OPENING NIGHT: LIFE OF PI

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CONCERT PROGRAM

Peter OundjianMusic Director

Calixa Lavallée/arr. John Fenwick“O Canada”

Derek CharkeÉlan: Sesquie for Canada’s 150th (TSO PREMIÈRE/TSO CO-COMMISSION)

Ernest Chausson Poème for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 25

Camille Saint-SaënsIntroduction and Rondo Capriccioso for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 28

IntermissionIn the North Lobby, join Tom Allen in conversation with Academy Award–winning composer Mychael Danna and Academy Award–winning director Ang Lee as they discuss their creative collaboration on the film Life of Pi.

Igor Stravinsky Suite from The Firebird (1919 revision)I. Introduction and Dance of the FirebirdII. Dance of the PrincessesIII. Infernal Dance of King KastcheiIV. BerceuseV. Finale

Mychael Danna Suite from Life of Pi (WORLD PREMIÈRE/TSO COMMISSION)

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

7:00pm

Peter Oundjianconductor

James Ehnesviolin

Bombay Jayashrivocalist

V. Selvaganeshpercussion

Welcome! Tonight, we begin another season of joyous music making. The program begins, as many of our programs in Canada’s sesquicentennial year do, with a fanfare commissioned as part of our celebration of the country’s 150th birthday. The Canadian superstar James Ehnes takes the stage for two rich and appealing French works. Chausson’s Poème is by far his most celebrated work—deeply romantic, a distinctive mix of Gallic charm and sultry Wagnerian harmony. Saint-Saëns’s entertaining Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso is gleefully tuneful and rhythmically exciting. Stravinsky’s Firebird was his first masterwork—in it, he already displays the dazzling colours that characterize all of his orchestral music. And to close the program, I am thrilled that another internationally renowned Canadian, composer Mychael Danna, has created a suite from his Oscar-winning score for the movie Life of Pi, featuring the astonishing talents of Bombay Jayashri and V. Selvaganesh. What a magnificent way to begin another great year!

Please note that this Canada Mosaic performance is being recorded for online release at TSO.CA/CanadaMosaic.

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THE DETAILS

Élan is a short energetic fanfare composed in

a post-minimalist style. The term “élan” means

“with a vigorous spirit or enthusiasm”, and

originates from the French, meaning “to rush”

and “to launch”. Keeping in character, the work

essentially launches us into a fast rush to the

finish line.

Program note by the composer

Élan: Sesquie for Canada’s 150th by Derek Charke is a TSO Co-commission with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, which gave the World Première on May 13, 2017.

Derek CharkeÉlan: Sesquie for Canada’s 150th (TSO PREMIÈRE/TSO CO-COMMISSION)

Born: Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, Oct 2, 1974 Composed: 2017

2min

ABOUT THE COMPOSERDerek Charke is a

JUNO and three-time

East Coast Music

Association Award–

winning composer

and flutist. He has

been commissioned

by an impressive list of

performers and organizations, including the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Winnipeg

Symphony Orchestra, the Kronos Quartet,

and the St. Lawrence String Quartet.

Derek is a professor of composition at

Acadia University, co-directs the Acadia

New Music Society, and continues to

perform regularly on the flute. Although

his music tends to defy categorization, it

has been described as post-modern and

post-minimal, inventive, richly textured,

full of colour, and imbued with drama and

rhythmic vitality. Recent works include Drift

for the piano duo Duo Turgeon, a work that

muses on lake-effect snow and an abstract

concept of drift. Tangled in Plastic Currents,

commissioned for cellist Jeffrey Zeigler, deals

with the plastic clogging our oceans. Earth

Airs, his second symphony, muses on the

infinite nature of air. After Chaos, the Earth

and Love came into being, commissioned by

Harvey and Louise Glatt, takes its inspiration

from Plato and Hesiod and their philosophies

on the creation of the universe.

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Ernest Chausson’s catalogue is regrettably small,

due to several factors: he came late to music,

after first following his family’s wishes and

studying law; he composed slowly and carefully;

and he died in a bicycling accident at 44.

After deciding that composition was his true

calling, he entered the Paris Conservatoire at

25. He evolved a highly personal style that was

shaped by the emotional, mystical approach

shared by the hugely influential German

operatic composer Richard Wagner, and by

Chausson’s teacher, César Franck, as well as the

impressionist style of his friend, Claude Debussy.

The result of this combination was bittersweet,

refined music, concerned above all with beauty.

Chausson developed a close relationship

with the celebrated Belgian violinist, Eugène

Ysaÿe. Ysaÿe offered a commission for a work

with orchestral accompaniment. “I can’t see

my way to thinking of a concerto, which is a

huge undertaking, devilishly difficult and tricky

to write,” Chausson replied. “But...a single

movement for violin and orchestra, that would

be much more likely. It would be very free in

form, with many passages where the violin

would play alone.”

He composed the requested piece with what

was for him unusual speed, between April and

June 1896. At first he gave it the title Poème

symphonique (Symphonic Poem), subtitled “The

Song of Triumphant Love”. This implies that, at

least for a time and to some degree, he related

it to a short story of that name by one of his

favourite authors, the Russian Ivan Turgenev.

Chausson eventually shortened the name to

simply Poème. It proved to be his final work

involving the orchestra. The public première was

given in Nancy, France, on December 27, with

Ysaÿe as soloist.

As the title suggests, Poème is a lyrical work,

but it also contains its share of passion. In

it, Chausson abandoned all the emotional

inhibitions of his earlier music. Yet “there is no

description,” he explained, “no story, nothing

but sensation.” The solo violin emerges out of

the dark, misty orchestral opening, playing in an

intimate, free-flowing manner. The emotional

temperature rises soon afterwards, leading to an

outburst and a quickening in tempo. Across this

extended principal section, the violin offers wave

after wave of amorous expression, supported by

lush orchestration. Once the climax has at last

been attained, the music gradually winds down

to a wistful conclusion.

Program note by Don Anderson

Ernest ChaussonPoème for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 25

Born: Paris, France, Jan 20, 1855Died: Limay, France, Jun 10, 1899Composed: 1896

16min

Eugène Ysaÿe (1858–1931)

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THE DETAILS

Camille Saint-Saëns was a remarkable child

prodigy, making his public performance début

at age 10. His musical skills developed so quickly

that composer Hector Berlioz said of him, “He

knows everything, but lacks inexperience.”

Music was only the foremost of his many

interests. He also developed a working

knowledge of several sciences, saw his plays

produced on the stage, and wrote newspaper

articles on many different topics, while

somehow finding time to travel extensively. He

also led a full musical life. It included conducting

orchestras, giving recitals on both the piano and

the organ, preparing new editions of music by

earlier composers, and composing nearly 300

works, large and small. His music came easily to

him. “I produce music as an apple tree produces

apples,” he said.

In addition to 10 full-length concertos, he

composed brief works for solo instruments

and orchestra that showcase the skills of their

soloists on a more compact time scale. These

attractive works include Romances for flute,

violin, and horn; Wedding Cake, Africa, and

Rhapsodie d’Auvergne for piano; Cypresses and

Laurels for organ; Andalusian Caprice for violin;

The Muse and the Poet for violin and cello; and

Odelette for flute.

The dazzling showstopper Introduction and

Rondo Capriccioso is another of these miniature

concertos. He composed it during a summer

holiday in the Pyrenees mountains, and tailored

it to a specific soloist: Pablo de Sarasate, the

Spanish violinist whose brilliant artistry and sunny

personality also inspired works by Max Bruch

(Scottish Fantasy), Henryk Wieniawski (Concerto

No. 2), Antonín Dvořák (Mazurek), and Edouard

Lalo (Symphonie espagnole), as well as Saint-

Saëns’s Concertos Nos. 1 and 3.

Resembling an operatic recitative and aria, the

Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso begins with

a haunting prelude in slow tempo. The recurring

theme of the fiery rondo is rather stern. The

episodes between its appearances embrace a

wide range of moods, from exuberance to a

seductive dance with guitar-like accompaniment

that pays homage to Sarasate’s Spanish heritage.

The piece concludes with a truly dazzling coda.

Program note by Don Anderson

Camille Saint-SaënsIntroduction and Rondo Capriccioso for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 28

Born: Paris, France, Oct 9, 1835Died: Algiers, Algeria, Dec 16, 1921Composed: 1863

9min

Etching of Camille Saint-Saëns (at the piano), Pablo de Sarasate (on the violin), and conductor Paul Taffanel performing at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, June 1896.

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Stravinsky composed the ballet score The

Firebird during his first creative period, when his

music displayed the influence of the colourful,

folk-based style favoured by his teacher, Nikolai

Rimsky-Korsakov. It came into being thanks to

the impresario Sergei Diaghilev. For the second

Parisian season of his celebrated company, Les

Ballets russes, Diaghilev envisioned a lavishly

mounted new dance production, its plot adapted

from Russian fairy tales.

When his first choice as composer, his former

music teacher Anatoly Lyadov, was judged too

slow to complete the score on time, Diaghilev

cast about for a replacement. Familiar with

Stravinsky through the orchestrations of

Chopin’s piano music that he had contributed to

Diaghilev’s ballet Les sylphides, and impressed

with two of Stravinsky’s brief, original orchestral

pieces (Scherzo fantastique and Fireworks),

Diaghilev offered the 27-year-old composer a

tentative commission for The Firebird.

“I had already begun to think about The Firebird

when I returned to St. Petersburg from Ustilug in

the autumn of 1909,” Stravinsky wrote, “although

I was not yet certain of the commission (which

in fact did not come until December, more

than a month after I had begun to compose; I

remember the day Diaghilev telephoned me to

say to go ahead, and my telling him I already

had).” He completed the score in March 1910.

The première on June 25 achieved a glittering

triumph, launching him into the front rank of

contemporary composers.

Stravinsky arranged three concert suites from

the full score of The Firebird. The TSO will be

performing the second, which is by far the most

popular. It contains roughly half the music of

the complete score and follows the sequence of

the original scenario. With the help of a magic

firebird, the hero, Prince Ivan, rescues a group

of spellbound princesses from the clutches of

an evil magician, Kastcheï. Stravinsky’s music is

highly atmospheric, colourful, imaginative, and

melodious. It includes two Russian folk songs—

one a lyrical tune for the princesses, the other

the majestic hymn that closes the score. The

whirling, nightmarish Infernal Dance performed

by Kastcheï and his monstrous subjects is a tour

de force of orchestral brilliance.

Program note by Don Anderson

Igor StravinskySuite from The Firebird (1919 revision)

Born: Oranienbaum, Russia, Jun 17, 1882Died: New York City, New York, USA, Apr 6, 1971Composed: original ballet, 1910; this suite, 1919

19min

Tamara Karsavina (1885–1978) as The Firebird and dancer-choreographer Michel Fokine (1880–1942) as Prince Ivan in the 1910 première of Stravinsky’s ballet.

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THE DETAILS

Life of Pi takes place over three continents, two

oceans, many years, and a wide universe of

imagination. Director Ang Lee’s vision, coupled

with stunning 3D visuals, turned a Canadian

novel, long thought un-filmable, into a thrillingly

audacious mix of grand storytelling and powerful

and provocative themes.

Lee says: “Mychael Danna’s soundtrack for Life

of Pi is a gift, a beautiful score which plays an

integral part in the film. It takes us through the

movie, which is hard to grasp, in a beautiful

and gentle way, expressing the inexpressible

and giving form to emotion as only music can.

Innocence and spirituality are very important for

the music for Life of Pi, because it’s about one

boy’s paradise, his childhood, which is lost when

the freighter carrying his family and the family’s

zoo sinks in the middle of the Pacific. As Pi drifts

in the ocean, at the mercy of the elements with

only a large Bengal tiger for company, he comes

to know God directly, and grows into a man. It’s

not an easy task for the composer: the music

has to sound simple, innocent, and playful, but

also very effective in conveying the sometimes

terrifying grandeur and depth of the elements. In

the end, the film’s many strands, all the emotions

and concepts which make up the story that

is told, are brought together in the wonderful

music Mychael wrote for the film.”

Commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra with financial support from the Government of Canada for performance during the 150th anniversary of Confederation of Canada, September 2017.

Mychael DannaSuite from Life of Pi (WORLD PREMIÈRE/TSO COMMISSION)

Born: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Sep 20, 1958Composed: original film score, 2012; this suite, 201720

min

ABOUT THE COMPOSERMychael Danna is an

Academy Award–

winning film composer

recognized for his

evocative blending of

non-western traditions

with orchestral and

electronic music.

He composed the transculturally inspired

2013 Oscar- and Golden Globe–winning

score for Ang Lee’s Life of Pi. Danna also

composed scores for Lee’s Billy Lynn’s Long

Halftime Walk, The Ice Storm, and Ride With

the Devil. With his long-time collaborator

Atom Egoyan, Danna has scored films since

Egoyan’s 1987’s Family Viewing, winning the

Genie Award for their films Exotica, Felicia’s

Journey, Ararat, and The Sweet Hereafter.

A suite from Ararat was performed by the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2015.

Other noted credits include Oscar-winning

and Oscar-nominated films such as Deepa

Mehta’s Water, Moneyball and Capote with

director Bennett Miller, The Imaginarium

of Doctor Parnassus for Terry Gilliam,

Monsoon Wedding for Mira Nair, Little Miss

Sunshine, (500) Days of Summer, Being

Julia, Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur, and Girl,

Interrupted. “The most gratifying film-making

experiences are ones that take effort to

unpeel the layers surrounding the heart

of the story and to find the best musical

expression of that heart,” says Danna. “Those

are always the film scores I am most proud of.”

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Text and TranslationLife of Pi Text and Translation – “Pi’s Lullaby”Tamil text and English translation by Bombay Jayashri

Kanne, Kanmaniye,Kann urangaayo pooveMayilo, togai mayilo,Kuyilo, koovum kuyilo,Nilavo, nilavin oliyo,Imayo, imayin kanavo,Ra ra ro...

Malarin, malarin amudhoKaniye, then kaniyo suvayo

Darling, the apple of my eye,Sleep, my dear flowerMy dancing peacock,My chirping cuckoo,My moonlight,The dream of my eyes,Ra ra ro...

The nectar of the flowerThe essence of the fruit...

Sleep, my dear, sleep...

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THE ARTISTSPeter Oundjianconductor

A dynamic presence in the music world, Toronto-born

conductor Peter Oundjian is renowned for his probing

musicality, collaborative spirit, and engaging personality. Music

Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra since 2004,

Oundjian has invigorated the Orchestra with recordings, tours,

and innovative programming as well as extensive audience

growth, thereby significantly strengthening the ensemble’s presence in the world. A

champion of new music, he created the hugely successful New Creations Festival, now

in its 14th season of showcasing new Canadian and international orchestral music, as

well as the annual Mozart Festival, also now in its 14th season.

Since 2008, Oundjian and the TSO have released eight recordings under the self-

produced label tsoLIVE, and the JUNO-nominated recording of Rimsky-Korsakov’s

Sheherazade on Chandos. Highlights of the eight international tours on which he led

the TSO include two sold-out appearances at Carnegie Hall, the first performance of a

North American orchestra at Reykjavik’s Harpa Hall in 2014, and the Orchestra’s first-ever

performances in Israel, followed by a residency at the Prague Spring International Music

Festival in 2017.

James EhnesviolinJames Ehnes made his TSO début in February 1994.

Known for his virtuosity and probing musicianship, violinist

James Ehnes has performed in over 35 countries on five

continents. He is also the first violinist of the Ehnes Quartet

and the Artistic Director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society.

This season, James joins composer James Newton Howard

on his Three Decades of Music for Hollywood tour, appears in concert in North America,

Europe, Australia, Hong Kong, and Seoul, and tours with the Ehnes Quartet. James has

an extensive award-winning discography of over 40 recordings featuring music ranging

from J.S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi to John Adams and Aaron Jay Kernis. He is a Member

of the Order of Canada, an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in

London, and a Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada. James has also received honorary

doctorates from Brandon University and the University of British Columbia.

Born in Brandon, Manitoba, James began violin studies at age four, and subsequently

studied with Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin, Sally Thomas at Meadowmount

School of Music, and at The Juilliard School. James Ehnes plays the “Marsick”

Stradivarius of 1715.

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V. SelvaganeshpercussionThis performance marks V. Selvaganesh’s TSO début.

V. Selvaganesh was born in Chennai to legendary, GRAMMY®

Award–winning musician T.H. “Vikku” Vinayakram, a former

member of the original Shakti musical group. He had his initial

training at his grandfather Sri T.R. Harihara Sarma’s school (Sri

JGTV), and then under his uncle, Ghatam Vidwan Shri T.H.

Subashchandran, one of the leading musicians in the world of rhythm.

Thumping into the musical world at the tender age of 10, Selvaganesh has since been

mesmerizing audiences with his immaculate style and innate creativity. He came to

international attention through tours with John McLaughlin’s group, Remember Shakti,

with whom he recorded and released his début solo album, Souka, in 2006. He has

performed in numerous concerts and international music festivals in an eclectic range

of styles and genres, with such renowned musicians as Dr. L. Shankar, Zakir Hussain,

Swedish bass virtuoso Jonas Hellborg, and American guitarist Shawn Lane. Selvaganesh

has also contributed to several film soundtracks by Mychael Danna, including for Ang

Lee’s Life of Pi and Mira Nair’s Vanity Fair and Monsoon Wedding. His latest venture is

composing music for Indian films; his début music for the film Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu is

already a super hit.

Bombay JayashrivocalistThis performance marks Bombay Jayashri’s TSO début.

Bombay Jayashri Ramnath is a Chennai-based musician who

is trained in the Indian classical form. Jayashri was initiated

into Carnatic music by her mother and guru T.R. Balamani.

Under Sri Lalgudi G. Jayaraman’s sound and sensitive

mentorship, she discovered her own deep, personal, long-

lasting relationship with music. She has also formally learnt Hindustani music from

Mahavir Jaipurvale and Ajay Pohankar.

Along the course of her two-decades-long performance career, Jayashri has created

work and collaborated with a slew of artists from across genres, both in India and abroad.

A playback singer, Jayashri counts “Pi’s Lullaby”—in the Academy Award–winning film

Life of Pi—among her most special crossover experiences. Jayashri is also a teacher of

music. Recently, under the aegis of her foundation, the Hitham Trust, Jayashri and her

handful of students—talented, young women—have been working with special children

in Chennai and parts of Tamil Nadu, enabling them to discover the abundance of joy in

music, and unfurling music’s ability to touch and heal.