A terrific homecoming for former WSO music director

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This article was published 26/05/2018 (3064 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Like a prodigal son returning from distant lands, Bramwell Tovey received a hero’s welcome Wednesday night when the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra presented his merry band of players, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, to the Centennial Concert Hall for its first appearance in the city in 42 years.

The VSO, on the cusp of its centenary next season, is on a three-day Canadian tour celebrating the English conductor/composer/pianist/educator — and not least of all, brilliant raconteur — and his musical legacy in Canada. And how fitting that the Grammy and Juno Award-winning Tovey, in his 18th and final year with the VSO after a 12-year tenure as WSO music director between 1989 and 2001, should kick things off in the Prairie city where his roots still run so deep.

“It’s an incredible thing to bring the VSO to the home of the WSO. It’s just an extraordinary experience,” a clearly moved Tovey told the crowd of 1,495, including many extended family members from his marriage to Manitoban-born singer Lana Penner-Tovey, with whom he has two daughters, following a heart-swelling opener of O Canada.

And what a thrill to see — and hear — an expanded orchestra of 83 musicians, led by their new concertmaster Nicholas Wright, performing en masse, with many appearing gobsmacked to see their equally adored maestro back on his home stage and so warmly received by his legion of Winnipeg fans.

The eclectic program also showcased another Manitoban icon, Brandon-born violinist James Ehnes. He was first mentored by Tovey as an 11-year-old prodigy — and on Wednesday he performed Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D Major. Any time Ehnes takes the stage, there is cause for celebration.

After the orchestra’s expansive introduction, Ehnes immediately attacked his first entry with every note razor-sharp and true on his priceless 1715 ex-Marsick Stradivarius during the opening movement, which culminates in a fiery cadenza that he tossed off like child’s play.

Kudos to VSO principal oboist Roger Cole for his expressive solo during the subsequent Adagio, setting the stage for Ehnes’s lyrical rendering of its legato themes that further displayed his honey-sweet tone. Then it was time for the boot-stomping finale, which evoked a village folk dance that seemingly grew in vigour by the measure.

The crowd leapt to its feet with cries of bravo for the two artists, who embraced and grinned ear-to-ear.

“I was really hoping there would be a hockey game tomorrow night,” Ehnes quipped, before adding a sincere, “It’s nice to be back.” That led to the encore, Bach’s Violin Sonata No. 3 in C, performed at lightning speed.

Tovey’s own Ancestral Voices, composed in honour of Canada’s 150th sesquicentennial, examines the impact of Canada’s founding on First Nations, based on four non-aboriginal texts and written in consultation with First Nations mezzo-soprano Marion Newman, also showcased on the program.

The naturally expressive singer immediately captured the idyllic paradise of opening movement In Arcady, which leads to The Last Bison, lushly orchestrated with Tovey allowing individual musicians to shine during a series of instrumental solos. The Letter becomes a biting commentary on true-life colonial records advising to “Kill the Indian in the child,” with Newman spitting out text: “Separate, isolate, educate, assimilate” over vicious snap pizzicati from the strings. She then brought us full circle with Bring Light to the Truth, sung with great dignity that earned another standing ovation.

The 150-minute evening also paid a nod to Tovey’s own ancestral homeland, ending with quintessential English composer Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, with the ebullient maestro leading the orchestra through its 14 windswept variations, including the iconic Nimrod, given fulsome voice.

As expected, the mixed-generation crowd — many in their 20s and presumably experiencing the “Tovey magic” for their first time — roared its approval during the final standing ovation.

That led to an all-guns blazing encore of Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G minor, sending the crowd out into that good night with fire in our belly courtesy of this great Canadian musical treasure, which Winnipeggers will always proudly call one of our own.

holly.harris@shaw.ca