Work: Peer Gynt Suite no. 1, Op.46

Vibrato-less strings and raw energy from woodwind and brass are not the sounds you would traditionally associate with Glinka, Rachmaninov, Grieg and Sibelius. The OAE invites you to think again.

Osmo Vänskä’s visit to the Toronto Symphony brings an outstanding, dramatic new concerto from Detlev Glanert, while familiar masterpieces by Grieg and Sibelius spring to life with vivid freshness. 

On paper it all seemed so alluring: a tuneful opening suite, one of the raciest warhorses in the stable and a national icon to close with. However, the reality in Grieg, Tchaikovsky and Elgar was somewhat different.