PDF file - Nathan Brock, Conductor

NATIONAL BALLET OF CANADA ORCHESTRATales from the Pit: : : PAULA CITRONThe national ballet of canada orchestra is coming out of thepit. As part of the National’s 60th anniversary season festivities,the orchestra will give a concert at Koerner Hall on April 3. Whilethe orchestra loves the acoustics at the Four Seasons Centre, being inthe pit is not the same as being on stage. The Koerner Hall concert ina prestigious recital hall is a very big deal. Says David Briskin, musicdirector and principal conductor since 2006: “The concert celebratesthe fact that the National Ballet has had a commitment to live musicfrom the very beginning of its existence.”The creation of the National Ballet Orchestra is entirely due to thevision of company founder Celia Franca. By all accounts, music wasvery important to her because she was a gifted pianist. The very firstNational performance featured two pianos because Franca couldn’tafford an orchestra, but it set a precedent. One of the pianists-cumconductorwas George Crum who would become the National’s firstmusic director. Briskin points to another sign that the orchestra hasalways been an important component of the National Ballet fabric.“Look at the company masthead,” he says. “The music director’s nameis right up there with the artistic director and executive director.”Jean Verch, orchestra personnel manager and music administrator,deems Briskin the most hands-on music director the company has everhad. “David is very pro-development and a strong advocate for the musicians,”she says. In planning the concert’s repertoire, Briskin pouredover the archives. He ultimately chose music that is connected to oneor another of the company’s artistic directors in some way. There willalso be a visual component with famed actor Colm Fiore as host andnarrator. Briskin is overseeing every detail of the concert.The concert is made up of ballet music. That’s a given, but Briskinhas crafted an exciting line-up of 11 pieces that should show off hisorchestra very well. For example, Borodin’s Polovetsian Dances is atribute both to Franca and to the National’s very first performance atEaton’s Auditorium on November 12, 1951, when the company presentedMichel Fokine’s choreography to Borodin’s fiery music.Erik Satie’s Gymnopédie No.1 honours Alexander Grant who broughtSir Frederick Ashton’s Monotones 11 into the repertoire. Tchaikovsky’sAbove, artists of the Ballet in Polovetsian Dances from Prince Igor.Left, Celia Franca, George Crum and Governor General RolandMichener at the European Tour Bon Voyage at the NationalArts Centre in Ottawa. Right, David Briskin with members ofthe National Ballet of Canada Orchestra in rehearsal.Russian Dance from Swan Lake is a tribute to both Erik Bruhn’s 1969and James Kudelka’s 1999 versions of the famed ballet. Karen Kain isrepresented by Joby Talbot’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Suite,composed for Christopher Wheeldon’s 2011 world premiere. Thereare also excerpts from works by Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Léo Délibes,Ludwig Minkus and Leonard Bernstein.: : :At times, musicians tend to see music very differently from dancers.Clarinettist Max Christie tells about a conversation he had with formerballerina Kimberly Glasco. “I said that La Bayadère might be a fantasticshowcase for dancers, but that the Minkus music was lame incomparison to Tchaikovsky. She, on the other hand, loved the musicand thought it was beautiful. Meanwhile, we play it for what it is — tritemusic meant strictly for dance.” Even Adolphe Adam’s Giselle, aniconic ballet classic if ever there was, comes in for a drubbing. SaysChristie: “It’s semi-monochromatic, and almost static. You can’t makea suite of the music for the concert stage.”On the other hand, Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty is “terrifying.” “Itnever lets up,” explains Christie. “I have to practise for it.” Similarly,The Nutcracker remains a challenge even though it repeats every year.“The music is really hard,” he says. “Tchaikovsky had a knack for findingdifficult things for an orchestra to do.” Christie calls Prokofiev’sCinderella fun because it contains “wicked stuff for the clarinet.” JobyTalbot’s score for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a “giggle” becauseof all the great orchestral sound effects.Violinist Sonia Klimasko-Leheniuk believes that choreographersare choosing higher quality music, which has led to better techniqueamong the orchestra members. “Choreographers are becoming morediscerning, particularly about new music,” she says. She singles outAlexei Ratmansky’s ballet Russian Seasons set to Leonid Desyatnikov’s2000 score. “Now that was exciting to play,” she says.All this talk about repertoire raises another question. What preciselydistinguishes a ballet orchestra from other musical ensembles?Trumpeter Raymond Tizzard is the orchestra’s assistant personnel manager.Says Tizzard: “Our greatest skill is flexibility and the ability toGene DrAPer and John Grange; BrUCe Zinger (ORCheSTRA)8 thewholenote.com March 1 – April 7, 2012