DECEMBER 2, 3   8:00 PM

André Mathieu: Piano Concerto No. 4
Sibelius: Symphony No. 2

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Alain Lefèvre, piano

“The musical thrust could take the breath away, yet pianistic control reigned in every bar. Excitement informed all the climatic points, yet caressive passages received detailed scrutiny.”– Los Angeles Times

“I opened the door and plunged into André Mathieu’s world – I wasn’t looking for him but he found me…. I would respond to his call, his distress and his wounds – those which leave a print on the tragic destinies of rejected geniuses, left to their sad fate and who sink into a sea of bitterness, where they are neither understood nor supported.” – Alain Lefèvre

Born in Montreal in 1929, André Mathieu was a child prodigy, one of the 20th century’s greatest pianists, and a composer who had the pulse and romantic urgency of Rachmaninov – one of his idols. Mathieu lived just 39 years but a fabulous almost mythical trajectory of his life is documented in the newly released film The Child Prodigy, in which Alain Lefèvre performs. Our program features Mathieu’s most ambitious, ardently romantic work, performed by the composer’s leading supporter, Alain Lefèvre.

Sibelius’s Second Symphony is the most famous of the Finnish composer’s seven symphonies and an unforgettable romantic journey. As a transition from the youthful to the mature Sibelius, it makes an ideal companion on this uniquely special program.

MASTERWORKS A: Pre-Concert Chat hosted by music director Alexander Mickelthwate & Alain Lefèvre on the Piano Nobile Level at 7:15 pm.

Single tickets are on sale now at the WSO Box Office, 949-3999 or online.

Media Partner:

OCTOBER 28, 29   8:00 PM

Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1
Shostakovich: Hamlet: Incidental Music
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 9

Maxim Shostakovich, conductor
Korbinian Altenberger, violin

“I feel my father looking over my shoulder…” – Maxim Shostakovich (The Sunday Times)

The WSO is honoured to present an all-Shostakovich program conducted by the composer’s son Maxim Shostakovich, a pre-eminent conductor of his father’s music who has premiered, performed and recorded it to great acclaim.

Maestro Shostakovich has conducted the world’s greatest orchestras. His uniquely personal perspective on his father’s place in history as one of the 20th century’s greatest composers promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for audiences.

Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 contains some of the finest music ever composed for the violin. Multi-faceted, deeply spiritual yet brilliantly virtuosic and immediately accessible for the listener, we are proud to present it performed by Korbinian Altenberger, whose prize-winning performance at the 2010 Montreal International Competition had the audience cheering at the final round.

MASTERWORKS A: Pre-Concert Chat hosted by music director Alexander Mickelthwate or guest conductors on the Piano Nobile Level at 7:15 pm.

DINNER & A SYMPHONY: Enjoy the return of Dinner & A Symphony with Bergmann’s on Lombard for our October 29 concert with Russian Cuisine on the Piano Nobile at 5:30 pm. Dinner and concert start at $85!

Subscriptions on sale now via WSO Box Office & online; Single tickets on sale via WSO Box Office only: 949-3999.

SEPTEMBER 23, 24   8:00 PM

Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2
Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G major

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Horacio Gutierrez, piano

“A red-hot firebrand producing the kind of excitement that made the blood pump and the brow sweat.” – Los Angeles Times

Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 is on everyone’s short list of the most popular piano concertos ever written. The music is full of soaring melodies, heart-stopping virtuosity and blazing optimism. We are proud to be joined by the eminent American pianist Horacio Gutierrez to open the WSO’s season.

SEPTEMBER 23, 24   8:00 PM

Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2
Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G major

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Horacio Gutierrez, piano

“A red-hot firebrand producing the kind of excitement that made the blood pump and the brow sweat.” – Los Angeles Times

Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 is on everyone’s short list of the most popular piano concertos ever written. The music is full of soaring melodies, heart-stopping virtuosity and blazing optimism. We are proud to be joined by the eminent American pianist Horacio Gutierrez to open the WSO’s season.

Since his professional debut in 1970 with Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gutierrez has appeared regularly with the world’s greatest orchestras; his Telarc recording of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2 was nominated for a Grammy Award. His television performances in Great Britain, the United States and France have been widely acclaimed, and won him an Emmy Award for his fourth appearance with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

The second half of this concert is exuberantly Czech, overflowing with melody and rousingly good spirits, with Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 – an audience favourite among the hallmarks of the symphonic literature!

MASTERWORKS A: Pre-Concert Chat hosted by music director Alexander Mickelthwate or guest conductors on the Piano Nobile Level at 7:15 pm.

Subscriptions on sale now via WSO Box Office & online; Single tickets on sale via WSO Box Office only: 949-3999.

April 29, 30  8:00 pm

“Hailed as ‘the Jascha Heifetz of our day ‘ Brandon-born violinist and Winnipeg favourite James Ehnes is widely considered one of the most dynamic and exciting performers in classical music.”
- Globe and Mail

Our season closes with Manitoba’s gift to the world of pre-eminent violinists in James Ehnes. Born in Brandon, James has risen to the top, performing with the world’s great orchestras and winning awards with nearly every new recording he releases.

James performs Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto – a hallmark of the literature – from the composer who created ballet classics Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. We close this unforgettable program with Tchaikovsky’s magnificent and moving Fifth Symphony.

The WSO is honoured to have been invited to perform this concert at the Prairie Scene Festival which is being held at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on May 3, 2011.

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
James Ehnes, violin

Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin: Polonaise
Tchaikovsky: Violin concerto in D major
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E minor

PRE -CONCERT CHAT: Hosted by music director Alexander Mickelthwate or guest conductors on the Piano Nobile Level at 7:15 pm.

For more info, click here.

MAY 4, 5   8:00 PM

Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection)

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Monica Huisman, soprano
Anita Krause, mezzo-soprano
Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir; Yuri Klaz, conductor

“In the background of his mind, there seems always to be the image of a ladder up which humanity can climb to heaven.” – Philip Barford, Mahler Symphonies & Songs

It took six years for Mahler to write his monumental ‘Resurrection’ Symphony. It became Mahler’s most often-heard work during his lifetime and remains among his most inspiring today. In this masterwork of transcendent messages of hope, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 is an overwhelming experience and an unforgettable journey from, as Mahler wrote, “the gravity and emotion of our deepest being’’ along the path towards the heaven-storming close and “life of eternal bliss.”

Ten horns, eight trumpets plus a massive orchestra, wonderful soloists and chorus will bring Mahler’s immortal music alive in this not-to-be-missed season- closing event.

MASTERWORKS A: Pre-Concert Chat hosted by music director Alexander Mickelthwate or guest conductors on the Piano Nobile Level at 7:15 pm.

Single tickets are on sale now at the WSO Box Office, 949-3999 or online.

MARCH 23, 24   8:00 PM

Debussy: Printemps
Canteloube: Chants d’Auvergne (selections)
Golijov: Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra
Stravinsky: The Firebird: Suite

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Dawn Upshaw, soprano

“Dawn Upshaw is one of the most significant and dramatically moving singers before the public today.” – Boston Globe

Joining rare natural warmth with a fierce commitment to the transforming power of music, Dawn Upshaw has achieved worldwide celebrity as a singer of opera and concert repertoire ranging from the sacred works of Bach to the freshest sounds of today.

We are honoured to present Dawn Upshaw in a very special program of music that is close to her. Canteloube’s folk-song collection Chants d’Auvergne contains exquisite evocations from poignant romances to buoyant rustic dances, the famous Baïlèro once heard, not forgotten. Composed for Dawn Upshaw, Osvaldo Golijov’s Three Songs are hauntingly beautiful settings that she has recorded and performed to wide acclaim.

Conductor Alexander Mickelthwate rounds out this vivid program with Stravinsky’s classic and exotic The Firebird: Suite.

MASTERWORKS A: Pre-Concert Chat hosted by music director Alexander Mickelthwate or guest conductors on the Piano Nobile Level at 7:15 pm.

DINNER & A SYMPHONY: Enjoy the return of Dinner & A Symphony with Bergmann’s on Lombard for our March 24 concert with French Cuisine on the Piano Nobile at 5:30 pm. Dinner and concert start at $85!

Single tickets are on sale now at the WSO Box Office, 949-3999 or online.

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FEBRUARY 17, 18   8:00 PM

John Estacio: Bootlegger’s Tarantella
Barber: Violin Concerto
Bernstein: On the Town: Three Dance Episodes
Copland: Appalachian Spring

Larry Rachleff, conductor
Augustin Hadelich, violin

“A take-charge maestro who invests everything he conducts with deep musical understanding.” – Chicago Tribune

“Mr. Hadelich stands out amid gifted young violinists for his prodigious technique, gorgeous tone and his ability to deliver well-known works with a distinctive interpretive flair.” – New York Times

North American composers are featured in this colourful and vividly themed program. We welcome fast-rising star Augustin Hadelich in his WSO debut along with Larry Rachleff, a world-renowned conducting teacher and among America’s most communicative conductors.

Opening the program is rousing music from Canadian composer John Estacio’s opera, Filumena, the Bootlegger’s Tarantella, followed by Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto which is a landmark American Romantic work ripe with virtuosity for the soloist. In Leonard Bernstein’s On the Town, we go to razzmatazz New York City, inimitably scored as only Bernstein could.

Written for Martha Graham’s dance company, Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring is the story of love and marriage: poignant and quiet, spiritual and joyful with its famous Shaker theme Simple Gifts a part of American vernacular.

MASTERWORKS A: Pre-Concert Chat hosted by music director Alexander Mickelthwate or guest conductors on the Piano Nobile Level at 7:15 pm.

Single tickets are on sale now at the WSO Box Office, 949-3999 or online.

DECEMBER 2, 3   8:00 PM

André Mathieu: Piano Concerto No. 4
Sibelius: Symphony No. 2

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Alain Lefèvre, piano

“The musical thrust could take the breath away, yet pianistic control reigned in every bar. Excitement informed all the climatic points, yet caressive passages received detailed scrutiny.”– Los Angeles Times

“I opened the door and plunged into André Mathieu’s world – I wasn’t looking for him but he found me…. I would respond to his call, his distress and his wounds – those which leave a print on the tragic destinies of rejected geniuses, left to their sad fate and who sink into a sea of bitterness, where they are neither understood nor supported.” – Alain Lefèvre

Born in Montreal in 1929, André Mathieu was a child prodigy, one of the 20th century’s greatest pianists, and a composer who had the pulse and romantic urgency of Rachmaninov – one of his idols. Mathieu lived just 39 years but a fabulous almost mythical trajectory of his life is documented in the newly released film The Child Prodigy, in which Alain Lefèvre performs. Our program features Mathieu’s most ambitious, ardently romantic work, performed by the composer’s leading supporter, Alain Lefèvre.

Sibelius’s Second Symphony is the most famous of the Finnish composer’s seven symphonies and an unforgettable romantic journey. As a transition from the youthful to the mature Sibelius, it makes an ideal companion on this uniquely special program.

MASTERWORKS A: Pre-Concert Chat hosted by music director Alexander Mickelthwate or guest conductors on the Piano Nobile Level at 7:15 pm.

Single tickets are on sale now at the WSO Box Office, 949-3999 or online.

Media Partner:

OCTOBER 28, 29   8:00 PM

Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1
Shostakovich: Hamlet: Incidental Music
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 9

Maxim Shostakovich, conductor
Korbinian Altenberger, violin

“I feel my father looking over my shoulder…” – Maxim Shostakovich (The Sunday Times)

The WSO is honoured to present an all-Shostakovich program conducted by the composer’s son Maxim Shostakovich, a pre-eminent conductor of his father’s music who has premiered, performed and recorded it to great acclaim.

Maestro Shostakovich has conducted the world’s greatest orchestras. His uniquely personal perspective on his father’s place in history as one of the 20th century’s greatest composers promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for audiences.

Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 contains some of the finest music ever composed for the violin. Multi-faceted, deeply spiritual yet brilliantly virtuosic and immediately accessible for the listener, we are proud to present it performed by Korbinian Altenberger, whose prize-winning performance at the 2010 Montreal International Competition had the audience cheering at the final round.

MASTERWORKS A: Pre-Concert Chat hosted by music director Alexander Mickelthwate or guest conductors on the Piano Nobile Level at 7:15 pm.

DINNER & A SYMPHONY: Enjoy the return of Dinner & A Symphony with Bergmann’s on Lombard for our October 29 concert with Russian Cuisine on the Piano Nobile at 5:30 pm. Dinner and concert start at $85!

Subscriptions on sale now via WSO Box Office & online; Single tickets on sale via WSO Box Office only: 949-3999.