Yannick takes Philly on Canada tour

Yannick takes Philly on Canada tour

Orchestras

norman lebrecht

March 07, 2024

Message received:

Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin will lead The Philadelphia Orchestra on a Tour of Canada—their first trip together to his home country—plus two concerts in Ann Arbor, Michigan, April 17–21, 2024. The performances in Canada will take place in Toronto, Ottawa, and Nézet-Séguin’s hometown of Montreal, where the Orchestra will be presented by the Orchestre Métropolitain, which Nézet-Séguin also leads as artistic director and principal conductor.

“It is always a privilege to travel with my beloved Philadelphia Orchestra, and this tour has special significance for me,” said Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. “I am excited for my American family to be hosted by my Canadian family, and for us to share in the power of music, especially through the works of Florence Price and Sergei Rachmaninoff, who are both so important to me and to the Orchestra.”

The Philadelphia Orchestra first performed in Montreal 100 years ago, in February 1924. That visit was scheduled to also include a stop in Ottawa, but the performance was cancelled due to a blizzard, and the Orchestra did not return to Ottawa until 1945. The Orchestra first performed outside the United States when it traveled to Toronto in 1918, led by Music Director Leopold Stokowski.

Comments

  • Myfanwy says:

    Sold out in Toronto 🙁

    • Guy says:

      If you show up with cash someone will usually sell you one from someone who couldn’t make it to the concert. In Montreal they might sell something in the upper level where you can stand. That’s how I saw the NY Phil in Montreal.

  • Barry says:

    This is no knock against Price and Rachmaninoff, but there is such a thing as overkill. It seems like those are the only composers they have played on tour the past few years.

    • Omar Goddknowe says:

      those are the only pieces he can conduct worth a damn?

    • Guy says:

      Yannick likes the female composers. I hope he discovers Emilie Mayer.

    • Kyle Wiedmeyer says:

      It they want to stay with underplayed and under-appreciated American composers, they should go the route of Howard Hanson (not just the “Romantic” symphony), George Chadwick, and company.

    • Tom says:

      Busy orchestra. I’m guessing 2 rehearsals max. Maybe just 1 plus sound checks.

  • Barry says:

    The same applies to their recordings of the past few years. It’s time to branch out.

  • Sue Sonata Form says:

    As long as he uses all the right pronouns he’ll be fine. Remember, these are government mandated.

  • msc says:

    Are two cities alone (and relatively close) enough to make it a “Canada tour”?

    • troc says:

      I hope they have their documentation in order. This Is That.

    • Bulgakov says:

      It’s three cities, but who’s counting?

    • Guy says:

      Three cities. I don’t know why they aren’t going further west though.

    • Paul Wells says:

      Three cities, actually. It’s true that other Canadian cities would be glad to see them. But if an orchestra from Frankfurt went to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam would that be a “Europe tour?” I think so, and the distances are comparable.

      • Music Lover says:

        If an orchestra went from Frankfurt to Baghdad, or to Ankara, would that still be a “Europe tour”? Those distances are roughly equivalent to Toronto- Vancouver (heading approximately west) and Toronto-St. John’s (heading north-east) – both in Canada. So I don’t think Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal really counts as a “Canada tour”.

  • Tim says:

    Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal isn’t a tour of Canada. It’s barely a tour of the Laurentian watershed. But probably best that way; out in the boonies where I am wearing a suit jacket without a shirt isn’t a popular fashion statement, even among homosexuals.

    • The View from America says:

      Damn — I’m sure the residents of Sudbury, Kenora, Thompson and Whitehorse were breathlessly awaiting the opportunity to see YNS and the PO.

    • V.Lind says:

      Gee — rural Canada is not full of Sonny Crocketts. Now that I think of it, neither is urban Canada.

      Does anyone still dress like that, even in Miami?

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