The Great Concerts

For the first time since it began its landmark Mahler cycle in 2001, the OM juxtaposes the visionary music of this composer with the music of our time, composed almost a century later. It is the OM’s cherished dual mission to disseminate the different trends in contemporary music and explore the orchestral genius of Mahler, who has become the hallmark of the OM’s reputation in the past few years. This concert will launch the orchestra’s 25th season while reaffirming its ideal to embrace the future. • Details

This is an opportunity to appreciate a major turning point in Beethoven’s creative life. After composing his Symphony No. 2, which closely adhered to similar works by Haydn and Mozart, Beethoven declared: «… I want to take a new path.» And he kept his promise: his next symphony, the symphony No. 3, or «Eroica», was quite simply revolutionary. It broke down barriers because of its compositional style, the grandeur of its proportions, and above all, its inherent message of great significance to this day: the battle against tyranny and the struggle for freedom. • Details

A festive concert… in the spirit of Christmas and with a selection of traditional songs. An evening where pleasure is enhanced by the discovery of supremely important repertoire. The OM presents the greatest choruses from Italian operas, alternating with traditional Christmas Carols, creating magical scenes worthy of these masterpieces. • Details

The desperate lyricism and tragic fate, the undulating rhythms and martial pace of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony are expressed, three quarters of a century later, in the arresting Symphony-Concerto of Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky’s Russian compatriot. To fully render this rarely-performed work, the OM will receive the accomplished Canadian cellist Denise Djokic who will also lead audiences in the discovery of György Ligeti, one of the foremost living composers today. • Details

A programme full of poetry, atmosphere, and sensuality. The audience is invited to travel across time and space, from Spain to Austria and to France. Also featured on the programme is the very young pianist David Fray who caused a sensation when he obtained Second Prize in the Montreal International Piano Competition in 2004. • Details

The OM’s, its conductor’s, and its audience’s special affinity for the great German composer are by now well known. After the success in 2003 of Brahms’s First Symphony and Second Piano Concerto performed with the young Canadian soloist of exceptional talent, Ian Parker, we repeat the exploit with the same guest, in a performance of two other masterpieces of the Romantic repertoire and a Canadian creation. • Details

The OM turns the clock back to the Baroque with guest conductor and soloist Jeanne Lamon, one of Canada’s greatest specialists in the music of this period. Lamon, the Artistic Director of Toronto’s Tafelmusik, has prepared a florilegium of music from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries which makes for a fascinating evening of discovery of the Baroque treasures from which sprang the symphonic repertoire of subsequent centuries. • Details