Fans of first-rate opera have one last chance to see the COC’s Il Trovatore on Wednesday, and four opportunities to witness the stunning and strange Opera Atelier production of Der Freischütz this week. And there’s a lot more:
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
TUESDAY
- Pianist John O’Conor for Music Toronto at the Jane Mallett Theatre, 8 p.m.
If there’s one concert worth braving the remains of Hurricane Sandy for it’s Irish pianist John O’Connor’s Beethoven and Schubert recital for Music Toronto. He may not be a world star, but his interpretations of this music are very special and his visits to Toronto relatively infrequent. I’ll have an interview with O’Conor here on Tuesday morning. Concert details are here.
TUESDAY & THURSDAY
- The Talisker Players at Trinity-St Paul’s Centre, 8 p.m.
The city’s underappreciated Talisker Players present a fascinating programme of words and music about love, featuring mezzo Anita Krause, tenor Lawrence Wiliford and actor/director Ross Manson. The texts and music, performed by string quartet augmented by clarinet and piano, span the past half-millennium and include works by George Frideric Handel and Kurt Weill. Concert details are here.
One of the pieces on the programme is Lovers, by American composer Seymour Barab (still alive and kicking at 91). For fun, here is “I’ll Never Go to Macy’s Anymore,” a Handelean parody by Barab sung by Angela Heater:
WEDNESDAY
- Organist Christian Lane at Roy Thomson Hall, noon. Free.
Roy Thomson Hall launches this season’s free lunchtime concerts with a blast from its concert pipe organ at the hands of young American virtuoso Christian Lane, winner of last year’s Canadian International Organ Competition in Montreal. The impressive programme of spooky pieces includes J.S. Bach’s D-minor Toccata and the Suite gothique by Léon Boëllman. You’ll find all the details here.
Among the pieces Lane will perform is Louis Vierne’s 1927 wonder, Carillon de Westminster, played here by Ben van Oosten at the Cavaillé-Coll organ of the Church of Saint-Ouen in Rouen, France:
THURSDAY & SATURDAY
- Manuel de Falla’s opera La vita breve in concert at Roy Thomson Hall, 8 p.m.
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Toronto Mendelssohn Choir join in conductor Rafael Frübeck de Burgos’s concert presentation of this little-performed operatic take on love among the Roma with a cast of hand-picked Spanish singers. There will be surtitles. I’ll have more on this later this week. For details on these two performances, click here.
FRIDAY
- Amici Chamber Ensemble at Mazzoleni Hall, 8 p.m.
This high-powered group of chamber players, which includes members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, start their season with a passionate quartet of works by Beethoven, Maurice Ravel and Gian Carlo Menotti. It should be especially nice to hear this music in such a warm and intimate venue. Concert details here.
The programme misidentifies the Suite for Two Cellos and Piano, a beautiful 1973 piece by the late American composer Gian Carlo Menotti as a Sonata. Here is the rollicking Finale, performed by Mats Lidström and Claes Gunnarson with pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips at Wigmore Hall a couple of years ago:
SATURDAY
- University of Toronto choirs celebrate Ruth Watson Henderson at the MacMillan Theatre, 7:30 p.m.
Accomplished and generous Toronto composer, organist, accompanist, piano teacher and choir leader Ruth Watson Henderson is thrown a musical 80th birthday party by University of Toronto’s MacMillan Singers and the Women’s Chamber Choir under conductor Hilary Apfelstadt. Concert details here.
- Hannaford Street Silver Band and organist William O’Meara at Metropolitan United, 8 p.m.
There’s a special sound and energy to a concert wind band that seems to have fallen off our collective radar on this side of the 49th parallel. The city’s venerable Hannaford band gives us a chance to reconnect as well as appreciate the endearing Fall Fair by 20th century Toronto composer Godfrey Ridout in a concert led by guest conductor (and composer) Edward Gregson. Organist William O’Meara adds to the musical pleasures in the premiere of a new piece, Cathedral Architecture, by John Burge. Concert details here.
SUNDAY
- The Zemlinsky Quartet at St Wenceslaus Church, 496 Gladstone Ave, 5 p.m.
The Czech Republic’s critically praised, 18-year-old Zemlinsky Quartet makes a discreet stop in Toronto that should not be overlooked. Violinists Frantisek Soucek and Petr Strizek, violist Petr Holman and cellist Vladimir Fortin already have 15 albums to their credit, covering classics as well as newer repertoire. Their playing brims with spirit and immediacy.
They perform the second of six Nocturnes in the City concerts, which highlight Czech and Slovak musicians. Unfortunately, the presenters don’t provide any programme details in advance, which is stupid. But if you’re going to take a leap of faith this week, this is the one. For a link to the season brochure, click here.
Here are the Zemlinskys in the first movement of Beethoven’s Op. 95 quartet in F minor:
John Terauds
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
