Every month, kawarthaNOW is the only local media source to bring you a list of what’s coming to Netflix Canada.

In February, Netflix premieres the first season of its original series Locke & Key, based on the best-selling graphic novels of the same name written by Joe Hill and illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez. The supernatural drama follows three siblings who, after the murder of their father, move into their ancestral home only to find the house has magical keys that give them a vast array of powers and abilities. It premieres on Friday, February 7th.

VIDEO: Locke & Key official trailer

Other new Netflix original series include Gentefied (Feb. 21), I Am Not Okay With This (Feb. 26), and Queen Sono (Feb. 28). Returning original series include season two of Narcos: Mexico (Feb. 13), the final season of Cable Girls (Feb. 14), season two of Happy (Feb. 27), and season two of Altered Carbon (Feb. 27) — but with Anthony Mackie replacing Joel Kinnaman in the lead role of Takeshi Kovacs.

Other returning series include season four of Better Call Saul (Feb. 9) and season three of Vikings (Feb. 19).

Netflix films include Horse Girl (Feb. 7), The Coldest Game (Feb. 8), To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (Feb. 12), and All The Bright Places (Feb. 28). Netflix original documentaries include The Pharmacist (Feb. 5), Who Killed Malcolm X? (Feb. 7), Babies (Feb. 21), and season two of Formula 1: Drive to Survive (Feb. 28).

Theatrical films include Darkest Hour, You’ve Got Mail, The Adventures of Tintin, and Wedding Crashers (all on Feb. 1), 8 Mile (Feb. 5), and Arrival (Feb. 26).

VIDEO: New to Netflix Canada in February

Here’s the complete list of everything coming to Netflix Canada in February, along with what’s leaving.

Coming in February (no release date specified)

• Amit Tandon: Family Tandoncies (Netflix original) – From the death of romance in marriage to the injustices of modern-day parenting, Amit Tandon shares wisdom and wisecracks as a battle-scarred family guy.
• Taj Mahal 1989 (Netflix original) – Dharam and Rashmi, both students at the university, are in love and are enjoying the first flush of youth. As Dharam gets more passionate about following his political ambitions Rashmi questions the change in his demeanor and moves away. Angad is the friend that everyone needs, while his philosophy about love is very clear, that it doesn’t exist, he falls head over heels for Mamta who is the student leader for the communist party and stands against the party that Dharam is a part of.

Saturday, February 1

• Changeling
• Crazy, Stupid, Love
• Darkest Hour
• Frost/Nixon
• Gone with the Wind
• Munich
• Nights in Rodanthe
• P.S. I Love You
• Red Sparrow
• Saint Seiya: Season 6
• The Adventures of Tintin
• Wedding Crashers
• You’ve Got Mail

Monday, February 3

• Sordo (Netflix film) – Alluding to “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” this WWII drama follows a fugitive guerrilla, deaf after a bombing, as he tries to survive in northern Spain.
• Team Kaylie: Part 3 (Netflix family) – Adventure is calling! Join Kaylie, Ray Ray, Amber, Valeria, Chewy, Jackie and more as they navigate friendship, flirtation and the great outdoors.

Tuesday, February 4

• Tom Papa: You’re Doing Great! (Netflix original) – In this age of insurmountable consumption of media and where bad news travels fast from all directions, Tom Papa is here to proclaim You’re Doing Great!, which is also the title of his debut Netflix comedy special. Life isn’t perfect, it never has been and it never will be and Tom wants you to know that’s OK! Life is rough, he gets it, and wants to remind us to take care of ourselves, embrace who you’ve become, and absorb the beauty of life. There are a lot of challenges and responsibilities we take on in life like family, work, climate change, social media, and living in New Jersey, but if we find someone who loves us for who we are, whether it be a human or a goldfish, Tom believes we’ll be just fine. Filmed in front of a live audience at the Victoria Theater at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.

Wednesday, February 5

• 8 Mile
• Along Came Polly
• Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
• La boda de la abuela (Netflix film) – Sequel to the successful El Cumple de la Abuela. After having met the family a few years ago when celebrating their grandmother’s birthday, the same cast of characters is reunited to now celebrate her wedding to the family’s gardner. The family opposes the marriage, new characters will be introduced and madness will ensue.
• The Land Before Time
• The Pharmacist (Netflix documentary) – In 1999, after losing his son in a drug-related shooting in New Orleans and lacking answers from police, a small town pharmacist – Dan Schneider – beats the odds when he embarks on a dogged pursuit to find and bring his son’s killer to justice. But months later, the ripple effects of his son’s addiction and tragic death would find him again when a troubling number of young, seemingly healthy people begin visiting Dan’s pharmacy with high dose prescriptions for OxyContin. Sensing a crisis long before the opioid epidemic had gained nationwide attention, Dan stakes a mission: Save the lives of other sons and daughters within his community. Then take the fight to Big Pharma itself. Directed by Julia Willoughby Nason and Jenner Furst (Time: The Kalief Browder Story, Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story), The Pharmacist shows how one man channeled his grief into a crusade that helped bring a reckoning against the powerful figures behind the nation’s devastating opioid epidemic.
• Public Enemies

Thursday, February 6

• Cagaster of an Insect Cage (Netflix anime) – Thirty years after a disease that turns the infected into carnivorous insects emerged, a young exterminator and a teenage girl search for her mother.
• The Flash: Season 6 (Episode 10)

Friday, February 7

• Dragons: Rescue Riders: Season 2 (Netflix family) – The Rescue Riders continue their mission to keep the residents of Huttsgalor safe but face a new nemesis in Magnus’s crafty nephew, Axel.
• Horse Girl (Netflix film) – Sarah (Alison Brie), a socially isolated arts and crafts store employee, finds herself more content in the company of horses and supernatural crime shows than people. But when a series of strangely surreal dreams upend the simplicity of her waking life, Sarah struggles to distinguish her visions from reality. Directed by Jeff Baena, Horse Girl is a darkly humorous psychological thriller about a woman’s search for the truth, however abstract it may be.
• Locke & Key (Netflix original) – After their father is murdered under mysterious circumstances, the three Locke siblings and their mother move into their ancestral home, Keyhouse, which they discover is full of magical keys that may be connected to their father’s death. As the Locke children explore the different keys and their unique powers, a mysterious demon awakens — and will stop at nothing to steal them. From Carlton Cuse (Lost, Bates Motel) and Meredith Averill (The Haunting of Hill House), Locke & Key is a coming-of-age mystery about love, loss, and the unshakable bonds that define family. Locke and Key on Netflix is the long awaited television adaptation of the best-selling comic book series by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez for IDW comics.
• My Holo Love (Netflix original) – Soyeon is a lonely woman leading a lackluster life because of prosopagnosia. One day she inadvertently comes to possess a prototype of Hollo, a state-of-the-art AI hologram device, and her life is changing. Nando, a genius programmer who creates Hollo, moves in next door of Soyeon to snatch Hollo. For Soyeon, the appearances and voices of Nando and Hollo are same. Where will their triangle relationships go?
• Who Killed Malcolm X? (Netflix documentary) – Decades after the assassination of African American leader Malcolm X, an activist embarks on a complex mission seeking truth in the name of justice.

Saturday, February 8

• The Coldest Game (Netflix film) – During the Cold War, troubled math genius Josh Mansky finds himself drafted to play in a U.S.-Russia chess match — and a deadly game of espionage.

Sunday, February 9

• Better Call Saul: Season 4
• Captain Underpants Epic Choice-o-Rama (Netflix family) – In this interactive special, Harold and George need your decision-making skills to stop Krupp from blowing their beloved treehouse to smithereens.
• Polaroid

Tuesday, February 11

• Camino A Roma (Netflix documentary) – Mexican documentary director Andrés Clariond made a making of documentary about Roma. They shot the entire production and an in depth interview with Alfonso Cuaron. It was self financed by Agencia Bengala (Andrés’s production company).

Wednesday, February 12

• 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
• To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (Netflix film) – It’s a new year and Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and Peter (Noah Centineo) are no longer pretending to be a couple. They ARE a couple. And, as Lara Jean navigates a trove of official firsts with Peter — her first real kiss, her first real date, her first Valentine’s Day — she finds herself leaning more on Kitty and Margot (Anna Cathcart and Janel Parrish), Chris (Madeleine Arthur), and an unexpected new confidant, Stormy (Holland Taylor), to help her manage the complex emotions that come with this new chapter of balancing a relationship and figuring out her authentic self. But when John Ambrose (Jordan Fisher), another recipient of one of Lara Jean’s old love letters, enters her life again she must rely on herself more than ever as she’s confronted with her first real dilemma: Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

Thursday, February 13

• Dragon Quest Your Story (Netflix anime) – The story begins with a young boy named Dai. Dai, the young protagonist of the series, is the only human living on the island. Having been raised by Brass and with his best friend, the monster Gome, Dai grows up dreaming of becoming a hero.
• The Flash: Season 6 (Episode 11)
• Love is Blind (Netflix original) – In Love is Blind, a three-week event, singles who want to be loved for who they are, rather than what they look like, have signed up for a less conventional approach to modern dating where they hope to meet the person they want to spend the rest of their lives with…without ever having seen them. With no distractions from the outside world, the singles talk to a stream of potential love interests and when a meaningful connection is made, they propose and then lay their eyes on their fiancé for the first time. Engaged and back in the real world, as the couples plan their wedding day, they will quickly discover whether they can turn their emotional connection into a physical one before the fast-approaching ceremony. Hosted by Nick and Vanessa Lachey, this addictive 10-part series will uncover whether looks or age do matter, or if love really is blind.
• Narcos: Mexico: Season 2 (Netflix original) – Félix must cope with the U.S. and the consequences of his actions against the DEA while facing discontent within his organization.

Friday, February 14

• Cable Girls: Final Season (Netflix original) – Lidia returns to Spain to try and find her daughter with the help of her close friends, as they all grapple with the consequences of the civil war.
• Isi & Ossi (Netflix film) – They couldn’t be any more different: Isi (20) is a billionaire’s daughter from posh Heidelberg, Ossi (23) lives in the nearby working-class town of Mannheim, raised by his poor, struggling single mother. But when Isi meets Ossi, the two quickly realize that they could benefit from each other: Isi needs Ossi to provoke her overprotective parents and get them to fund her long-desired dream to become a chef – Ossi needs Isi’s money to finance a boxing match. What seems like a solid plan, soon develops into emotional chaos…
• A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (Netflix family) – The world’s favorite sheep returns in this BAFTA nominated sequel to Shaun’s Oscar nominated 2015 cinematic debut. When an alien named LU-LA crash-lands near Mossy Bottom Farm, her magical powers, irrepressible mischief and galactic sized burps soon have Shaun the Sheep and his flock enchanted. But when Shaun takes his new extraterrestrial friend on the road to find her lost spaceship, little does he know that a sinister alien-hunting agency is on their trail. Now Shaun and the flock must avert Farmageddon before it’s too late.

Monday, February 17

• The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia (Netflix family) – Multi-camera comedy about a 15 year old female teen genius that moves across the country to work as a robotics engineer and live with her uncle, a high school football coach.

Wednesday, February 19

• Chef Show: Volume 3 (Netflix original) – Cooking is a journey. And making a meal is about more than just food. It’s about appreciating friends, family and tradition. An opportunity to come together. To learn, to share and to celebrate different flavors, cultures and people. In The Chef Show actor/director Jon Favreau and award-winning Chef Roy Choi reunite after their critically acclaimed film Chef to embark on a new adventure. The two friends experiment with their favorite recipes and techniques, baking, cooking, exploring and collaborating with some of the biggest names in the entertainment and culinary world. Favreau and Choi embrace their passion for food, but more importantly their love for bringing people together over a delicious meal. Guests include Wolfgang Puck, Spider-Man director Sam Raimi, Sprinkles founder Candance Nelson, Pizzana chef Daniele Uditi, Border Grill co-owners Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, and Wexler’s Deli co-owners Micah Wexler and Michael Kasser. The Chef Show is executive produced and directed by Jon Favreau. Roy Choi and Annie Johnson also serve as executive producers.
• Vikings: Season 3

Thursday, February 20

• The Flash: Season 6 (Episode 12)
• Spectros (Netflix original) – A horror mystery starts taking place in the district of Liberdade, the Japanese neighborhood of São Paulo. A teenage boy comes together with three other misfit kids, as they become embroiled in the clash amongst Brazilian witchcraft and Japanese Shinto spirits invading their neighborhood.

Friay, February 21

• Babies (Netflix documentary) – Filmed over the course of three years, Babies explores the miracle of the first full year of life through the pioneering work of leading scientists from across the globe. The series examines the epic journey every person embarks on, from helpless new-born to independent toddler.
• Gentefied (Netflix original) – Three Latinx cousins navigate their differences as they work to keep their grandfather’s taco shop afloat in their rapidly gentrifying LA neighborhood.
• Glitch Techs (Netflix family) – Glitch Techs is an action-comedy set against a world of video game fantasies come to life. It features two teenage gamers who have the best after-school job ever – capturing escaped video game “glitches”!
• Puerta 7 (Netflix original) – A woman (Dolores Fonzi) tries to rid an Argentine soccer club of the organized crime surrounding it. Created by Martín Zimmerman (“Ozark,” “Narcos”).
• System Crasher (Netflix film) – Traumatized, violent and yearning for love, 9-year-old Benni bonds with a gruff mentor as child-services workers struggle to find her a home.

Wednesday, February 26

• Arrival
• I Am Not Okay With This (Netflix original) – A teen navigates the complexities of high school, family and her sexuality while dealing with new superpowers. Based on Charles Forsman’s graphic novel.

Thursday, February 27

• Altered Carbon: Season 2 (Netflix original) – When a job brings Takeshi Kovacs back to Harlan’s World in a new sleeve, he finds the planet at war — and his long-lost love lurking in the shadows.
• The Flash: Season 6 (Episode 13)
• Followers (Netflix original) – Followers is the first drama series directed by Mika Ninagawa (Diner, No Longer Human) and highlights her unique approach to filming with dreamlike vivid colors, along with distinct and vibrant aesthetic. It is an original story that depicts Tokyo with the authentic fashion and lifestyles of women living there, starring Miki Nakatani, Elaiza Ikeda and more talented casts. Tokyo: a vibrant city full of life, color, ambition and fashion. A famous and successful fashion photographer Limi Nara (played by Miki Nakatani) has built a career capturing the evolving people and city of present-day Tokyo. She lives her life confidently and showcases her independence in both her career and relationships. Conversely, a young, aspiring actress Natsume Hyakuta (played by Elaiza Ikeda) struggles to find her identity and self confidence which impacts her personal relationships and career as an actress.
• Happy!: Season 2
• Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution (Netflix family) – The film is the 22nd installment in the Pokémon film series and is a CGI remake of the first film

Friday, February 28

• All The Bright Places (Netflix film) – Based on the internationally bestselling novel by Jennifer Niven, All The Bright Places tells the story of Violet Markey (Elle Fanning) and Theodore Finch (Justice Smith), who meet and change each other’s lives forever. As they struggle with the emotional and physical scars of their past, they come together, discovering that even the smallest places and moments can mean something. This compelling drama provides a refreshing and human take on the experience of mental illness, its impact on relationships, as well as the beauty and lasting impact of young love.
• Babylon Berlin: Season 3 (Netflix original) – Set in the decadent Berlin of the Weimar Republic, this award-winning crime drama returns for a new season.
• Formula 1: Drive to Survive: Season 2 (Netflix original) – Formula 1 drivers, managers and team owners live life in the fast lane — both on and off the track. The series now returns for Season 2.
• Jeopardy!: Celebrate Alex Collection
• Jeopardy!: Cindy Stowell Collection
• Jeopardy!: Seth Wilson Collection
• La trinchera infinita (Netflix film) – The first movie in Spanish from the producers and directors of HANDIA. A film based on the incredible true story of the mole from the Spanish Civil War who spent 33 years hidden in his own home for fear of retribution.
• Queen Sono (Netflix original) – A hard-partying African female spy, assisted by her cohorts from a covert peacekeeping organization, uses her lethal skills to keep the continent safe from terror while she contends with continual post-traumatic stress and an inconvenient sex addition by self-medicating with drugs and alcohol.
• Restaurants on the Edge (Netflix original) – A team of experts turns failing waterfront restaurants into destinations connected to their community, and worthy of their jaw-dropping locations.
• Unstoppable (Netflix original) – In Mexico City, three spoiled young girls meet a dangerous woman who leads them on a risky journey, where they grow and learn about themselves.

Leaving Netflix Canada in February

Saturday, February 1

• The Mindy Project: Seasons 1-6

Friday, February 14

• Mean Girls

Wednesday, February 19

• Bates Motel: Season 1-5

Tuesday, February 25

• Blade Runner 2049

Friday, February 28

• Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

All titles and dates are subject to change.

The annual ReFrame Film Festival in downtown Peterborough, taking place this year from January 23rd to 26th, will expose thousands of attendees to films, art, and ideas from across the globe.

But the festival is not just about supporting documentary film — it’s also about fostering community.

Festival organizers recognize that some people in the community face barriers to attending ReFrame — whether financial, social, or otherwise. While the festival has always had a firm pay-what-you-can policy for every film presented, they are striving to do more to reduce these barriers.

For example, thanks to the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough, ReFrame has started a pilot program in partnership with the Peterborough Public Library to offer a limited number of free festival passes to community members.

In addition, the festival has worked with local service organizations such as PARN and the New Canadians Centre to distribute passes to their patrons.

As part of this initiative, the Trent Central Student Association is also offering ReFrame passes at reduced rates: $40 for a weekend pass instead of the usual $50 student price.

Other initiatives to foster community involvement include the pairing of local teen environmental activist Nico Ossa Williams with established local filmmaker Rob Viscardis (Town of Widows) to edit Nico’s film submission about the Peterborough youth-organized climate strike into a polished short film.

That film, You(th), will open the festival on Thursday night (January 23) at Showplace Performance Centre, followed by the award-winning feature film Maxima by Claudia Sparrow.

Other local films to look out for include Shahed Kaito’s short film Live Broadcast about a family coping with the Syrian war, Justin TenEycke’s short A Garden Video that looks at the Heads Up for Inclusion gardens, Karleen Pendleton Jiménez’s short Dancing on a Rainbow: Notes from a Butch Prof about being a butch dyke/trans professor in teacher education, Cara Mumford’s beautiful dance film Ecstasy, and CommUNITY by Megan Murphy that features PARN’s former executive director Kim Dolan.

Of course, local features Town of Widows by by Rob Viscardis and Natasha Luckhardt and Circus Boy by LA Alfonso are also not to be missed.

ReFrame is also working with Trent University professor Nadine Changfoot (whose short film, Time Travel, screened at last year’s festival) to present 11 digital stories made by local Peterborough women about the aging process.

Presented as part of two shorts programs called Aging Vitalities, the project includes stories by Alice Olsen Williams, Anne Taylor, Angela Connors, Inge Fowlie, Mary Gordon, Gisele Lalonde, Ann Barrett, Paulette Lackenbauer, Joanne Pritchard, Rosa McBee, and Charmaine Magumbe.

Panels and talks are always a feature at ReFrame and this year’s highlights include: legendary documentarian Alanis Obomsawin in conversation with playwright Drew Hayden Taylor; a discussion following the film nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up with activist Jade Tootoosis coming all the way from Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Treaty Six Territory (Alberta); The Opioid Crisis: Pathways Forward, a master class with esteemed filmmaker Laura Sky; and a discussion about the history of salmon in the Otonabee watershed.

ReFrame passes and tickets are available online at reframe.tickit.ca. A festival pass costs $60 ($50 for students, seniors, and the underwaged), opening night tickets cost $15 ($10 with a festival pass), and day passes (all films on either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday) cost $25.

Tickets are also available at the GreenUP Store (378 Aylmer St. N., Peterborough, 705-745-3238) and Watson & Lou (383 Water St., Peterborough, 705-775-7568), and in Lakefield at Happenstance Books and Yarn ()44 Queen St., Lakefield, 705-652-7535).

During ReFrame, passes will be available at the Showplace box office (290 George S. N., Peterborough). As always, rush pay-what-you-can tickets will be available at the door for every screening (subject to availability).

The full schedule of the more than 80 documentaries screening during the ReFrame Film Festival, including dates and locations, is available at reframefilmfestival.ca and on kawarthaNOW. You can also follow ReFrame on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

kawarthaNOW is proud to be a sponsor of the 2020 ReFrame Film Festival.

On Saturday, February 8th, the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra (PSO) presents “Winter Passion” at Showplace Performance Centre featuring works by Russian composers Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Sergei Sergeievich Prokofiev and selections from Canadian composer John Burge.

Bringing passion and wonder to the winter chill is Tchaikovsky’s fate-filled Symphony No. 5 and Prokofiev’s imaginative Piano Concerto No. 1, performed by guest artist David Jalbert. Selections from Burge’s Four Seasons of the Canadian Flag acknowledge the season while looking to spring.

“Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony is undoubtedly one of the greatest works from the Romantic era,” says PSO artistic director and conductor Michael Newnham.

“It is full of colour and emotion. Every bar of it contains meaning. This piece is like a diary, which brings us dangerously close to the most inner thoughts of the composer.”

Composed in 1888, the classic four-movement form is unified through a “motto theme” (pioneered by Berlioz in his Symphonie fantastique of 1830 where he introduces a melodic “idée fixe” — the object of fixation — as a representation of the artist’s obsession with his beloved).

For this recurring theme, Tchaikovsky chose a phrase from Mikhail Glinka’s 1836 tragic opera A Life for the Tsar, which accompanies the words “turn not into sorrow.”

The mood for the symphony is a sombre one, set by the motto the clarinet mournfully states in the extended slow and solemn introduction to the first movement. Perhaps it reflects the self-doubt Tchaikovsky experienced when he started composing the symphony, or perhaps a nod to the mysterious ‘xxx’ that appears in his notes on the work.

The movement proceeds in traditional sonata form with several themes in the exposition — notably, a jaunty march and a romantic “sigh” through violin and full orchestra — all found again in the development section.

However, rather than a robust restatement of the theme in the coda, the movement unexpectedly ends by disappearing into the lowest stretches of the orchestra, reflecting the mournful statement of the clarinet in the introduction. Submission before fate?

The second movement contains the famously beautiful horn solo, poignant and sensual. This second and the remaining movements passionately oscillate between the darkness of the idée fixe and lightness, found in a roller-coaster ride of spirited tempos, lyric flow, and influences of balletic elegance. A true struggle between fate and faith, ambivalent in its conclusion.

VIDEO: “Symphony No. 5” by Tchaikovsky

Although not greatly appreciated during Tchaikovsky’s own lifetime, this symphony later became known as one of the ‘great Fifth’ symphonies of all time, along those of Beethoven and Shostakovich.

David Jalbert, one of Canada’s most renowned pianists, returns to the PSO for a second virtuoso performance. Jalbert first performed with the PSO during the 2008-09 season and his attention to detail, combined with an infectious generosity of spirit, endeared him to both the orchestra and audience.

Jalbert joins the PSO for the second piece of the evening, Prokofiev’s ground-breaking Piano Concerto No. 1.

“The opening of this concerto sounds almost like something that a grand romantic composer, like Rachmaninov, might have composed at this time (1911),” Maestro Newnham observes. “But before you know it, all of this breaks into pieces through the energy and wit of the 20th century. It’s one of the shortest but most action-packed concertos that I know.”

Having composed his first piano piece at age five and his first opera (The Giant) at nine, Prokofiev entered the Saint Petersburg Conservatory at the age of 12 and proved himself an exceptional talented and exceptionally confident student.

Despite being several years younger than his peers, he was critical of the other students’ work. He also rejected the criticism of his own work by the conservatory’s director, Alexander Glazunov, all resulting in Prokofiev establishing a firm reputation as an “enfant terrible.”

Contributing solidly to this early reputation was Prokofiev’s first piano concerto, which elicited considerable critical discussion. Completed in 1911 while Prokofiev was still a student, Piano Concerto No. 1 is a daring, modernist-leaning work that defies convention in several ways.

Conceived of sonata form, it bears only a recognizable derivative of it. Prokofiev described it as “one sonata movement” containing three sections that run without pauses between.

Unusually, there are two concluding episodes in the first section. When the concerto then proceeds after a grand pause, it is not by the expected development section but by an entirely new theme, “a completely self-contained Andante dropped in, as it were, at this point.”

VIDEO: Prokofiev’s “The Young Juliet” performed by David Jalbert

Critics pronounced the concerto as “musical mud”, “the work of a madman”, and a “primitive cacophony”, with one critic suggesting that the audience chip in to “buy the poor fellow a straitjacket.” It was, however, these critical reactions that gained Prokofiev much attention (and notoriety) so early in his career.

The final performances of the “Winter Passion” concert will include two selections from John Burge’s Four Seasons of the Canadian Flag, which Burge conceived after seeing a photograph of Maxwell Newhouse’s canvas “Four Seasons of the Canadian Flag”.

“At the time I had been looking for an idea that could inspire a new composition that would recognize Canada’s 150th anniversary of Confederation,” Burge says. “It seemed immediately apparent that these four canvasses demanded a musical interpretation.”

“Certainly Vivaldi has done well with his four concertos modelled on the seasons. Max was in complete agreement with this idea and provided his blessing.”

Burge describes “Winter”, the first selection the PSO will be performing, as a movement of stark, dissonant contrasts that makes the most use of distinctive percussion colours. He describes the second selection, “Spring”, as an attempt to capture those moments when the earth starts to thaw.

Eventually the pent-up energy that has been frozen all winter is rejuvenated in a long build-up to a climax based on the opening French horn theme from the first movement.

“Spring” has an almost spiritual effect in the way the resurrection of nature can mirror the soul of the observer, and is a fitting end to the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra’s winter concert.

VIDEO: Burge’s “Four Seasons of the Canadian Flag” performed by NYO Canada

Concert tickets for “Winter Passion” are $49, $39, or $20 for adults, and $10 for students. Tickets are available at the Showplace box office (290 George St. N, Peterborough), by phone at 705-742-7469, or online at online.

Concert ticket holders are invited to attend “Meet the Maestro”, a popular ‘behind-the-music’ pre-concert talk with Maestro Newnham, at 6:40 p.m. in the Showplace theatre.