As part of their complete Brahms symphonic cycle “Brahms and the art of film”, Maestro Kent Nagano leads the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal in a program of the Second Symphony, Richard Strauss’s Burlesque, and contemporary Canadian composer Jordan Pal’s Iris, which is paired with the new silent short film Vogue la rivière by Mathias Arroyo-Bégin (Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema). Rudolf Buchbinder joins them for this fascinating program.
Once Brahms had freed himself of his fear of the symphonic genre, it seems that nothing could stop him! Composed in a just year, the Second Symphony is irresistible from its opening bars: drawing on the Brahms’s more classical side, its success would easily surpass that of his First Symphony. Showing a strong Brahmsian influence, Strauss’s whimsical Burleske for piano and orchestra was composed when the composer was only 21 years old, and is marked by his early genius. One of most promising Canadian composers of his generation, Toronto Symphony Orchestra composer-in-residence Jordan Pal’s work has been celebrated for being “shimmering and welcoming, trembling with life and intelligence.” (Radio-Canada).
Vogue la rivière, a short movie by Mathias Arroyo-Bégin
With the support of Concordia Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema
Photo: Kent Nagano © Antoine Saito
