VSO Season Finale - Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Kazuyoshi Akiyama conductorFor a biography of Kazuyoshi Akiyama pleaserefer to page 9.Alessio Bax pianoPianist Alessio Bax, first prize winner at theLeeds and Hamamatsu competitions, is a2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient.He has appeared as soloist with over 80orchestras worldwide, including the Londonand Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, Dallasand Houston Symphonies, and the NHKSymphony in Japan. Mr. Bax’s 2004 recordingfor Warner Classics, Baroque Reflections,was selected as “Editor’s Choice” byGramophone magazine. His new CD, BachTranscribed, received rave reviews fromGramophone and Fanfare. This past summerBax recorded a Rachmaninoff CD, touredin Japan, Spain and South Korea, andplayed chamber music at four U.S. festivals,including a Carte Blanche recital at Music@Menlo. At age fourteen, he graduated withtop honors from the conservatory of hishometown, Bari, Italy, studied in Franceand Siena, and moved to Dallas in 1994 tocontinue his studies with Joaquín Achúcarroat Southern Methodist University, where he isnow on the teaching faculty. He and his wife,pianist Lucille Chung, reside in New York City.Mr. Bax is a member of the Chamber MusicSociety of Lincoln Center’s CMS Two.Toru Takemitsub. Tokyo, Japan / October 8, 1930d. Tokyo / February 20, 1996Rain ComingThe dramatic expressionist influence ofSchoenberg and Berg can be heard inTakemitsu’s early works. It was replaced bythe delicate impressionist tints of Debussy,which remained with him for the rest ofhis career. Over time, traditional Japanesemusic and the contemplation of nature alsoimpacted his approach.He composed in most major genres:orchestral works, ballets, incidental musicfor theatre, films and television, concertante,chamber, solo and vocal works. He had amarvelous flair for striking and evocativetitles: A Flock Descends into the PentagonalGarden; I Hear the Water Dreaming; SpiritGarden; November Steps; How Slow the Wind,and many more.His mature creations number among the mostbeautiful compositions of recent decades.They earned him numerous internationalcommissions, awards and honorary degrees,plus frequent invitations to participate inmajor music festivals. Those who knew himpraised his warm, generous spirit and keenintelligence.He composed Rain Coming in 1982, oncommission from the London Sinfonietta. Itis part of a collection of pieces, bearing theoverall title Waterscape, which are linked bythe common theme of rain. This is gentle,ethereal music, evocative of colourful, dreamlikelandscapes. The deep, breathy soundof the alto flute gives it a particularly exoticflavour.Wolfgang AmadeusMozartb. Salzburg, Austria / January 27, 1756d. Vienna, Austria / December 5, 1791Piano Concerto No. 27in B-flat Major, K. 595Mozart completed this piece, his final pianoconcerto, on January 5, 1791, eleven monthsbefore his death. Since no record hassurvived of its being written on commission,he may have created it solely for his ownsatisfaction. That circumstance would havegiven him a better chance than had theprevious concerto, the brilliant yet somewhatsuperficial “Coronation” concerto, to reflectthe true state of his emotions.By then, his popularity with the fickleViennese public had largely evaporated. Asa result, the premiere of his newest pianoconcerto didn’t take place at one of his ownsubscription concerts, as many of the earlierpieces had, but at an event whose featuredperformer was clarinettist Joseph Bahr.Mozart’s health was failing badly, too. Theseunhappy developments show themselves,to varying degrees, in much of the music14 allegro