The Toronto Symphony Orchestra opens its 2025-26 season this week in spectacular fashion with a program to captivate its audience.
The orchestra’s music director, Gustavo Gimeno, has crafted an opening concert with something old and something new: Carl Orff’s epic Carmina Burana and the Canadian première of Wynton Marsalis’ Concerto for Orchestra, respectively.
As a co-commissioner of the new work, the TSO, along with its international orchestral peers, shows its ardent commitment to the creation of new music.
Marsalis, perhaps better known in the jazz world, is no slouch when it comes to classical music. Although this concerto is certainly influenced by the soundscape of jazz, its structures are rooted in classical techniques, with a nod to Bartok’s masterpiece. In the end, these pedantic details will be left to the music theorists to decipher.
More to the point, it is a piece that highlights the orchestra and brings something fresh to start the season.
As well known as Marsalis may be, I’m guessing that most of the audience for this nearly sold-out run was drawn by Carmina Burana. The TSO last presented this piece in 2019, prior to the appointment of Gimeno as music director, and this performance will be Gimeno’s first of this iconic piece of music.
Carmina Burana: The Star of the Show
Everyone knows “O Fortuna”, the enthralling and dramatic opening movement, which is repeated at the very end of the work.
It musically depicts the Wheel of Fortune, and the unpredictable swings of fate, where good luck can turn bad instantly. This famous movement, used in movies and advertisements, has a duration of just under three minutes, while the entire piece of music spans about an hour.
There are many other great gems to be found within.
Carmina Burana is a collection of songs based on medieval texts. Although there is no through narrative, there are distinct thematic sections, moods, and characters. Bookended by “O Fortuna”, Orff divides the work into three sections: Primo vere [In Springtime], In taberna [In the Tavern], and Cour d’amours [Court of Love]. In essence, Orff gives us a medieval version of sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
For this season opener, the orchestra will be out in full force, and joined by soloists Julie Roset, Andrew Haji, Sean Michael Plumb, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and the Toronto Children’s Chorus. The sheer number of performers will fill the stage and loft all the way up to the rafters.
From the Chorister’s View
As a chorister with Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, I had the unique vantage point of seeing Gimeno’s interpretation take shape in rehearsal. Gimeno pays meticulous attention to the details, and focuses on the character of each individual movement.
He also is fastidious with the tempi. With such a vivid musical interpretation, the audience will experience the magical effect of Orff’s dramatic concept.
It’s a thrilling start to what promises to be an exciting season. Since becoming Music Director in 2020, Gimeno has really made an impact with the TSO. There’s much to look forward to this season. For those lucky enough to have tickets, this season opener will be a true highlight.
- Carmina Burana will be on stage September 18, 20 and 21. Find tickets and concert details [HERE].
By Albert Wong for Ludwig-Van
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