The Toronto Symphony Orchestra performs with Yo-Yo Ma.Jag Gundu/Toronto Symphony Orchestra
At Thursday’s concert at Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto Symphony Orchestra conductor and music director Gustavo Gimeno will be awarded the Order of Civil Merit, one of Spain’s highest civilian honours. It recognizes the Spanish maestro’s artistic achievements and leadership in the classical music world.
“It’s the kind of thing you never expect, of course,” Gimeno told The Globe and Mail. “But when it happens, then you begin think about it. I feel gratitude.”
The honour also acknowledges the role the 48-year-old son of a clarinetist plays in promoting Spanish culture on the global stage. Next year, however, Gimeno will promote Canadian culture in Spain.
The TSO has just announced an eight-city, six-country European tour led by Gimeno that will take the 103-year-old institution to Spain for the first time. Concerts are scheduled in early 2026 for Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional de Música, Zaragoza’s Auditorio Palacio de Congresos de Zaragoza and Barcelona’s Palau de la Música Catalana. It is Gimeno’s first tour with the orchestra outside North America.
“It’s going to be a very special feeling for me to be in Spain with my orchestra and my colleagues,” said Gimeno, TSO’s music director since 2020. “They are also thrilled, but, objectively, Spain is an important destiny, and touring activities there are very relevant nowadays.”
The tour runs from Jan. 27 to Feb. 9. The other stops are Amsterdam (where Gimeno and his family are based), Hamburg, Antwerp, Vienna and Luxembourg City, where Gimeno recently concluded his 10th and final season as music director with the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra.
“The dates in Luxembourg and Spain are not a coincidence,” said TSO chief executive officer Mark Williams. “I think having this opportunity with this orchestra to be able to go to his home country in particular is going to be very moving.”
The orchestra’s last transatlantic tour was in 2017, with concerts in Israel and Europe. Though the TSO has played Hamburg before, the coming tour takes them to the architecturally spectacular Elbphilharmonie, overlooking the Elbe River, for the first time.
“It’s one of these new iconic buildings,” Gimeno said. “Every concert there is well attended, because of the venue itself.”
An international array of guest artists will join the orchestra for portions of the tour. Austrian-British soprano Anna Prohaska sings works by Mahler, Haydn and Juno-winning singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright over three performances in Spain and Vienna. German soprano Christina Landshamer sings in Amsterdam and Hamburg.
Canadian wunderkind Bruce Liu is onboard to handle Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Moldova-born Patricia Kopatchinskaja is the hired gun for Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 1.
The planning for the jaunt began more than two years ago. The choice of programming is part of the logistical challenge of hauling an ensemble of more than 80 musicians through the great music halls of Europe.
“When you travel with two programs, as we are, you’re looking for contrasts within the programs and contrasts among the programs,” Gimeno said.
“And you have to propose programs to eight different halls, and those presenters in different countries and different cities are all making their own programs with their own symphony orchestras. Plus, there are other touring and visiting orchestras. So, you’re trying to find the pieces which suit everyone. Can you imagine? It’s a kaleidoscope of possibilities.”
In total, the TSO will present seven pieces split across multiple programs in different combinations. The other major orchestral works are Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4.
The Prokofiev piece is new for Gimeno with the TSO. “It’s something we will discover together, which is always exciting,” the conductor said. “But at the same time, musicians embrace feeling comfortable and confident on tour, which is why we bring Mahler’s No. 4.”
Most of the performances will begin with Curiosity, Genius, and the Search for Petula Clark, a 10-minute, single-movement work for orchestra written by Canada’s Kelly-Marie Murphy and commissioned by the TSO in 2017 to celebrate Glenn Gould’s 85th birthday and the 70th anniversary of his debut performance with the orchestra.
The other homegrown piece is Wainwright’s A Woman’s Face (Sonnet 20), a musical interpretation of one of Shakespeare’s most beloved sonnets. Haydn’s cantata and soprano showcase Scena di Berenice rounds out the programming.
“We view this as an opportunity to represent Canada, represent Toronto and represent ourselves,” Williams said. “We’re part of a global system of orchestras, and there’s a repertoire the great orchestras play. So, here’s how we interpret these masterpieces, but we’re also going to share something that may be totally new to you and also something that is inherently Canadian.”