally playful. What enjoyable to listen to so many gamers bringing a flock of sheep to life. One other entertaining spotlight was the wind machine, the very artifice of which so properly captures the unreality of Don Quixote’s imaginary trip by the air. The TSO was in easygoing virtuoso type, if such a factor is feasible. There’s a repeat efficiency Saturday night.
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Arthur Kaptainis was classical music critic of the Montreal Gazette from 1986 to 2022 and wrote for the Nationwide Submit from 2010 to 2016. His articles seem in Classical Voice North America and Gramophone in addition to Ludwig Van. Arthur holds an MA in musicology from the College of Toronto. He’s president of the Music Critics Affiliation of North America.