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CRITIC'S PICKS | 11 Classical Music Offerings To Consider This Week

By Joseph So on March 6, 2017

For the week of Mar. 6 – 12

Critic’s Picks for classical music and opera events happening in and around Toronto for the week of Mar. 6 – 12.
Critic’s Picks for classical music and opera events happening in and around Toronto for the week of Mar. 6 – 12.

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.

It’s a tradition the past dozen years that every early March, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra puts on a feast of new music in its New Creations Festival, this year curated by composer Owen Pallett. Big name artists appearing include violinist James Ehnes (Mar. 8), the Kronos Quartet (Mar. 11). The renowned Kammerchor Stuttgart sings a concert at the beautiful Trinity College Chapel (Mar. 7).

Speaking of choirs, the famous Vienna Boys Choir returns to the GTA for a concert (Mar. 11). Renowned Canadian composer and former dean of music at U of T, John Beckwith, is feted at age 90, with performances followed by a lecture by Professor Beckwith himself on “Canadian Music Then and Now” (Mar. 8).

The Shaham-Erez-Wallfisch Trio makes its Toronto debut under the auspices of the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto (Mar. 9). With the COC in hiatus, you can get your opera fix by attending the Met Live in HD La traviata (Mar. 11). featuring two of the current hottest stars, Sonya Yoncheva (Violetta) and Michael Fabiano (Alfredo).

For the musically adventurous, TIFF Bell Lightbox is showing a film of Schönberg’s challenging Moses und Aron, with the bonus of a live Against the Grain performance by soprano Adanya Dunn with Topher Mokrzewski on the piano. It’s a mystery exactly which Schönberg piece she’s singing. Ukrainian bass-baritone Pavlo Hunka, the champion of the Ukrainian Art Song Project, returns for a recital (Mar. 12). Lots more interesting events in addition to the ones listed here, so do consult the full calendar.

Tuesday 7

University of Toronto Faculty of Music | Kammerchor Stuttgart a cappella. Trinity College Chapel, 6 Hoskins Ave. 7:30 p.m. $40

The Kammerchor Stuttgart gives an open rehearsal and workshop (entry by donation) from 1 to 4 p.m. at Trinity College. Student soloists from the Historical Performance Area appear with the Choir in music of Tallis, Gombert, Mendelssohn and Fasch, conducted by Frieder Bernius and Daniel Taylor.  Details, here.

Wednesday 8

University of Toronto Faculty of Music | A 90th Celebration of John Beckwith. Walter Hall. 6 p.m. Free

This evening celebrates the 90th birthday of the renowned Canadian composer and former U of T Dean of Music John Beckwith, whose actual birthday is a day later, on March 9. Professor Robin Elliott pays tribute to Beckwith, followed by performances of works by the composer. Professor Beckwith then gives a lecture on “Canadian Music: Then and Now” on a comparison between musical life in the 1967 Centennial year and 50 years later, the Sesquicentennial of 2017. More info here.

Toronto Symphony Orchestra | New Creations Festival: James Ehnes. Roy Thomson Hall. 8 p.m. $33.75 – $148.

Canadian violinist James Ehnes plays a concerto composed for him by Pulitzer Prize-winner Aaron Jay Kernis. Canadian bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch sings Songs From an Island, composed by Festival curator Owen Pallett. Also on the program are works by Harry Stafylakis and Nico Muhly. Peter Oundjian and Andre de Ridder are the conductors. Full details here.

Thursday 9

Women’s Musical Club of Toronto | Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch. Walter Hall. 1:30 p.m. $45.

Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch (Hagai Shaham, violin; Arnon Erez, piano; Raphael Wallfisch, cello) makes its Toronto debut playing Rachmaninoff, Schumann and Shostakovich. WMCT Artistic Director Simon Fryer will announce the line-up of the 2017-18 season at the concert. Complete listing here.

Canadian Opera Company | Contemporary Originals. Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre. Noon. Free

In collaboration with the TSO’s New Creations Festival, the Madawaska Ensemble plays a program of new music – works by Andrew Staniland, Jeremy Bellaviti, Omar Daniel, Bekah Simms, and Scott Good.  Program details here: (PDF).

Saturday 11

Met Live in HD | La traviata. Select Cineplex locations 12:55 p.m. $28

The divine Verdi score is sung and interpreted by two fine singers, Bulgarian Sonya Yoncheva and American Michael Fabiano. American baritone Thomas Hampson is Germont. In the last performance, Hampson was ill and he was replaced by Cuban baritone Nelson Martinez who had a big success. Let’s hope Hampson will be healthy for Saturday. Nicola Luisotti conducts. Event info here.

National Ballet of Canada | Pinocchio (World Premiere) Four Seasons Centre. 2 p.m. From $99. (Repeats 12 2 p.m.)

This marks the world premiere of the full-length ballet Pinocchio, choreographed by Will Tuckett, with music by Paul Englishby. It opens on March 11 and continues to 24. Full details here.

Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Kronos Quartet. Roy Thomson Hall. 7:30 p.m. From $39.75.

As part of the New Creations Festival, the Kronos Quartet performs a program of works by Nicole Lizée, Cassandra Miller, and Daniel Bjarnason, conducted by Andre de Ridder, with Peter Oundjian as host. Info, here.

Flato Markham Theatre | The Vienna Boys Choir. Flato Markham Theatre, 171 Town Centre Blvd., Markham. 8 p.m. $69 – $74.

The world famous Vienna Boys Choir returns to the GTA for a one-night-only engagement. They were last in Toronto at Koerner Hall in 2015. I am unable to find program details for the upcoming concert, but you can be sure it will be entertaining. Listing here.

Sunday 12

Ukrainian Art Song Project | Art Songs – Shevchenko & Shakespeare. Mazzoleni Hall. 3 p.m. Starting at $35.

British-Ukrainian bass-baritone Pavlo Hunka is a tireless champion of the Ukrainian Art Songs, through his UASP which he established in 2004. He has made many recordings of little-known and unknown art songs by Ukrainian composers, together with many Canadian artists. Hunka returns to present a recital of comparing and contrasting the poems of Taras Shevchenko, and William Shakespeare set to the genre of the art song by Ukrainian composers, followed by a song cycle, Song of Love, based on 12 Shakespearean sonnets. More details found here.

TIFF Bell Lightbox | Moses und Aron + Against the Grain Theatre. TIFF Bell Lightbox. 3:15 p.m. $14

As part of TIFF’s retrospective of The Films of Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet is this screening of Schönberg’s Moses und Aron, a powerful if challenging opera based on the biblical story. In conjunction with this screening, the cutting-edge Against the Grain Theatre is presenting a live performance of soprano Adanya Dunn and pianist Topher Mokrzewski in a piece by Schönberg. Info here.

#LUDWIGVAN

Joseph So

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