You can sing with a violin just as well as with a voice. Just ask anyone who was at the second in this year’s Toronto Symphony Orchestra Mozart festival concerts, which included violinist Hilary Hahn, vocal soloists and the Amadeus Choir under music director Peter Oundjian on Wednesday night.
- 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
On the Roy Thomson Hall programme were three works from Mozart’s early years, spent in his birthplace of Salzburg — so close to Vienna, yet frustratingly far away for the young and ambitious performer and composer.
American violinist Hilary Hahn, who grows in assurance with every visit to Toronto, played Mozart’s teenage Violin Concerto No. 5, K219, known as the “Turkish” concerto for its rollicking dance in the final movement.
The music, especially the slow middle movement, sang with the phrasing and breathing of a human voice — a clear, controlled and compelling one.
Hahn has remarkable control over her bow, perhaps a little too much control sometimes, which she uses to shape and hone every single note. It’s an uncanny ability that she underlined with a few minutes of smooth-as-silk Bach Partita.
The aural treats continued after intermission with the well-known “Laudate Dominum” movement from the Solemn Vespers, K339, and the “Coronation” Mass, K317, sung by 70 members of Toronto’s Amadeus Choir — excellently prepared by director Lydia Adams.
The four Canadian soloists were tenor Lawrence Wiliford and, in their Toronto Symphony débuts, soprano Leslie Ann Bradley, mezzo Lauren Segal and bass-baritone Gordon Bintner (a recent inductee into the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio).
This is big, quasi operatic church music, and everyone involved gave it their all, with exhilarating results. Bradley had an extra chance to shine in the “Laudate Dominum” — and she did after she settled into the piece a couple of minutes in.
Oundjian seemed in his element throughout, shaping the music with efficient care and managing the difficult orchestration of the “Coronation” Mass with the fine balance and attention to nuance of a period-instrument orchestra.
I’m willing to bet there were a lot of people smiling — and singing — on their way home.
It’s worth checking out Thursday’s repeat performance. You’ll find the details here.
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
