This season features classical music from
Antonio Vivaldi's
Harmonic Inspiration and
Johann Sebastian Bach's harpsichord and string compositions, and
Eugene Istomin,
Isaac Stern, and
Leonard Rose debut in North America as a
chamber ensemble, playing trios for piano, violin and cello by
Ludwig van Beethoven and
Johannes Brahms. Also in his North American debut, Soviet master pianist
Sviatoslav Richter plays Intermezzo No. 5 from
Fantasies by
Johannes Brahms, compositions by impressionist
Maurice Ravel, and
Sonata No. 2 by
Sergei Prokofiev. The
Toronto Symphony Orchestra performs
Romantic era program music in
Symphonie Fantastique (1830) by
Hector Berlioz conducted by
Seiji Ozawa of Japan. Later works include
The Planets by
Gustav Holst and a piano
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by
Sergei Rachmaninoff with the
CBC Montreal Orchestra. A full episode is devoted as a portrait of the career of jazz composer
Duke Ellington and his orchestra, along with jazz vocalist
Joya Sherrill. For the fifth year running
Festival produced a
Gilbert and Sullivan comedic opera, and this season's choice is
Iolanthe. The tragic opera
Rigoletto by
Giuseppe Verdi is performed. Operatic vocal performances include
Giacomo Puccini's love duet from
Madama Butterfly, an aria from
Gianni Schicchi, and a scene from
Tosca featuring
Metropolitan Opera soprano
Renata Tebaldi, and Canadian baritone
Louis Quilico. Arias by
George Frideric Handel and
Gioachino Rossini are performed, along with Rossini's
The Venetian Regatta,
Paolo Tosti's song ''L'ultima canzone'', and
Pietro Mascagni's 1901 opera
Le maschere. French soprano
Mathé Altéry sings selections from
Oscar Strauss, and from
Franz Lehár's operetta
The Count of Luxembourg, along with Broadway songs from
Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical
Carousel, and from
Lerner and Loewe's musical
My Fair Lady, and songs popular at the turn of the century. Canadian contralto
Maureen Forrester sings
Siete canciones populares Españolas by Spanish composer
Manuel de Falla, and
Serenade by
Franz Schubert with a choir of twelve women from the
Festival Singers of Toronto. Ballets include
Sylvia with music by
Léo Delibes,
Images of Love to music by
Peter Tranchell, and
Sergei Prokofiev's "drambalet"
Romeo and Juliet, based on
Shakespeare's play. "In Praise of Great Performers," the choreography of
George Balanchine is performed by the
New York City Ballet company in
The Four Temperaments to music by
Paul Hindemith, and
Ivesiana to music by
Charles Ives. Plays this season include
Henrik Ibsen's tragedy
The Master Builder (1892),
Bertolt Brecht's anti-war
Mother Courage and Her Children (1939),
Samuel Beckett's tragicomedy
Waiting for Godot (1953),
Ray Mathew's drama
A Spring Song (1958), and
Harold Pinter' menacing comedy
The Birthday Party (1959). Contemporary plays include
Clive Exton's
The Close Prisoner,
André Laurendeau's
Two Terrible Women,
James Hanley's,
Say Nothing, and Charles E. Israel's
Let Me Count the Ways. Episodes with two offerings include
Max Frisch's
The Furious Philipp Hotz, Ph.D. (1956) with
Lewis John Carlino's
Epiphany (1963), and two teleplays by
William Hanley,
Mrs. Daily Has a Lover and
Today is Independence Day. Literary adaptations include
Brian Moore's novel
The Feast of Lupercal, and
Isaac Bashevis Singer's novel
The Magician of Lublin. == Notable guest cast ==