Otto Tausk, conductor
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
BEETHOVEN Symphony No.5 in C minor, Op. 67 (32:14)
I.Allegro con brio
II.Andante con moto
III. Allegro
IV. Allegro
Before all the current social distancing measures were put in place, Maestro Otto Tausk and the VSO got together in an empty Orpheum Theatre to play Beethoven’s 5th Symphony as a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the genius’ birth. Enjoy from the comfort and safety of your own home.
I. Allegro con brio
II. Andante con moto
III. Scherzo: Allegro
IV. Allegro – Presto
Otto Tausk, conductor
Dutch conductor Otto Tausk is the Music Director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, now in his third season. He is also the newly announced Chief Conductor of recently formed Phion Orkest van Gelderland & Overijssel. Until spring 2018, Tausk was Music Director of the Opera Theatre and Tonhalle Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen. He appears as a guest with such orchestras as Concertgebouworkest, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, Philharmonie Südwestfalen, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Mariinsky Orchestra, the orchestras of Perth, Tasmania, Auckland, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra of Wales, with whom he made his BBC Proms debut in August 2018. He is a hugely respected musical personality in his native Holland, working with all its major orchestras and composers.
In the 2020/21 season, Tausk continues guesting relationships with orchestras such as Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Het Gelders Orkest, Norwegian Radio Orchestra and Turku Philharmonic Orchestra. In Vancouver, Tausk will lead an innovative reimagined season in response to COVID-19, showcasing the orchestra with a curated series of digital performances.
In the opera pit, he will conduct Michel van der Aa’s new opera ‘Upload’, with the world premiere at Dutch National Opera, plus further appearances with the other co-commissioning parties including Oper Köln. In St. Gallen, Tausk conducted the world premiere of ‘Annas Maske’, by Swiss composer David Philip Hefti, the Swiss premiere of George Benjamin’s ‘Written on Skin’, Korngold’s ‘Die Tote Stadt’ and other titles including ‘Don Giovanni’, ‘Die Entführung aus dem Serail’, ‘Eugene Onegin’, ‘West Side Story’, ‘Lohengrin’ and ‘Ariadne auf Naxos’.
Tausk has recorded with the Concertgebouworkest (Luc Brewaeys, and an animated version of Prokofiev’s ‘Peter and the Wolf’), Tonhalle Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen (Korngold and Diepenbrock), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (Mendelssohn) and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (Gavin Bryars) amongst others. For the cpo label in 2011 Hans Pfitzner’s enchanting Orchesterlieder garnered international praise, not least the Classica France’s ‘Choc du mois’. His Prokofiev disc with Rosanne Philippens also received BBC Music Magazine Concerto Disc of the Month (2018).
Born in Utrecht, Otto Tausk initially studied violin and then conducting with Jonas Aleksa. Between 2004 and 2006, Tausk was assistant conductor to Valery Gergiev with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, a period of study that had a profound impact on him. In 2011 Tausk was presented with the ‘De Olifant’ prize by the City of Haarlem. He received this prestigious award for his contribution to the Arts in the Netherlands, in particular his extensive work with Holland Symfonia serving as Music Director 2007 to 2012. In reflecting on their work together in The Netherlands, Valery Gergiev paid particular tribute to Tausk on this occasion.
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
b. Bonn, Germany / baptized December 17, 1770
d. Vienna, Austria / March 26, 1827
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
Beethoven completed the Fifth during the first months of 1808. It has perhaps the most familiar opening of any piece of classical orchestral music. This is also, surely, the most intense, even obsessive first movement anyone had written up to that time. That opening rhythm appears in almost every bar of the first movement. Recognizing the need to follow such a revolutionary tempest with something relaxed and traditional, in the second movement Beethoven offers a Haydn-esque set of variations, cast as a nonchalant stroll punctuated with pompous fanfares. The third movement is a dark, dramatic Scherzo. After the whispered opening on the strings, the horns introduce a bold theme, clearly related to the opening movement’s first subject. Later, Beethoven puts the lower strings through some spectacular paces. Composer Hector Berlioz compared them with “the gambols of a delighted elephant.”
The Scherzo’s closing measures, veiled in uncertainty, point to a tragic conclusion. In another act of symphonic innovation, Beethoven leads us straight on to the Finale; the path lies through a tunnel, echoing eerily with the muffled, heart-like beat of the timpani, the rhythm once again recalling the symphony’s opening motive. Then with heart-stirring suddenness, we emerge into the blazing sunlight of a glorious new dawn. Beethoven gives extra colour and solidity to this exhilarating finale (which includes a reprise of the main scherzo theme) by bringing piccolo, trombones and contrabassoon into the symphonic orchestra for the first time. With this section, Beethoven and his listeners conclude an emotional journey from darkness to light, the first such expedition undertaken in a symphony. This sequence of moods has the power to stir audiences on a fundamental level, embracing them in a common sense of victory. It also holds out the promise of hope, a tonic whose necessity never fades. This generosity of spirit is the foundation stone of Beethoven’s reputation – and his immortality.
Program Notes © 2020 Don Anderson
Video Director
Alex Clark
Audio Engineer
Will Howie
Audio Editing
Matthew Baird
Thanks to
Vancouver Musicians’ Association Local 145
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 118
Otto Tausk, conductor
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
BEETHOVEN Symphony No.5 in C minor, Op. 67 (32:14)
I.Allegro con brio
II.Andante con moto
III. Allegro
IV. Allegro
Before all the current social distancing measures were put in place, Maestro Otto Tausk and the VSO got together in an empty Orpheum Theatre to play Beethoven’s 5th Symphony as a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the genius’ birth. Enjoy from the comfort and safety of your own home.
I. Allegro con brio
II. Andante con moto
III. Scherzo: Allegro
IV. Allegro – Presto
Otto Tausk, conductor
Dutch conductor Otto Tausk is the Music Director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, now in his third season. He is also the newly announced Chief Conductor of recently formed Phion Orkest van Gelderland & Overijssel. Until spring 2018, Tausk was Music Director of the Opera Theatre and Tonhalle Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen. He appears as a guest with such orchestras as Concertgebouworkest, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, Philharmonie Südwestfalen, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Mariinsky Orchestra, the orchestras of Perth, Tasmania, Auckland, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra of Wales, with whom he made his BBC Proms debut in August 2018. He is a hugely respected musical personality in his native Holland, working with all its major orchestras and composers.
In the 2020/21 season, Tausk continues guesting relationships with orchestras such as Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Het Gelders Orkest, Norwegian Radio Orchestra and Turku Philharmonic Orchestra. In Vancouver, Tausk will lead an innovative reimagined season in response to COVID-19, showcasing the orchestra with a curated series of digital performances.
In the opera pit, he will conduct Michel van der Aa’s new opera ‘Upload’, with the world premiere at Dutch National Opera, plus further appearances with the other co-commissioning parties including Oper Köln. In St. Gallen, Tausk conducted the world premiere of ‘Annas Maske’, by Swiss composer David Philip Hefti, the Swiss premiere of George Benjamin’s ‘Written on Skin’, Korngold’s ‘Die Tote Stadt’ and other titles including ‘Don Giovanni’, ‘Die Entführung aus dem Serail’, ‘Eugene Onegin’, ‘West Side Story’, ‘Lohengrin’ and ‘Ariadne auf Naxos’.
Tausk has recorded with the Concertgebouworkest (Luc Brewaeys, and an animated version of Prokofiev’s ‘Peter and the Wolf’), Tonhalle Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen (Korngold and Diepenbrock), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (Mendelssohn) and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (Gavin Bryars) amongst others. For the cpo label in 2011 Hans Pfitzner’s enchanting Orchesterlieder garnered international praise, not least the Classica France’s ‘Choc du mois’. His Prokofiev disc with Rosanne Philippens also received BBC Music Magazine Concerto Disc of the Month (2018).
Born in Utrecht, Otto Tausk initially studied violin and then conducting with Jonas Aleksa. Between 2004 and 2006, Tausk was assistant conductor to Valery Gergiev with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, a period of study that had a profound impact on him. In 2011 Tausk was presented with the ‘De Olifant’ prize by the City of Haarlem. He received this prestigious award for his contribution to the Arts in the Netherlands, in particular his extensive work with Holland Symfonia serving as Music Director 2007 to 2012. In reflecting on their work together in The Netherlands, Valery Gergiev paid particular tribute to Tausk on this occasion.
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
b. Bonn, Germany / baptized December 17, 1770
d. Vienna, Austria / March 26, 1827
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
Beethoven completed the Fifth during the first months of 1808. It has perhaps the most familiar opening of any piece of classical orchestral music. This is also, surely, the most intense, even obsessive first movement anyone had written up to that time. That opening rhythm appears in almost every bar of the first movement. Recognizing the need to follow such a revolutionary tempest with something relaxed and traditional, in the second movement Beethoven offers a Haydn-esque set of variations, cast as a nonchalant stroll punctuated with pompous fanfares. The third movement is a dark, dramatic Scherzo. After the whispered opening on the strings, the horns introduce a bold theme, clearly related to the opening movement’s first subject. Later, Beethoven puts the lower strings through some spectacular paces. Composer Hector Berlioz compared them with “the gambols of a delighted elephant.”
The Scherzo’s closing measures, veiled in uncertainty, point to a tragic conclusion. In another act of symphonic innovation, Beethoven leads us straight on to the Finale; the path lies through a tunnel, echoing eerily with the muffled, heart-like beat of the timpani, the rhythm once again recalling the symphony’s opening motive. Then with heart-stirring suddenness, we emerge into the blazing sunlight of a glorious new dawn. Beethoven gives extra colour and solidity to this exhilarating finale (which includes a reprise of the main scherzo theme) by bringing piccolo, trombones and contrabassoon into the symphonic orchestra for the first time. With this section, Beethoven and his listeners conclude an emotional journey from darkness to light, the first such expedition undertaken in a symphony. This sequence of moods has the power to stir audiences on a fundamental level, embracing them in a common sense of victory. It also holds out the promise of hope, a tonic whose necessity never fades. This generosity of spirit is the foundation stone of Beethoven’s reputation – and his immortality.
Program Notes © 2020 Don Anderson
Video Director
Alex Clark
Audio Engineer
Will Howie
Audio Editing
Matthew Baird
Thanks to
Vancouver Musicians’ Association Local 145
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 118
