A NIGHT AT THE OPERA

Saturday, March 8, 2025 at 8 p.m.

Meridian Arts Centre – George Weston Recital Hall

5040 Yonge St, Toronto

        The performance of Heng-Han Hou is generously sponsored
        by Judith Humphrey and Marc Egnal.

Bizet’s second Carmen Suite includes several well-known tunes from the eponymous opera, including the Habanera, with its characteristic snaking chromatic lines representing Carmen’s seductive wiles, and the rousing Toreador song. Heng-Han Hou then performs Bartók’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1. This work, relatively early in Bartok’s career, is more traditional than his later works, employing a two-movement rhapsodic form of a slow section followed by a fast one—similar to the Cabaletta form used in classical opera. Of Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony, Robert Simpson remarks that “its themes are exceptionally beautiful…its instrumentation is the most imaginative [Bruckner] had yet achieved, and it possesses a mastery of classical form that might even have impressed Brahms.” Typically Brucknerian, the symphony features a driving “Bruckner Rhythm” consisting of two quarter notes followed by a triplet, and an extensive use of harmonic ambiguity to quickly slide between different key areas.

Kristian Alexander | conductor
Heng-Han Hou | violinist
Daniel Vnukowski | host

7:10 p.m.   Prélude: pre-concert recital.
7:20 p.m.   Pre-concert talk.
Intermission discussion and Q&A with Heng-Han Hou and Daniel Vnukowski.

Include this concert in a subscription pack of 3 or more concerts and save up to 60%.
For more information, visit the KSO subscriptions page.

Bizet, Carmen Suite No. 2

Click here to view the notes.

Bartók, Concerto for violin and orchestra No. 1

Click here to view the notes.

Bruckner, Symphony No. 6

Click here to view the notes.

Tickets Pricing

Parterre, Left and Right Dress Circle Seat – $50
Orchestra Centre Seat – $48
Dress Circle Centre Seat – $45
Orchestra Rear Seat – $42
Choir Loft Seat – $40

Parterre, Left and Right Dress Circle Seat – $40
Orchestra Centre Seat – $38.40
Dress Circle Centre Seat – $36
Orchestra Rear Seat – $33.60
Choir Loft Seat – $32

Parterre, Left and Right Dress Circle Seat – $30
Orchestra Centre Seat – $28.80
Dress Circle Centre Seat – $27
Orchestra Rear Seat – $25.20
Choir Loft Seat – $24

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