OSM / les concerts du mois d'octobre

October at the OSM

Great violinists at the OSM:

Joshua Bell, James Ehnes and Itzhak Perlman

5 to 8 is back

with Hubert Reeves and Andrˆ© Robitaille

Pianist Alain Lefˆ®vre in the land of the tsars (sold out)

Tribute to musical creativity

and

Symphonic Matinees: two OSM musicians in the spotlight

Montreal, September 24, 2008: The programming for the month of October at the OSM will appeal to a huge audience. On October 1, the last chance to hear remarkable violinist and Grammy Award’Äìwinner Joshua Bell perform The Red Violin Concerto written by John Corigliano. An American composer, Corigliano won an Oscar in 1999 for the soundtrack to the film The Red Violin. The concerto, conducted here by Jacques Lacombe, is an expansion of the soundtrack and incorporates some of the more memorable themes of the original score. At intermission, Joshua Bell will be in one of the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier lobbies for a record-signing session.

The popular series 5 to 8 at the OSM opens on October 7 when astrophysicist and scientific popularizer Hubert Reeves shares his musical selections with the audience. Hosted by actor Andrˆ© Robitaille and led by OSM conductor in residence Jean-Franˆßois Rivest, the 5 to 8's at the OSM are a pleasant way to wind up the day in music.

As part of the Air Canada Classical Escapes series, well-known pianist Alain Lefˆ®vre will perform Rachmaninov's celebrated Second Concerto at a concert on October 14 conducted by Jean-Franˆßois Rivest and devoted entirely to masterpieces of Russian music. In addition to Rachmaninov, the program features Prokofiev, Borodin and Stravinsky.

Canadian violinist and Grammy winner James Ehnes revisits the OSM and conductor in residence Jean-Franˆßois Rivest on October 5 with one of the most beloved works in the violin repertoire, the Sibelius Concerto. On October 29, the OSM presents Tribute to musical creativity. Conductors Walter Boudreau and Susanna Mˆ§lkki will lead the Orchestra and violinist Chantal Juillet in a program bringing together works by five composers of our time: Paul Frehner, Andrˆ© Prˆ©vost, Gyˆrgy Ligeti, Steve Reich and Claude Vivier.

On October 21 and 22, violinist and conductor Itzhak Perlman will perform and conduct Johann Sebastian Bach's Violin Concerto BWV 1042. He will also conduct Mozart's "Haffner"Symphony as well as Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5. Finally, on October 15, the audience will get to hear OSM concertmaster Richard Roberts and principal oboe Theodore Baskin in a concerto Bach wrote for the two instruments, among other works. Also on the program, Dvo‰ôˆ°k's Symphony No. 5.

Information and reservations: 514-842-9951 or www.osm.ca

THE OCTOBER CONCERTS:

October 1 at 8 p.m. (Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier) Grand Concerts: Joshua Bell and The Red Violin. Jacques Lacombe, conductor; Joshua Bell, violinist. At 7 p.m.: pre-concert discussion: Kelly Rice welcomes Ramon Humet.

October 5 at 2:30 p.m. (Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier) Musical Sundays: James Ehnes and the Sibelius Concerto. Jean-Franˆßois Rivest, conductor; James Ehnes, violinist. At 1:30 p.m.: pre-concert discussion: Kelly Rice welcomes Joseph Zuskin, Gilles Moisan and Olivier Thouin.

October 7 at 7 p.m. (Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier) 5 to 8 at the OSM: Hubert Reeves' choices. Jean-Franˆßois Rivest, conductor. At 5:30 p.m.: cocktail reception (Piano Nobile).

October 14 at 8 p.m. (Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier) Air Canada Classical Escapes: From the Land of the Tsars. Jean-Franˆßois Rivest, conductor; Alain Lefˆ®vre, pianist. At 7 p.m.: recital by a young pianist (Piano Nobile).

October 15 at 10:30 a.m. (Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier) Symphonic Matinees: OSM Stars in the Spotlight. Charles Olivieri-Munroe, conductor; Richard Roberts, violinist; Theodore Baskin, oboist.

October 21 and 22 at 8 p.m. (Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier) Grand Concerts: Perlman Plays and Conducts. Itzhak Perlman, conductor and violinist.

October 29 at 8 p.m. (Thˆ©ˆ¢tre Maisonneuve) Non-series concert: Tribute to musical creativity. Walter Boudreau and Susanna Mˆ§lkki, conductors; Chantal Juillet, violinist.

Information on the month's concerts:

Grand Concerts:

Joshua Bell and The Red Violin

Violinist Joshua Bell, winner of a Grammy Award and the coveted Avery Fisher Prize, hailed by critics and acclaimed by the public, revisits the OSM in The Red Violin Concerto by John Corigliano. The work, in four movements, dedicated to the memory of the composer's father, concertmaster with the New York Philharmonic for nearly a quarter-century, is an extension of the soundtrack to the movie The Red Violin, which won an Oscar for best original score in 1999. The composer first extracted a Chaconne, a concert piece performed on disc by Joshua Bell, but wanted to expand it into an impassioned, romantic violin concerto. The work was premiered and recorded by Joshua Bell last year with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and is being presented in Montreal for the first time.

Jacques Lacombe, principal guest conductor at the OSM from 2002 to 2006, whose career was rewarded in 2005 with the Prix Opus for his reputation abroad, also revisits the Orchestra's musicians in Bartˆ„k's Concerto for Orchestra, one of the most remarkable orchestral works of the 20th century.

Opening the program, Ramon Humet, winner of the Olivier Messiaen Prize at the first edition of the OSM International Composition Prize, offers a premiere, Escenas de viento.

There will be a pre-concert discussion at 7 p.m.: Kelly Rice, producer-coordinator and host on CBC Radio Two, will welcome Ramon Humet, composer.

Grand Concerts

September 30 and October 1 at 7 p.m.: pre-concert discussion

September 30 and October 1 at 8 p.m.: concert

Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts

Jacques Lacombe, conductor

Joshua Bell, violinist

Ramon Humet Escenas de viento, world premiere, OSM commission

John Corigliano The Red Violin Concerto

Bˆ©la Bartˆ„k Concerto for Orchestra

Tickets from $24.75

Information and reservations: 514-842-9951 or www.osm.ca

Musical Sundays:

James Ehnes and the Sibelius Concerto

Violinist James Ehnes, winner of a Grammy Award in 2008, returns to the OSM and conductor in residence Jean-Franˆßois Rivest in the Sibelius Concerto, one of the most magnificent and most difficult for the instrument, with its many virtuoso passages. The concerto is bookended by works by Shostakovich: a short piano piece orchestrated by Joseph Zuskin and an imposing symphony, the Eighth, which evokes the tragedy and horrors of war, and which aspires to a tranquil peace. In its depth, its expressive intensity, its wealth of feeling and its epic properties, the work is one of the most personal and powerful the composer created, and one of his best loved.

At 1:30 p.m. there will be a pre-concert discussion: Kelly Rice, producer-coordinator and host on CBC Radio Two, will welcome Joseph Zuskin, orchestrator, Gilles Moisan, clarinettist and saxophonist and Olivier Thouin, OSM associate concertmaster.

Musical Sundays

October 5 at 1:30 p.m.: pre-concert discussion

October 5 at 2:30 p.m.: concert

Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts

Jean-Franˆßois Rivest, conductor

James Ehnes, violinist

Dmitri Shostakovich Prelude and Fugue, Opus 87, No. 24 (orch. Zuskin)

Jean Sibelius Violin Concerto

Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No. 8

Tickets from $24.75

Information and reservations: 514-842-9951 or www.osm.ca

5 to 8 at the OSM:

Hubert Reeves' choices

Special moments of after-work relaxation, 5 to 8 at the OSM, hosted by actor and veteran host Andrˆ© Robitaille, is an original way to end the day. Musical discovery joined to pleasures of the palate, this one-hour concert conducted by Jean-Franˆßois Rivest, the OSM's conductor in residence, will lead the audience into the rich universe of the inspiring astrophysicist and scientific popularizer Hubert Reeves. In addition, audience members can mix with other music fans when, starting at 5:30 p.m., tidbits and fine wines are served in the Piano Nobile starting at 5:30 p.m.

5 to 8 at the OSM

October 7 at 5:30 p.m.: cocktail reception at Piano Nobile

October 7 at 7 p.m.: concert at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts

Jean-Franˆßois Rivest, conductor

ˆârik Satie Gymnopˆ©die No. 1

Gilles Tremblay Vers le soleil, excerpt

Felix Mendelssohn Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream

Jean Sibelius The Swan of Tuonela

Arnold Schoenberg Transfigured Night, excerpt

Maurice Ravel Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloˆ©

Tickets from $38.50

Information and reservations: 514-842-9951 or www.osm.ca

Air Canada Classical Escapes:

Pianist Alain Lefˆ®vre in the land of the tsars

Alain Lefˆ®vre, a standard bearer of the romantic repertoire, will be performing Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto, certainly the most renowned concerto of the 20th century, a tormented, passionate and particularly lyrical work. The program also includes Borodin's captivating Polovtsian Dances, the suite from Stravinsky's magnificent ballet The Firebird, excerpts from Prokofiev's opera War and Peace and the grand-scale 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky, everything under the direction of OSM conductor in residence Jean-Franˆßois Rivest.

At 7 p.m. there will be a recital at the Piano Nobile by a young pianist.

Air Canada Classical Escapes

October 14 at 8 p.m.

Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts

Jean-Franˆßois Rivest, conductor

Alain Lefˆ®vre, pianist

Sergei Prokofiev Overture from War and Peace

Sergei Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2

Alexander Borodin Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor

Igor Stravinsky Firebird Suite (1919)

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture

Tickets from $24.75

Information and reservations: 514-842-9951 or www.osm.ca

Symphonic Matinees:

OSM Stars in the Spotlight

Two of the first chairs of the OSM, concertmaster Richard Roberts and principal oboe Theodore Baskin, are soloists for a program focusing on concerto works. Richard Roberts will first perform a jewel of Mozart's before yielding to Theodore Baskin in a concerto by Bellini, both works of great elegance and lyricism. The two musicians will then share the stage in the Bach Concerto BWV 1060, a work of great polyphonic richness and emotional range. Dvo‰ôˆ°k's intense Symphony No. 5 will conclude the program.

Symphonic Matinees

October 15 at 10:30 a.m.

Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts

Charles Olivieri-Munroe, conductor

Richard Roberts, OSM concertmaster

Theodore Baskin, OSM principal oboe

Johann Sebastian Bach Concerto for Violin and Oboe, BWV 1060

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Adagio for Violin, K. 261

Vincenzo Bellini Oboe Concerto in E-flat major

Antonˆ‚n Dvo‰ôˆ°k Symphony No. 5

Tickets from $24.75

Information and reservations: 514-842-9951 or www.osm.ca

Grand Concerts:

Perlman plays and conducts Bach, Mozart and Prokofiev

One of the true stars of the violin, Itzhak Perlman is one of those exceptional artists who touch the hearts of audiences around the world, through his remarkable technique but above all thanks to the profundity with which he conveys the subtleties of the repertoire. Here he will be both soloist and conductor in a program consisting of Bach's Violin Concerto BWV 1042 ’Äì a work in which the writing and the architecture are subtle and contained ’Äì Mozart's "Haffner" Symphony and Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5, a work of powerful epic spirit.

Grand Concerts

October 21 and 22 at 8 p.m.

Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts

Itzhak Perlman, conductor and violinist

Johann Sebastian Bach Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Symphony No. 35, K. 385, "Haffner"

Sergei Prokofiev Symphony No. 5

Tickets from $24.75

Information and reservations: 514-842-9951 or www.osm.ca

Non-series concerts:

Tribute to musical creativity

Since the very first years of the OSM's existence, steady attention has been brought to bear on the creation of new works. A number of these have over the years become the classics of today. This concert, to begin with, will mark the 10th anniversary of the premiere of the Violin Concerto by Andrˆ© Prˆ©vost, performed by its dedicatee (and the violinist who premiered it), Chantal Juillet. Orion by Claude Vivier, a composer the 60th anniversary of whose birth and 25th anniversary of whose death are being noted in 2008, was commissioned and premiered by Charles Dutoit and the OSM in 1980. The American Steve Reich, meanwhile, is represented by his City Life. We will also hear Lontano by Gyˆrgy Ligeti, as well as Lila by Canada's Paul Frehner, a work that won its author the Claude-Vivier National prize at the OSM's International Composition Prize in 2007. Walter Boudreau, artistic director of the SMCQ, and Susanna Mˆ§lkki, music director of the prestigious Ensemble Intercontemporain de Paris, share this unique and bold program, which eloquently demonstrates the vitality of contemporary creativity.

Non-series concerts

October 29 at 8 p.m.

Thˆ©ˆ¢tre Maisonneuve, Place des Arts

Walter Boudreau, conductor

Susanna Mˆ§lkki, conductor

Chantal Juillet, violinist

Paul Frehner Lila

Andrˆ© Prˆ©vost Violin Concerto

Gyˆrgy Ligeti Lontano

Steve Reich City Life

Claude Vivier Orion

Tickets from $24.75

Information and reservations: 514-842-9951 or www.osm.ca

The Orchestre symphonique de Montrˆ©al is presented by Hydro-Quˆ©bec

in association with National Bank