Our weekly Critic’s Picks are a fully curated list of some of the best concerts happening now through the end of the week. Of course this is not to say we are the provocateurs of taste, but simply seek to provide a good weekly summary. For a look at the full breadth of what’s available in and around Toronto, check out the comprehensive concert listings from our friends at Wholenote Magazine.
Tuesday 28
Pianist Víkingur Ólafsson at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Noon. Free!
The Canadian Opera Company Free noon hour concert starts the week with the astonishingly good Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson making his Toronto Début. He will be performing Bach’s Goldberg Variations as an ode to Glenn Gould. Besides being a pianist, he is also host of the Icelandic TV series Útúrdúr (Out of Tune). If you haven’t yet heard his Bach, it is well worth the trip down there. More info here.
Talisker Players at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 8:00 pm. $15-35
The Talisker Players return this season with Songs of Travel: reflections on travel, movement, departures, arrivals, and wanderlust. The title comes from the romantic song cycle by Ralph Vaughan Williams. It includes 18th-century music about the adventures of Ulysses – the world’s most legendary traveller and hero– and a selection of steadfast Canadian travelling songs. Land ho! Show repeats Oct. 29th. There will be a pre-concert talk starting at 7:15 sharp. Details here.
Pianist Janina Fialkowska at Jane Mallett Theatre, 8:00 pm. $10-55
Arthur Rubinstein hailed Montreal-born pianist Janina Fialkowska as “a born Chopin interpreter.” Tonight, Music Toronto presents a very special program of Grieg’s Six Lyric Pieces, Schubert’s Sonata in E-flat Op.posth.122, D.568, Ravel’s Noctuelles; Oiseaux tristes, and (of course) Chopin’s 3 Mazurkas; Ballade No.4 in f, Op.52. Fialkowska’s talent is best heard live. Don’t miss it. Details here.
Wednesday 29
Last Days – a theatrical commemoration of the First World War at the Hart House, Great Hall. 7:30 p.m. Free!
From the carefree music of pre-war European decadence, and the sobering harsh beauty of wartime songs of despair, anger and loss, this is a unique concert staged by Tim Albery, with musical direction by David Fallis. Show repeats Oct 30. Details here.
Thursday 30
Wind players of the COC Orchestra, and Monique de Margerie, piano at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Noon. Free!
Looking for something to do for lunch? Come check out a bit of old and new with an all-female quintet of wind players of the COC Orchestra performing works including Françaix, Ligeti and Poulenc. A perfect way to decompress during your lunch hour. Details here.
Toronto Symphony Orchestra with John Relyea, bass-baritone and Peter Oundjian, conductor at Roy Thomson Hall. 8 p.m. $33–$145
A true highlight of the week is the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s The Dream of Gerontius with bass-baritone John Relyea, mezzo-soprano Catherine Wyn-Rogers, tenor Stuart Skelton, the Amadeus Choir and the Elmer Iseler Singers. Elgar’s great masterpiece is an extraordinarily gripping work that brims with power and emotion. The dream follows a devout man’s soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and his fate in Purgatory. Not to be missed. Details here.
Saturday 1
TorQ Percussion Quartet at Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building, University of Toronto Faculty of Music. 8:00 p.m. PWYC.
Toronto’s most entertaining percussion quartet is back tonight for a 10-year anniversary concert celebration featuring works by Cage, Hatzis, Wijeratne, Morphy and others. Should be a good show. Info here.
Sunday 2
New Orford String Quartet at Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building, University of Toronto Faculty of Music. 3:15 p.m. $20-30.
Mooredale Concerts presents a Sunday afternoon with Canada’s super quartet featuring Jonathan Crow, Andrew Wan, Eric Nowlin and Brian Manker. They will be performing some old and new with Ravel’s fetching String Quartet in F Major, and the Toronto premiere of Journal: String Quartet No. 2, by Montreal-based composer Tim Brady. Violist and frequent Toronto Symphony soloist Teng Li, will also be on hand as guest. Before the main show, there will also be one-hour interactive family concert (Music & Truffles), starting at 1:15. Info here.
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