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CRITIC'S PICKS | 12 Classical Music Shows You Should Absolutely See This Week

By Joseph So on March 27, 2017

For the week of March 27 to April 2

Critic’s Picks for classical music and opera events happening in and around Toronto for the week of March 27 to April 2.
Critic’s Picks for classical music and opera events happening in and around Toronto for the week of March 27 to April 2.

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.

Monday 27

University of Toronto Faculty of Music | Gryphon Trio with special guest Ethan Filner, viola. Walter Hall. 7:30 p.m. $40

As part of the U of T Faculty of Music Series, the Gryphon Trio (Annalee Patipatanakoon, violin; Roman Rorys, cello; James Parker, piano) performs Beethoven: Piano Trio in B-flat Op.11; Wijeratne: Love Triangle; Brahms: Piano Quartet No.1 in G Minor Op.25. Info here.

Tuesday 28

Teatro Proscenium Limited Partnership/Sousatzka Broadway Limited Partnership | Sousatzka: A New Musical. 8 p.m. Elgin Theatre. $60-$175

Marking Canadian impresario Garth Drabinsky’s comeback, Sousatzka premiered at the Elgin Theatre on Mar 23, and continues to Apr 9 before moving on to Broadway.  Seen on opening night, I found it to be well-produced, fast-paced and high energy, if a bit uneven, mainly because it’s plot-heavy and diffused. But there are enough superb performances by big name artists to make seeing it worthwhile, particularly Victoria Clark in the title role and Jordan Barrow as her protégé Themba.  Tues-Sat 8 p.m.; Wed/Sat/Sun 2 p.m. Full listing details here.

Talisker Players | Land of the Silver Birch. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor St. W. 8 p.m. Pre-concert talk at 7:15 p.m. $45

It was just announced the sad news that the current season of Talisker Players will be its last. This is the penultimate show and not to be missed!  Songs of Canada’s first European settlers: Beethoven: Scottish Folk Songs; Vaughan Williams: Three Old English Folk Songs; Kolinski: Six French Folk Songs; MacMillan: Three French Canadian Sea Songs; Patenaude: Six Chansons du Détroit; Rapoport: Four Canadian Folk Songs. Whitney O’Hearn, mezzo; Joel Allison, baritone; John Fraser, reader. Find out more here.

Wednesday 29

Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark with Live Orchestra. Roy Thomson Hall. 7:30 p.m. From $46.

TSO is presenting another pops concert, providing the John Williams score live to the ever-popular Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. The TSO resident pops conductor Steven Reineke is at the helm, and it’s already sold out! Info here.

National Ballet of Canada | Genus, Tarantella, Self and Soul, and The Concert. Four Seasons Centre. 7:30 p.m. $39-$265. Repeats Mar 30, 31, Apr 1 (all at 7:30 p.m.) Mar 30, Apr 1, 2 (all at 2 p.m.)

The National Ballet of Canada presents a mixed program of contemporary pieces by Wayne McGregor, George Balanchine, Robert Binet, and Jerome Robbins. Check NBC website for casting details. Listing info here.

Thursday 30

University of Toronto Faculty of Music |  Joel Allison, bass-baritone; Melisande Sinsoulier, collaborative pianist. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building. 12:10 p.m. Free.

The winners of this year’s Jim and Charlotte Norcop Prize are bass-baritone Joel Allison (voice) and Mélisande Sinsoulier (piano). They are giving a joint winners’ recital in Walter Hall. No program details available.  I saw Allison as an excellent Imeneo at the U of T Opera last week. His is a voice to watch. More details found here.

Friday 31

Royal Conservatory | Alina Ibragimova, violin and Cédric Tiberghien, piano. Koerner Hall. 8 p.m. $35-$70. Pre-concert chat at 7:15 p.m. with Rick Phillips.

Prize-winning young violinist Alina Ibragimova and pianist Cedric Tiberghien perform a program of Bach, Brahms, Schumann, and John Cage. More info found here.

Art of Time Ensemble | Johannes Brahms: Portrait of a Musical Genius. Harbourfront Centre Theatre. 8 p.m. $25-$64

A program celebrating the great Johannes Brahms, with selected works performed alongside readings from his letters and those of his contemporaries. Works include Intermezzi for Solo Piano (selected); Piano Quartet No.1 Op.25; Violin Sonata No.2 in A Op.100; Lieder (selected). Benjamin Bowman, violin; Andrew Burashko, piano; Jethro Marks, violin; Rachel Mercer, cello; Sarah Slean, singer. Full listing here.

Saturday 1

Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Beethoven Violin Concerto. Roy Thomson Hall. 7:30 p.m. $33.75-$107. Repeats Apr 2 (mat) at George Weston Recital Hall, North York.

The brilliant violinist Karen Gomyo returns to the TSO to play the Beethoven Violin Concerto. Also on the program is Stravinsky Petrouchka, under the baton of American conductor Robert Trevino. The performance opens with a Canada 150 Commission by Cheryl Cooney: Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to (a) new era? Saturday’s concert is performed with no intermission. Info here.

Canadian Sinfonietta | Wine and Cheese Concert. Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave. 8 p.m. $30-$20

Violinist Joyce Lai, cellist Andras Weber and pianist Angela Park join forces to perform the world premiere of AnLun Huang’s Piano Trio No. 2., and Passacaglia for violin and cello by Handel-Halvorsen. Rounding out the program is Rachmaninoff’s Sonata for cello and piano. Info here.

Sunday 2

Off Centre Music Salon | A Musical Invasion of Paris: The Mighty Four. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre. 3 p.m. $50.

Off Centre Music Salon presents the music of Chopin, Wagner, Rossini, and Meyerbeer, including a piano four-hand arrangement of the Tannhauser Overture. Appearing are mezzo Michele Bogdanowicz, soprano Lucia Cesaroni, baritone Peter McGillivray, pianists La Dodds-Eden, Inna Perkis and Boris Zarankin. Details here.

Esprit Orchestra | Overdrive Koerner Hall. 8 p.m. Pre-concert chat at 7:15 p.m. $40-$60.

A premiere new music orchestra in Canada, Esprit is presenting an evening of works by composers from England, Switzerland, Russia, USA, and Canada: Thomas Adès: Violin Concerto (Concentric Paths); Arthur Honegger: Pacific 231; Alexander Mosolov: The Iron Foundry; John Adams: Short Ride in a Fast Machine; and Chris Paul Harman: Blur. The soloist is Veronique Mathieu violinist, under the baton of conductor Alex Pauk. Full details found here.

For more events, visit our DATEBOOK CALENDAR.

#LUDWIGVAN

Joseph So

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