March 04, 2004 -

Ottawa, Canada -- German conductor and vocal specialist Helmuth Rilling returns to the National Arts Centre Orchestra to present Haydn’s magnificent oratorio The Creation with a choir combining the Cantata Singers of Ottawa, the Opera Lyra Ottawa Chorus, and the Ottawa Choral Society prepared by Laurence Ewashko and Duain Wolfe. Soprano Donna Brown, tenor James Taylor and baritone Nathan Berg are the star soloists. The Creation will be sung in German with the full libretto provided in English and French. These Bostonian Bravo Series concerts take place in Southam Hall on Wednesday, March 10 and Thursday, March 11 at 20:00.

There will be free Pre-Concert Talks given in French both nights by music critic Jean-Jacques van Vlasselaer entitled “La creativité de Haydn”.

“I spend as much time over it because I intend it to last a long time,” said Haydn as he lavished care and attention on the composition of this masterpiece.  “I could see it was going to come out well.  I have never felt so devout as when I was working on The Creation. Every day I fell on my knees and prayed to God to give me strength to finish the work successfully.” The work was a huge success from the moment of its premiere in 1798.

The 34 musical numbers assembled into three large parts present an enormously rich and wonderfully varied account of the creation story.  Parts I and II relate the events of the first six days, with the establishment of the plant and animal kingdoms as portrayed in Genesis.  Part III is more reflective, focusing on the story of Adam and Eve but stopping short of their Fall.  The nobler aspects of mankind and God’s good deeds are here much in evidence. Haydn incorporated numerous examples of picturesque imagery. These include the famous opening depiction of chaos, the blast of sound announcing the arrival of light, a storm, clouds, lightning, thunder, hail, rain, snow, a sunrise, the moon, lion, tiger, stag, cattle, sheep, even the lowly worm.

The words of the Bible are divided among three archangels: the soprano Gabriel (Ottawa’s own internationally acclaimed Donna Brown, who has performed The Creation with Rilling all over the world), the tenor Uriel (American James Taylor, a baroque specialist who has also performed and recorded with Rilling), and the baritone Raphael (Saskatchewan’s Nathan Berg another Rilling collaborator who has a number of baroque recordings to his credit). Donna Brown and Nathan Berg also portray Adam and Eve in the third part. The chorus takes on the role of the heavenly hosts.  Duain Wolfe, the director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chorus, returns to the NAC for the final vocal preparation of the three combined choirs, rehearsed by Laurence Ewashko.

Helmuth Rilling is internationally recognized as one of the preeminent authorities on the music of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries. Born in Stuttgart in 1933, he founded the Gächinger Kantorei in 1954, and in 1965 established its instrumental counterpart, the Bach Collegium Stuttgart. In 1957 he became Cantor of the Stuttgart Memorial Church, a position he still holds today. Helmuth Rilling is the director of the International Bach Academy in Stuttgart, which he founded in 1981. Together with the teachers and ensembles of this institution, he has held Bach Academy sessions all over the world. Rilling is the only conductor to have recorded all of Bach’s sacred cantatas.

Tickets for these Bostonian Bravo Series concerts on March 10 and 11 are on sale now at $27.00, $45.00, $56.00 and $58.00, with box seats at $73.00 (GST and Facility Fee included) at the NAC Box Office (Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00), and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at 613-755-1111.  Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC’s web-site at www.nac-cna.ca.  Half-price tickets for students in all sections of the hall are on sale in person at the NAC Box Office upon presentation of a valid student ID card.

For more information please contact:
Jane Morris, Communications Officer,
National Arts Centre Orchestra
(613) 947-7000, ext. 335
jmorris@nac-cna.ca