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CRITIC’S PICKS | Ten Musical Outings You Should Absolutely Do This Week

By Michael Vincent on March 23, 2015

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Musical Toronto’s 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 24

University of Toronto Faculty of Music | Purcell: Dido and Aeneas at Trinity College Chapel. 7:00 p.m. $10-30

Starting off the week, we recommend checking out a revival of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, with soloists and instrumentalists from the Theatre of Early Music, directed by Daniel Taylor. The cast is strong, and includes Sopranos Agnes Zsigovics and Ellen McAteer. For just $30, ($10 for students, $20 for seniors), it’s hard to beat. | DETAILS

Thursday 26

University of Toronto Faculty of Music | Come Ye Sons of Art: Purcell Odes at Trinity College Chapel. 7:30 p.m. $10-30

The U of T Faculty of Music is on a roll this season. Tonight the Theatre of Early Music and Daniel Taylor return from their production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas this past Tuesday to present Purcell’s Purcell Odes, including Come Ye Sons of Art. They will be joined by the Choir and Orchestra of the Schola Cantorum. Not to be missed, especially by early music fans (and who isn’t these days). | DETAILS

Friday 27

Royal Conservatory of Music | Lisa Batiashvili, violin, and Paul Lewis, piano at Koerner Hall. 7:30 p.m. $35-75

One of the week’s highlights is a very special performance by two classical music heavyweights: Lisa Batiashvili and Paul Lewis. They have been on a limited five-city recital tour, and we are lucky to host them for their one and only Canadian stop. They will be performing a well-rounded program of Schubert, Bach, Telemann, and Beethoven. | DETAILS

Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Masterworks Series: The Rite of Spring at Roy Thomson Hall. 7:30 p.m. $33-105 (repeats Sat Mar 28, 2015 at 7:30 p.m.)

Spring is in the air, and our steps seem a little bit lighter these days. Why not skip into Roy Thomson Hall to hear Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring for the TSO débuts by cellist Sol Gabetta conductor Krzysztof Urbański. They are both extraordinary musicians and well worth coming out for. As a side note, Sol Gabetta’s new Chopin CD with pianist Bertrand Chamayou (Sony) has been in heavy rotation at the Musical Toronto office, and we can’t get enough of it. | DETAILS

Toronto Consort | Dowland in Dublin at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, Jeanne Lamon Hall. 8:00 p.m. $21-55 (repeats Saturday, March 28, 8 p.m.

This week we posted a COFFEE BREAK video featuring the fantastic Ensemble La Nef in honour of St Patrick’s Day. It was a big hit, so we suspect readers will want to know that they will be in Toronto to perform their Celtic take on the music of John Dowland at Jeanne Lamon Hall. Includes rising star tenor Michael Slattery, dubbed by Opera Now as “Leonardo di Caprio with top notes”. | DETAILS

Sunday 29

International Resource Centre for Performing Artists | Who’s Who in the Industry at CSI Annex. 2 p.m. $20-25

This is a great event for those looking to hear industry insiders dishing on how decisions are made that affect Toronto’s music scene. The event will be moderated by New Classical 96.3 FM host Alexa Petrenko, and include Chris Lorway, (Corporation of Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall) and Jose Ortega, (Lula Lounge); Boris Brott (Brott Music Festival); music critic/publisher Michael Vincent (Musical Toronto, Toronto Star) and editor-in-chief David Perlman (The WholeNote Magazine); publicists Jane Harbury and Linda Litwack; and artist managers Annick Carriere (Station Bleue) and Robert Missen (Bobolink Agency). | DETAILS

Voicebox | Opera in Concert: Louise by Gustave Charpentier at Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts. 2:30 p.m. $40-52

Gustave Charpentier’s Louise gives us the voice of Paris, the city of light on the cusp of the modern age. The fine folks at Voicebox are at the ready with this rarely performed opera that launched the career of soprano Mary Garden. Features soprano Leslie Ann Bradley, mezzo Michele Bogdanowicz, and baritone Dion Mazerolle backed by Opera in Concert Chorus (Robert Cooper, conductor) and Peter Tiefenbach (conductor and piano). Sung in French with English surtitles. | DETAILS

Windermere String Quartet | Music, She Wrote at St. Olave’s Anglican Church. 3:00 p.m. $10-25

Toronto-based period instrument ensemble The Windermere String Quartet take the stage to perform Fanny Mendelssohn’s Quartet in E-flat; Sirmen’s Trio in D Op.1 No.3, and the premiere of Echoes of Illumina by local composer Julia Mermelstein. They all happen to be women, but in this day and age it seems hardly worth mentioning. Highly recommended. | DETAILS

Esprit Orchestra | The Last Paradise at Koerner Hall. 8:00 p.m. $20-65

Esprit Orchestra concludes their season this Sunday with a concert appositely titled: The Last Paradise. They have been strong all year, and tonight they go out with Esprit’s own Concertmaster Stephen Sitarski as soloist in Xiaogang Ye’s idiosyncratic work for violin and orchestra. Also includes premieres by Andrew Staniland (Vast Machine) and Scott Good (Resonance Unfolding 2), and Color by Pierre Boulez protégé, Marc-André Dalbavie. | DETAILS

An Evening of Art Song | Danie Friesen, Soprano and Monique de Margerie, Piano at Gallery 345. 8:00 p.m. $10-20

Tonight you’ll be able to rub elbows with Danie Friesen (soprano) and Monique De Margerie (piano) at Gallery 345 for a set featuring Robert Schumann’s Liederkreis Opus 39, twelve songs on texts by Joseph von Eichendorff, and Francis Poulenc’s Fiançailles Pour Rire, a song cycle based on the poetry of Louise de Vilmorin. The premise is all about crossing poetry with music, and includes works by Schumann and Poulenc. See you there. | DETAILS

 

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Michael Vincent
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