Maison Symphonique de Montréal presents
the Montreal Symphony Orchestra’s Season Opening Concert

Rafael Payare Conducts Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony

September 14, 16 & 18, 2021

After incurring the wrath of the official Soviet press for his opera Lady Macbeth, Shostakovich sought to redeem himself by composing his bright, vigorous, and dramatic Fifth Symphony.  But despite of appearances, this work unabashedly broaches the atmosphere of collective anguish during Stalin’s Great Purge of the 1930s. For his first concert as OSM Music Director, Rafael Payare delivers a poignant symphony that cannot avoid resonating with the difficult year that we have experienced.
To complete the program, two works associated with the Orchestra’s history will be heard: Ravel’s whirling La valse, a highlight of several OSM tours, as well as a flagship of the Quebec repertoire, Pierre Mercure’s Kaleidoscope, first performed by the OSM in 1949.

Artists
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal
Rafael Payare, conductor

Program
Ravel, La valse (12 min.)
Pierre Mercure, Kaléidoscope (11 min.)
Shostakovich, Symphony no. 5 in D minor, op. 47 (45 min.)

Schedule
Tuesday, September 14, 2021 at 7:00pm
Thursday, September 16, 2021 at 7:30pm
Saturday, September 18, 2021 at 2:30pm
Saturday, September 18, 2021 at 7:30pm

Covid-19 adapted seating plan and measures in effect
To purchase your tickets visit: www.placedesarts.com

This concert will be webcast from Tuesday, October 5 at 7:00pm (EDT) until Tuesday, November 2 at 11:59pm (EDT)
If you wish to purchase a ticket to the webcast visit: www.osm.ca