OTTAWA , ON – Ottawa’s Salle Southam Hall was in full curiosity-mode on Wednesday night, with patrons anxious to meet the fresh-faced 35-year-old conductor Alexander Shelley in his new role as music director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra.
After decades under the baton of luminary conductor Pinchas Zukerman, the new face of the National Arts Centre Orchestra presented a somewhat weighty program, focusing on works demanding concentration and deep reflection. The concert, titled “The Echos of Childhood”, included geographical trifectas dear to Shelley’s heart: England (Elgar), Germany (Mahler), and an ode to his new home in Canada by composer Zosha Di Castri.
“Dear Life” served as the centrepiece of the evening, recounting narratives surrounding the process of outliving one’s past by recalling it from the future. The stark impressions included stories of men abandoning women at the most vulnerable moments of life.
The highlight was the stage design by Director Donna Feore, which included long flowing strands of threads that hung like giant Venetian blinds across the orchestra. Colourless photographs by Magnum’s Larry Towell cast against the gently flowing white scrim evoked a seemingly three-dimensional space that fluttered alongside the sounds of Di Castri’s score.
In-and-out of the Munro’s short story memories, the emotional ground was laid for the 25-minute piece retrospective. The orchestration evoked the sounds of southern Ontario, including rain, wind, snow and Canadian geese. Tempering the dissonance, and supporting Munro’s pre-recorded text narrated by Martha Henry, the balance was kept in check with Soprano Erin Wall, who sang with lungs like a pair of crazed bellows.
Elgar’s middle period took on his reflection with a reworking of music written in his youth, as “The Wand of Youth” suites. The NACO cast them in an almost dainty, precious light. Conducting from memory, Shelley seemed to relish the lusher moments. He took the tempi show, as if not to waste a drop of sound.
Closing the night was Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, a 50-minute score that incorporates a German song “Das himmlische Leben” in the final fourth movement. Getting there seemed to be a too much of a burden for some who opted to leave mid-performance. Those who stayed were rewarded with a beautiful take on the symphonic coming of age story on the tableaus of childhood.
In terms of the program, “Dear Life” was a surprising and unique choice for Shelley’s premiere. A message was delivered: a sensibility that evokes more than romantically-inclined esthetics or athletic virtuosity on the horizon. Plans that by the looks of the season will include more than the jukebox “hits” from the classical repertoire.
Last night was a symbolic toast for a young conductor with his hand firmly on the musical tiller of Canada’s NACO.
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- THE SCOOP | Royal Conservatory’s Dr. Peter Simon Awarded The Order Of Ontario - January 2, 2024
- THE SCOOP | Order of Canada Appointees Announced, Including Big Names From The Arts - December 29, 2023
- Ludwig Van Is Being Acquired By ZoomerMedia - June 12, 2023
