Dear friends of the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal,
After three very special years as music director of the OSM, has come the perspective and excitement of being a part of something in evolution, growing - something relevant and integrated with art, tradition and community. With this in mind, I feel the need to once more express a special gratitude to you. It is a wonderful gift you made me by allowing me to become a part of the OSM, Montreal and Quebec as Music Director,
and that you accompanied us with full confidence in all aspects of our programming.
The roots of the OSM repertoire are to be found in French music and culture. In the
2009-2010 season, we will further enlarge this repertoire so as to emphasize and take
into consideration the sources of the Viennese classics and their successors, and more
specifically the symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven.
The choice of Beethoven has to do with his universal spirit, his humanitarian preoccupations together with his compositional mastery. He alone created an orchestral culture that is unique, and which has not lost any of its interest, neither of its freshness or allure. Beethoven’s music is filled with the ideas of freedom, of self-determination for individuals and people, all the while remaining conscious of human suffering. That is why his music is so unique and so precious. The fact that we want to maintain these ideas alive requires from us that we become vectors of these ideals. This I consider the central motivation of our work and of our program.
After having for the last three seasons placed a light upon several of Beethoven’s orchestral works, we would like to offer the symphonic cycle of this great composer over a relatively short period of time. This will include a concert exploring the Prometheus myth - a theme which preoccupied Beethoven during his entire life - but our interpretation will focus on the more contemporary aspects of this work.
In parallel, we will also begin a special emphasis on the music of Claude Debussy. Some of his orchestral works will be presented during the coming season. Debussy's music is one of furtive moments, of volatility and evanescence. From an aesthetic and existential point of view, it represents the antithesis of Beethoven's but nevertheless shows the vastness of the musical and expressive range in which it unfolds.
The OSM will open the season with the "Grande Messe des Morts" of Hector Berlioz and finish it with Mahler's 9th Symphony and Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs. This is monumental music in combination with religious ritual, exploring the limits between life and death. The same thing can be said of Bach's St. Matthew Passion, and of the excerpts from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, which will be accompanied by arrangements of Japanese folksongs that go back to the darkest period in Japanese history.
The OSM will offer you, our fellow music lovers, a season featuring high profile soloists and guest conductors such as Michel Plasson, Ton Koopman, Karita Mattila, Bernhard Klee, Maxim Vengerov, Andrew Litton, Sir Andrew Davis, Serge Baudo, Lang Lang, Till Fellner, Vadim Repin, Christian Tetzlaff and many more. We equally look forward to the performances of Michael Schade, Marc-André Hamelin, James Ehnes, Alain Lefèvre, Suzie LeBlanc, Hélène Guilmette, Karina Gauvin, Alexandre Da Costa, Jean-François Rivest, Bella Davidovich, Christoph Prégardien, Mari Kodoma, two members of the Beaux Arts Trio and Branford Marsalis.
In this, we would like, the OSM musicians and I, to cordially invite you to our concerts. Come with your expectations and with your curiosity, your need to be entertained as well as with the hope of making new discoveries and experience unforgettable events. We, the musicians and I, will provide you with beautiful music for your enjoyment.
Yours sincerely,
The choice of Beethoven has to do with his universal spirit, his humanitarian preoccupations together with his compositional mastery. He alone created an orchestral culture that is unique, and which has not lost any of its interest, neither of its freshness or allure. Beethoven’s music is filled with the ideas of freedom, of self-determination for individuals and people, all the while remaining conscious of human suffering. That is why his music is so unique and so precious. The fact that we want to maintain these ideas alive requires from us that we become vectors of these ideals. This I consider the central motivation of our work and of our program.
After having for the last three seasons placed a light upon several of Beethoven’s orchestral works, we would like to offer the symphonic cycle of this great composer over a relatively short period of time. This will include a concert exploring the Prometheus myth - a theme which preoccupied Beethoven during his entire life - but our interpretation will focus on the more contemporary aspects of this work.
In parallel, we will also begin a special emphasis on the music of Claude Debussy. Some of his orchestral works will be presented during the coming season. Debussy's music is one of furtive moments, of volatility and evanescence. From an aesthetic and existential point of view, it represents the antithesis of Beethoven's but nevertheless shows the vastness of the musical and expressive range in which it unfolds.
The OSM will open the season with the "Grande Messe des Morts" of Hector Berlioz and finish it with Mahler's 9th Symphony and Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs. This is monumental music in combination with religious ritual, exploring the limits between life and death. The same thing can be said of Bach's St. Matthew Passion, and of the excerpts from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, which will be accompanied by arrangements of Japanese folksongs that go back to the darkest period in Japanese history.
The OSM will offer you, our fellow music lovers, a season featuring high profile soloists and guest conductors such as Michel Plasson, Ton Koopman, Karita Mattila, Bernhard Klee, Maxim Vengerov, Andrew Litton, Sir Andrew Davis, Serge Baudo, Lang Lang, Till Fellner, Vadim Repin, Christian Tetzlaff and many more. We equally look forward to the performances of Michael Schade, Marc-André Hamelin, James Ehnes, Alain Lefèvre, Suzie LeBlanc, Hélène Guilmette, Karina Gauvin, Alexandre Da Costa, Jean-François Rivest, Bella Davidovich, Christoph Prégardien, Mari Kodoma, two members of the Beaux Arts Trio and Branford Marsalis.
In this, we would like, the OSM musicians and I, to cordially invite you to our concerts. Come with your expectations and with your curiosity, your need to be entertained as well as with the hope of making new discoveries and experience unforgettable events. We, the musicians and I, will provide you with beautiful music for your enjoyment.
Yours sincerely,
Kent Nagano
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