GIOACCHINO ROSSINI (1792-1868)
Overture to L’Italiana in Algeri (1813)
Before he delighted the world with The Barber of Seville, Rossini had already honed his comic opera skills on The Italian Girl in Algiers, one of the best examples of a story genre that plunges a traveler (here, Isabella from Italy) into a foreign landscape (Algeria) to comic effect. The wild and crazy events that ensue are accompanied by playful, tuneful music—foretold in this sparkling overture.

NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844-1908)
Capriccio espagnol (1887)
Rimsky-Korsakov was admired by audiences and fellow composer for his ability to paint with a vibrant orchestral palette—exemplified by this dazzling evocation of Spain. He said so himself in his autobiography: “According to my plans, the Capriccio was to glitter with dazzling orchestral color, and manifestly, I had not been wrong.” Inspired by a book of Spanish folk songs, Rimsky-Korsakov cast his Capriccio in five continuous movements that prominently feature the violin, united by the melody of an alborada (a morning song): “Alborada,” “Variations,” “Alborada,” “Scene (listen for brilliant cadenzas for horns and trumpets, violin, flute, clarinet, and harp) and Gypsy Song (in which the violins and cellos are instructed to imitate guitars),” and “Fandango Asturiano” (a dance from the northern part of Spain, usually accompanied by castanets and guitars). The Orchestra of the Imperial Russian Opera House of St. Petersburg premiered Capriccio espagnol under the composer’s direction to tumultuous acclaim. Not only had his admiring orchestra applauded each movement in turn during the first rehearsal, but the entire work had to be encored at the first performance. Rimsky-Korsakov consequently dedicated the work to the orchestra and named each musician individually on the score.

MANUEL DE FALLA
Suite No. 2 from The Three Cornered Hat
Manuel de Falla based his one-act ballet The Three-Cornered Hat on a classic Spanish novel that relates the story of a naïve miller and his wife, who prevail over the conniving and adulterous magistrate of their hometown in Spain. The movements are inflected with the rhythms and melodies of traditional Spanish folk dances and song. The two suites of excerpts culled from the ballet have become the most well known of Falla's works heard in the concert hall. The Suite No. 2 falls into three movements and includes "The Neighbor's Dance," "The Miller's Dance," and "Final Dance." The New York Symphony (which merged with the New York Philharmonic in 1928 to form today's New York Philharmonic) first performed selections from The Three-Cornered Hat in December 1923 under Walter Damrosch; the Orchestra's most recent performances of selections were given in Vail, Colorado, in July 2008, led by Bramwell Tovey.

Bramwell Tovey is acknowledged around the world for his artistic depth, and warm, charismatic personality on the podium. He has been the popular host and conductor of the New York Philharmonic’s Summertime Classics series at Avery Fisher Hall since its founding in 2004. Mr. Tovey’s tenures as music director of the Vancouver Symphony, Luxembourg Philharmonic, and Winnipeg Symphony orchestras have been characterized by his work in the opera, choral, and British repertoire. He is also a composer and pianist, and has received three Juno Awards — two for Classical Album of the Year, and one for Classical Composition of the Year (Requiem for a Charred Skull) — in addition to a 2007 Grammy Award. He is the first artist to win a Juno in both conducting and composing.

Last year Bramwell Tovey was named principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. He also works frequently with the Toronto Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, and Bournemouth Symphony orchestras, among many others. A champion of contemporary music, Mr. Tovey developed the highly regarded New Music Festival in Winnipeg during his tenure as music director. In the summer of 2008 he conducted the world premiere of his latest piece, Urban Runway, a co-commission of the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics. He is currently writing a full-length opera, The Inventor, for the Calgary Opera, to be premiered in January 2011.

Bramwell Tovey has been awarded numerous honorary degrees, including a fellowship from the Royal Academy of Music in London; honorary doctorates of law from the universities of Winnipeg and Manitoba, and Kwantlen University College; and a music fellowship from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. In 1999 he received the M. Joan Chalmers National Award for Artistic Direction, a Canadian prize awarded to artists for outstanding contributions in the performing arts. Mr. Tovey last conducted the New York Philharmonic in July 2008 at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, following his conducting/hosting duties at the Orchestra’s Summertime Classics series.

JAMES EHNES
Violin, born in 1976 in Brandon, Manitoba/Canada
It’s not everyone who shares a birthday with Mozart, but James Ehnes does. To celebrate the composer’s 250th birthday along with his own 30th, the violinist released a recording of Mozart’s complete works for violin and orchestra: the five Violin Concertos, the Adagio, K. 261, the Rondo K. 269, and the Rondo K. 373. About this “dream project” he says: “I had a lot of help from a lot of people. I was able to put together my own orchestra, order the music—everything, even make the hotel reservations for everyone to come to Toronto!” He’s looking forward very much to playing the Glazunov Violin Concerto and is honored that Maestro Maazel invited him to be the soloist. “I think it’s one of his favorites because it has some very special associations with his own career.” The Concerto is tricky to put together—“it requires a close rapport between soloist and conductor in terms of balances and interpretation, and it has a lot of notes!” Yet the work is “friendly for the audience. It’s immediately appealing, even if you’ve never heard it before.” James Ehnes’s debut with the Philharmonic a couple of years ago was a momentous occasion, because he not only played before an audience of 45,000 people in Central Park, but right afterwards he proposed to his then-girlfriend, now-wife, Kate, in view of TV cameras. In his free time he’s been reading The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro; and Wagner’s Ring is loaded on his CD player. James Ehnes plays the “Ex Marsick” Stradivarius of 1715 and gratefully acknowledges its extended loan from the Fulton Collection.

“James Ehnes makes a simply glorious sound.” The Strad