Vancouver Symphony Orchestra has big plans for this atypical fall

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Programming has been nailed down, or as nailed down as our current situation allows, for October and November. More programs will be put together as the “season” progresses.

The actual details of the first quintet of performances demonstrate just how it will all play out.

The season opens Oct. 16 with the first Assante Stars program that features the VSO’s favourite violinist, James Ehnes in Bach’s A minor Violin Concerto, BWV 1041. The concerto will be paired with Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, maestro Tausk conducting — a nod to the orchestra’s interrupted Beethoven series that had to be abandoned in the spring.

On Oct. 23 it’s the first Newmont Maestro Series concert, a program where the spotlight is on strings and the fabled VSO brass. The strings tackle Bartok’s Divertimento, an extravagant piece reminiscent of the baroque era concerto grosso, which pits small soloist groups against a larger complement of strings. The brass shine out, all on their own for this occasion, in Elgar Howorth’s adaptation of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Maestro Tausk conducts both works.