For the week of January 2 to 8.

Monday 2

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Wednesday 4

Thursday 5

Friday 6

Saturday 7

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CRITIC'S PICKS | Seven Classical Music Shows You Should Absolutely See This Week

Toronto Classical Music Critic’s Picks for the week of Jan. 2 – 8.

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. 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 our curated concert listings here: Musical Toronto Datebook.

Happy New Year to all Musical Toronto Readers! With many Torontonians still recovering from Holiday festivities, classical music events are understandably on the sparse side this week. Two are holdovers from last week — Ross Petty’s Sleeping Beauty at the Elgin (Jan 2 to 7), and Toronto Operetta Theatre’s Pirates of Penzance (Jan 7 & 8). No opera yet at the COC, as The Magic Flute and Götterdammerung are both in rehearsals. But there are three free noon-hour concerts at the opera house that really showcase the musical diversity in our fair city — A Musical Tribute to Bhutan (Jan. 3), Jetstream’ Jazz (Jan. 4), and Echo / Sap’a featuring First Nation mezzo Marion Newman with pianist Adam Sherkin and violinist Kathleen Kajioka. The Li Delun Music Foundation is putting on its annual New Year’s Concert (Jan. 7) at the George Weston Recital Hall. And don’t forget opera on the big screen — opera fans will find Met Live in HD Nabucco interesting, starring the great Placido Domingo in the title role. For under $30, you get to experience a Met production in real time — how cool is that!

Ross Petty Productions | Sleeping Beauty, at the Elgin Theatre. 7 p.m. $27–99. (Repeats daily until Jan 7)

The musical theatre version of Sleeping Beauty, written by Jeremy Diamond and directed by Tracey Flye, with choreography by Julie Tomaino. See here, for details.

Canadian Opera Company | Noam Lemish Quartet, at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre. 12 p.m. Free.

The COC’s free World Music Series presents The People’s King: A Musical Tribute to Bhutan. Arranged for jazz quartet, this multi-movement suite integrates jazz, classical western music, and traditional Bhutanese folk music. See here for a PDF of the program. Listing info, here.

Canadian Opera Company | Turboprop, at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre. 5:30 p.m. Free

The COC’s free Jazz Series presents Jetstream’ Jazz, with Ernesto Cervini (drums) and his sextet playing selections from their latest recording. Program details, here.

Canadian Opera Company | Echo/Sap’a, at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre. 12 p.m. Free

First Nations mezzo Marion Newman presents a concert “on the theme of reconciliation, feature works by Canadian composers. Joining her are pianist Adam Sherkin and violinist Kathleen Kajioka. Listing info, here.

Toronto Operetta Theatre | Pirates of Penzance, at Jane Mallett Theatre. 8 p.m. $49 – $95.

The Gilbert and Sullivan operetta that opened last week concludes with three more shows. It stars Colin Ainsworth, tenor (Frederic); Vania Chan, soprano (Mabel); Curtis Sullivan, baritone (Major General); and Elizabeth Beeler, alto (Ruth). Derek Bate conducts, and Guillermo Silva-Marin directs. (Repeats Jan 7, 8 at 3:00 p.m.). More info, here.

Li Delun Music Foundation | New Year’s Concert, at George Weston Recital Hall. 7:30 p.m.$30 – $88.

This concert features a program of chestnuts, including orchestral and operatic selections from Eugene Onegin, Turandot, and Rigoletto, with tenor Romulo Delgado. The brilliant Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang is the soloist in Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 1. Also appearing is Donghua Feng (erhu). Junping Qian conducts the Toronto Festival Orchestra. Details found right, here.

Met Live in HD | Nabucco, at participating Cineplex Cinemas. 12:55 p.m. $28

Met Live in HD presents Nabucco by Verdi. It stars the great Placido Domingo, re-invented as a baritone, in the title role. Joining him is dramatic soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska (Abigaille), tenor Russell Thomas (Ismaele), mezzo Jamie Barton (Fenena), and bass Dmitri Belosselskiy (Zaccaria). This is one of the few remaining chances to hear James Levine conduct. Details, here.

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Joseph So

Joseph So is Professor Emeritus at Trent University and Associate Editor of Opera Canada.He is also a long-time contributor to La Scena Musicale and Opera (London, UK). His interest in music journalism focuses on voice, opera as well as symphonic and piano repertoires. He appears regularly as a panel member of the Big COC Podcast.He has co-edited a book, Opera in a Multicultural World: Coloniality, Culture, Performance, published by Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group).

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