Explore the Symphony

Latest Episodes:

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky: Pulcinella Nov 29, 2016

Show notes

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century.

Pulcinella is a ballet by Igor Stravinsky based on an 18th-century play—Pulcinella is a character originating from Commedia dell'arte. The ballet premiered at the Paris Opera on 15 May 1920 under the baton of Ernest Ansermet. The dancer Léonide Massine created both the libretto and choreography, and Pablo Picasso designed the original costumes and sets. It was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev.

- Wikipedia

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphonies no. 5 & 6 Nov 18, 2016

Show notes

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer of the late-Romantic period, some of whose works are among the most popular music in the classical repertoire. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally, bolstered by his appearances as a guest conductor in Europe and the United States. Tchaikovsky was honored in 1884, by Emperor Alexander III, and awarded a lifetime pension.

The Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was composed between May and August 1888 and was first performed in St Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theatre on November 17 of that year with Tchaikovsky conducting.

The Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, Pathétique is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's final completed symphony, written between February and the end of August 1893. The composer entitled the work "The Passionate Symphony", employing a Russian word, Pateticheskaya, meaning "passionate" or "emotional", that was then mistranslated into French as pathetique, "evoking pity", yet the mistranslation survived subsequent productions in every country but Russia.

- Wikipedia

Wilhelm Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Jun 06, 2016

Show notes

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is primarily known for his operas. Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works. Initially establishing his reputation as a composer of works in the romantic vein of Weber and Meyerbeer, Wagner revolutionized opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk, by which he sought to synthesize the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama. - Wikipedia

Erich Wolfgang Korngold: The Man Who Changed Movie Scores Forever Apr 22, 2016

Show notes

"Treating each film as an 'opera without singing' (each character has his or her own leitmotif) Korngold created intensely romantic, richly melodic and contrapuntally intricate scores, the best of which are a cinematic paradigm for the tone poems of Richard Strauss and Franz Liszt. He intended that, when divorced from the moving image, these scores could stand alone in the concert hall. His style exerted a profound influence on modern film music."

— Brendan G. Carroll, Korngold, Erich Wolfgang, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

The Music of George Gershwin Nov 20, 2015

Show notes

By far the bulk of Gershwin’s output is devoted to songs – more than five hundred of them, most of which come from his more than four dozen works for the musical stage. Two of these stage works are operas – the short Blue Monday Blues and the full-length Porgy and Bess. Gershwin also wrote music for four films (Shall We Dance is the most famous), a few piano pieces and a handful of concert works: Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, Cuban Overture, Concerto in F, Second Rhapsody and Variations on “I Got Rhythm.”

Gershwin’s style is derived from the American soul and spirit. “Epitomizing the Jazz Age in every pore of his suave being,” writes critic Alex Ross, “Gershwin was the ultimate phenomenon in early-twentieth century American music, the man in whom all the discordant tendencies of the era achieved sweet harmony.” Many of Gershwin’s works are infused with jazz, and if he can be said to have made one single overriding accomplishment in his life, it was to create a bridge between jazz and the concert hall.

- Robert Markow

Episode 43: Mahler Symphony No. 4 Sep 29, 2015

Show notes

In the first of the 2015-16 season's "Explore the Symphony" podcasts, the NAC Orchestra's assistant principal double bass Marjolaine Fournier and one of Canada's foremost music journalists Jean-Jacques van Vlasselaer discuss Mahler's Symphony No. 4.

Episode 42: Anton Bruckner and his Ninth Symphony Jun 15, 2015

Show notes

Words like “epic” and “timeless” are regularly applied to Bruckner symphonies. They have a pace of their own. But let yourself get in synch with their pulse, and you’ll be richly rewarded. The Ninth inspires awe, as its sweeping score unfolds, rising—like spires of a grand cathedral—to God.

Episode 41: Maurice Ravel and his two Piano Concertos Mar 23, 2015

Show notes

Join Marjolaine Fournier and Jean-Jacques Van Vlasselaer for an intriguing look into Maurice Ravel's life and his two piano concertos.

Episode 40: Jean-Marie Beaudet, founding father of the NAC Orchestra Mar 13, 2015

Show notes

A conversation with Josée Beaudet, the author of Jean-Marie Beaudet, l'homme orchestre. Beaudet was the very first music director at the NAC - he founded the orchestra, secured its first conductor, concertmaster and new members, and then quietly disappeared.

Episode 39: Schumann and the Rhine Jan 19, 2015

Show notes

Marjolaine and Jean-Jacques reveal Schumann's relationship with the Rhine.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected