Program Notes:

Sergei Prokofiev
Born in Sontsovka, Ukraine, April 23, 1891; died in Moscow, Russia, March 5, 1953
Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25 "Classique"
Prokofiev wanted to write a symphony away from the piano in the classical style, and used the modest orchestration of a Haydn symphony-pairs of winds and brass, timpani, and strings, and he employed the traditional four-movement form. The result, however, could never be mistaken for Haydn. Prokofiev's first movement sonata form is too "textbook" to be Haydn, while his key schemes take the listener "astray" into shifts without preparation, and his melodic and rhythmic contours exaggerate what might be considered Classical.

In the Larghetto the tender yet wistful melody in the very high register of the violins and the gently pulsing accompaniment imply Rococo grace, but their piquant harmonies and wide spacing reveal their twentieth-century origin. The contrasting middle section displays many of the transparent colours imagined by Prokofiev away from the piano.

The Gavotte was composed before anything else in the Symphony. A gavotte is not a typical symphonic movement, and Prokofiev's use of a Baroque dance here shows another of his twists on Classical form.

The brilliant Finale exerts the highest demands upon the players and the movement bubbles irresistibly forward, almost in perpetual motion.

This witty, light-hearted work stands in amazing contrast to historic events that surround it. Its effervescence gives no hint that it was composed during the First World War, nor that one month after its completion the October Revolution began.
- Adapted from notes by Jane Vial Jaffe

Francis Poulenc
Born in Paris, France, January 7, 1899; died in Paris, France, January 30, 1963
Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in D Minor, FP 61
Francis Poulenc was very adept at assimilating the musical styles available in Paris during his lifetime. Thus, in his Concerto for Two Pianos, he found room to accommodate a bewildering variety of styles, ranging from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to the music of Bali.

The two pianos are prominent throughout the three movements of this work; the orchestra serves in a decidedly subsidiary role. The first movement is in ternary form, with two bustling, energetic allegro sections framing a central slow, lyrical section. The coda of the movement features a six-tone scale and hypnotic repetitions evocative of the Balinese music that Poulenc heard at the Paris Colonial Exposition of 1931.

Of the slow middle movement, Poulenc said, "I allowed myself, for the first theme, to return to Mozart, for I cherish the melodic line and I prefer Mozart to all other musicians." In the middle sections of this three-part movement, the 18th century is abandoned in favour of a foray into sentimental romanticism.

The vibrant finale features a superabundance of melodies, some of which recur in a loose rondo structure; another evocation of Balinese music ends the work.
Adapted from Toronto Symphony Orchestra notes

Maurice Ravel
Born in Ciboure, France, March 7, 1875; died in Paris, France, December 28, 1937
Shéhérazade
In the Arabian nights fables, princess Scheherazade avoided certain death by telling the sultan a spellbinding tale each night. Finally, after 1001 nights, the sultan fell in love with her and settled down to a happily married life.

Bizet composed Shéhérazade, a three-part song cycle based on poems by Tristan Klingsor, that conjure the sights, sounds, and philosophies of the east, and scored a warm, immediate success at the premiere.

Asie (Asia), the first and longest song, offers a dream-like journey through eastern lands. Ravel evokes them in dazzling orchestral colours, while alternating moods of excitement and languor. La flûte enchantée (The Magic Flute), the second song, captures the stillness of a warm afternoon. A girl listens sadly to the haunting sound of a distant flute, played by her lover. The cycle concludes with a portrait of a potentially amorous, but eventually unfulfilled encounter between total strangers. Ravel scores L'indifférent (The Indifferent One) in soft, muted colours, but ones which, like the words, suggest levels of deeper, unspoken passions.
- Adapted from notes by Don Anderson © 2004

Igor Stravinsky
Born in Oranienbaum (now Lomonosov), Russia, June 17, 1882; died in New York, New York, April 6, 1971
Firebird Suite (1945)
The Firebird, which Stravinsky considered his first full-fledged work, was premiered by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in Paris in 1910. The plot was adapted from Russian sources and tells the story of Prince Ivan's adventures in an enchanted forest, supernatural characters, and love.

Stravinsky differentiates musically between the human and supernatural characters. The music for humans-Prince, Princesses, and characters in the finale-is all basically diatonic, including the Russian folk melodies Stravinsky incorporated. The supernatural characters-Kashchei and the Firebird-are depicted by chromatic music based on the interval of a tritone.

Stravinsky made three concert suites from the ballet. The 1945 Suite restores three pantomimes, a pas de deux, and scherzo into the format of the well-known 1919 Suite, hence more of the original ballet is heard here than is most often performed. The 1919 and the 1945 suites use a reduced orchestra and contain other modifications; Stravinsky remarked that "these direct musical criticisms [the revisions] are stronger than words."

Audiences loved The Firebird from the outset, attracted by the romanticism of the tale and the expressiveness of the music. Though perhaps not Stravinsky's most characteristic work, it identified him to much of the public, and he conducted it nearly a thousand times during his career.
- Adapted from notes by Jane Vial Jaffe

Johannes Debus
Conductor
Canadian Opera Company Music Director Johannes Debus made his COC debut conducting War and Peace in 2008. He obtained his musical education at Hamburg Conservatorium, before being engaged at Oper Frankfurt in 1998 as répétiteur and Kapellmeister. There he acquired an extensive repertoire ranging from works by Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Wagner, and Puccini, to Strauss, Berg, Britten, and Henze. As a guest conductor Mr. Debus has appeared at important festivals such as the Biennale di Venezia, the Festival d'Automne, the Lincoln Center Festival, and has been engaged at opera houses including the Vienna Volksoper, Cologne Opera, the English National Opera, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Bayerische Staatsoper. Upcoming engagements include his return to Bayerische Staatsoper for performances of Strauss's Salome and Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, as well as a new production of Thomas Adès's The Tempest for Oper Frankfurt.
Tonight marks Mr. Debus's first performance at The Royal Conservatory.

Nicholas King
Piano
Nicholas King is a 19 year old pianist from Los Angeles, California, where he studied with Dr. Wojciech Kocyan at the Loyola Marymount University. He was awarded the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Award through the From the Top organization and, along with a $10,000 scholarship, he gave a performance on National Public Radio. In February of 2008, he performed the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Southeast Symphony Orchestra and returned there to perform the Beethoven Concerto No. 1, which opened their following concert season. His upcoming performance with the Southeast Symphony will take place in the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, California, on July 18, 2010.

Mr. King has been coached in master classes by some of the world's most prominent musicians and pedagogues, including Lang Lang, John Perry, Anton Kuerti, Hans Boepple, Julian Martin, and Jean Dube. He has also studied at a number of renowned music festivals, such as the Banff music program, the Orford music program, and the Franz Liszt Summer Music Academy.

Lucas Porter
Piano
Lucas Porter is an 18 year old pianist from Port Williams, Nova Scotia. In addition to his studies at The Royal Conservatory, he has studied privately with Barbara Hansen and with John Hansen, professor at Acadia University.

Mr. Porter is a winner of a number of competitions including the CFMTA National Piano Competition in 2007. In 2006, he won the National Music Festival Concerto Competition in Thunder Bay and, as a result, performed the Shostakovich Second Piano Concerto in Roy Thompson Hall with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra in the Opening Gala Concert for the Collaborative Conference 07. He also won the Notions Realize Music Challenge, an international composing competition sponsored by Virtuoso Works. Inc., receiving first place in the 18 and under category for best Orchestral Composition for his Port Williams Overture.

Mr. Porter represented Canada at Expo 2005 in Japan and also played for Condoleezza Rice at the Halifax 9/11 Ceremony in September of 2006. He will appear as guest soloist with the York University Orchestra in the spring of 2010.

Nicholas King and Lucas Porter are both students of Marc Durand at The Glenn Gould School. They are the 08/09 Concerto Competition winners.

Wallis Giunta
Mezzo-soprano
Hailed by critics as a "talented and artistically mature" performer with a "voice of satin purity" that is "strong, supple and... utterly beautiful," mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta was the 2008/2009 recipient of the Lilly Kertes Rolin International Vocal Prize, and has completed an Artist Diploma at The Glenn Gould School, studying with Jean MacPhail and Steven Philcox.

The 09/10 season marks Ms. Giunta's debuts with the Canadian Opera Company in their Ensemble Studio, The Aspen Summer Music Festival, Mooredale Concerts, and The Toronto Classical Singers. She also performs with Soundstreams Canada, The Regina Symphony Orchestra, and makes her mainstage debut as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Atelier.

In 2009, the Ottawa native was the winner of the Royal Conservatory Orchestra Concerto Competition & Tom Thomas Award, and was a finalist in both The George London Foundation Awards in New York and The Neue Stimmen International Singing Contest in Germany.

Wallis Giunta has appeared at The Royal Conservatory on many occasions and made her RCM professional debut at the Grand Opening of Koerner Hall on September 25, 2009.

Royal Conservatory Orchestra
of The Glenn Gould School
Uri Mayer, Director of the Orchestral Program and Resident Conductor
The Royal Conservatory Orchestra (RCO) is widely regarded as one of the finest ensembles in Canada, and one of the best training orchestras in North America. The RCO ensures that instrumental students in the Performance Diploma Program and the Artist Diploma Program of The Glenn Gould School graduate with valuable and impressive performance experience. Graduates of the RCO have joined the ranks of the greatest orchestras in the world, including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic, Tafelmusik, the Hallé Orchestra of Manchester, the BBC Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and Leipzig Gewandhaus. The RCO is led by Maestro Uri Mayer, Director of the Orchestral Program and Resident Conductor. Guest conductors have included Mario Bernardi, Yoav Talmi, Uriel Segal, Simon Streatfeild, and Richard Bradshaw. This season the RCO has performed under the batons of Peter Oundjian and Leon Fleisher.