Views
8 years ago

Volume 13 - Issue 1 - September 2007

Quoolibetby Allan Pu

Quoolibetby Allan Pu IkerWell under waySeveral sturdy, well-planned 2007-08 seasons will be well underway by the end of September. The Toronto Symphony gets off toa rousing (or should that be carousing?) start on September 19 withOrffs Carmina Burana. The Toronto Philharmonia on September20 features both piano and erhu virtuosity in a programme rangingfrom Tchaikovsky and Schubert to Lee Pui Ming . Mooredale Concerts,continuing beyond Kristine Bogyo's death under Anton Kuerti'sdirection, has its season opener on September 23, under thebaton of TSO and Amici clarinettist Joaquin Valdepenas. Off CentreMusic Salon launches the same day, with an all-Russian program,featuring among others TSO virtuosi Jacques Isrtaelievitch andWinona Zelenka. The Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra'sopening gala on September 30 focuses on the violin and piano concertorepertoire. And Onstage at Glenn Gould Studio opens itsseason with a fascinating series of concerts, each of which focuseson an aspect of the work of Glenn Gould (September 26 to October 4) .Zemlinsky String QuartetIt's always fun at this time of year to pick a visiting ensemble that,riding into town on the last wave of the festival summer, sticksaround long enough to help get the fall season under way . Case inpoint this year is the Zemlinsky String Quartet from the CzechRepublic, veterans of numerous competitions and currently (at thetime of writing) participating in the Banff International String QuartetCompetition. Not a household name yet, to be sure, but a name,nevertheless, that comes up six times in our listings this month. Asthe quartet in residence at the Colours of Music Festival, they willperform in Barrie three times towards the end of September. AfterBanff and before Barrie they will be in Toronto performing the venerableMozart Society's opening concert on September 13 (alongwith Joaquin Valdepenas in his more usual role) and on September16 at Restaurant Praha for the Czech Community Centre. Then, onSeptember 17 they are off to Waterloo to perform for the Kitchener­Waterloo Chamber Music Society. (Jan Narveson's KWCMS asusual, takes the prize for being fastest out of the blocks, again, withno fewer than seven concerts during September.) Rising stars in thestring quartet firmament? Well, at the very least, hot off one of themost prestigious competitions in the world, and likely at the top oftheir form. Find out for yourself.Hamilton Philharmonic OrchestraOn September 15 at 7:30 the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra beginsa new phase in its 58 year history. The conductor of the concertthat evening will be the orchestra's newly appointed musicaldirector, the celebrated Canadian horn player, James Sommerville,principal horn in the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1998, whosecareer has expanded over the past ten years to include conducting.The guest artists will be the spectacularly successful Canadian Brass,for whom the evening will be a kind of homecoming, as they wereartists-in-residence with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra from1971 to 1977.I chatted last spring with the orchestra's executive director,Alex Baran, himself an accomplished musician - an organist - andformer radio personality with CJRT in Toronto. Baran is hugelyexcited about Sommerville's arrival on the scene: " ... his musicalintellect ... his critical faculties and interpretive abilities are just thebest! He brings to the job such intelligence and insight. ... " Themusicians love working with him too, according to Baran: "everythinghe says is so carefully thought out and so incisive that he communicatesand calls excellence from the musicians. It's a tremendousprocess to watch and one that is going to deepen and broaden theability of this orchestra."Baran is also excited about Sommerville' s commitment toprogramming the music of "composers who aren't decomposing!"He is expecting to see plenty of contemporary repertoire both fromCanada and elsewhere; "there's a whole new generation of composersthat deserve to be heard, and they're writing great stuff." Sommervilleis wasting no time advancing this agenda: while the October4 concert, being part of the Great Romantics Festival, will all be19th century music , on November 18 Oskar Morawetz's Concertofor Harp and Orchestra will be on the program as well as Hindemith's masterpiece, Mathis der Mahler. In the January 26 concertcontemporary works by Andrew Svoboda, John Adams and OsvaldoGolijov will be given contrast and context by Alberto Ginastera' sVariaciones Concertantes from 1953 and Samuel Barber's Adagiofor Strings from 1938.The Fall FestivalsMaybe it's because they're a descendant of the fall fair, still a vigoroustradition in rural and small town Ontario. For whatever reason,fall music festivals seem to be taking root and thriving . For me theyhave been a kind of last fling of summer, a last chance to hit theopen road, abandon the usual routine for a weekend and hear goodmusic well-performed. Last September going to the Sweetwaterweekend in Leith was just such an opportunity, punctuated by espressoin Meaford and dinner in a Quonset Hut on the road leadingto the army's tank range northeast of Owen Sound. The concert wasalmost a bonus on top of the fun of getting there and the masterclass the next morning was definitely the icing on the cake. Thisyear's Sweetwater Music Weekend takes place from September 21to 23 in historic Leith Church and Saint George's Anglican Churchin Owen Sound. Highlights of the weekend include a baryton playedby Ken Slowik from the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DCand a new work by Bramwell Tovey commemorating Owen Sound' sinvolvement in the Underground Railroad. If you go to their websitethere are links to local bed and breakfasts, making it easy to find aplace to stay overnight. Make sure to leave plenty of time to getthere. (The food at the restaurant in the Quonset hut was good, byMeaford &Owen SoundMusic WeekendSeptember 21, 22, 23, -2007Mark Fewer. Artistic DirectorVirginia Barron. Associate Artistic Director20 WWW. THEWHOLENOTE. COM S EPTE M BER 1 - O CTOBER 7 2007Back to Ad Index

the way. It's just north ofHighway 26 a few kilometreswest of Meaford.)Colours of MusicThe Colours of MusicFestival in Barrie also beginson September 21 butcontinues until Sunday,September 30. This festival,the brainchild and productof a prodigious amount ofwork by its founder anddirector, Bruce Owen,transforms Barrie into ahotbed of music-making,day and night. A uniquefeature of Colours of Musicis the involvement of acomposer-in-residence, thisyear, Elizabeth Raum.Works by Raum will beperformed on September 25Zemlinsky String Quartet: Frantisek Soucek& Petr Strizek, violins; Petr Holman,viola; Vladimir Fortin, cello.by Nexus, on September 27 by violinist Nathaniel Anderson-Frankand pianist Cecilia Ignatieff, and on September 29 by violinist LynnKuo and pianist Gregory Oh. Also on September 29 Ms. Raum willgive a lecture entitled " l-Vhy music which is tuneful." If what she haswritten in her website is any indication, Raum is a composer whohas thought a lot of about composing and has something to say.Finding an artistic voice can be a confounding task for many youngcomposers. For Raum, the question which began as "what" or"how," became "why, to what end do I raise my voice?" These arequestions which every artist must at some level answer for him orherself. Kudos to Raum for raising them: I, for one, look forward tohearing where they have led her.upcoming concertsFriday Sept. 21TORNGAT CD release concertwith opening acts Timber Timbre + Double SuicidePop Avant series co-pres with Undertones• Bpm • adv/ doorSaturday Sept. 29THE THEATRE OF EPHEMERAL MUSICpart of Scotiabank Nuit Blanchefeaturing Darren Copeland and 12 Toronto improvisers7prn-7arn • FREE!Friday Oct. 5STEPHEN CLARKEsolo piano recital: Giacinto Scelsi+ Horatiu RadulescuClassic Avant series co-pres with the artist • BpmSaturday Oct. 6GREAT AUNT IDA + KIM BARLOWboth backed up by Tim Vesely, Jordy Walker, Barry MirochnickPop Avant series co-pres with the artist • SpmSunday Oct. 28DAVID LANG: ELEVATEDThe Bang on a Can co-founder, co-pres with CONTACTClass Avant series• Bprn • adv/ door ( rnern/ stu)c0 ,,,~a,tnco00NI0 """'0N-•thursday sept. 20 8 pmAwakeningLee Pui Ming Awakening (concerto for erhu & orchestra)Tchaikovsky piano concerto No. 1Schubert: Unfinished Symphonythursday oct. 18 8 pmI mmortal BeethovenBeethoven Prometheus OvertureBeetnoven: Concerto No 56 (triple concerto)Beethoven Symphony No 2thursday nov. 8 8 pmMemory and ReflectionKositsky Requ1en1 for CeciliaBrahms Requ1en1with the Toronto Philharinonia Chorussunday dee. 16 3 pmChristmas in ViennaSi Michael's Boys Choirthursday feb. 7, 8 pmMusic of the AmericasA mus1e,a1 tour of the Amoncas from European roots to thepresent davthursday apr.10, 8 pmThis Sceptred IsleWalton Viola ConcerloElgar Serenade for StringsHolst. Suite de BalletMacMillan. Ove,ture for Orchestralhursday may 8, 8 pmFrench I mpressionsA, ;ur Ne .v Wor1,Iller! 01vu1t1ssc men!Ochussy The Chilr1,,,n·s Corne•R, vnl Puna Con,:erlo1/,u,srlay may 29 8 ptr>Opera de ParisL , [ [), .,, A,: 1( ·b L 1 S (ii 'Ji I rri ~~t( j..11 (;r; C(;fllhtr, } \~' I (11"'.:Jl hits of lr, Pj, IS9ret\-t music cl(J5e t(J h,(Jrn,e!I ll. cBecome a Music Gallery member!Memberships start at /year and get you reducedticket prices, on the monthly mailing list, and more.Call us at 416-204-1080 or email minden@musicgalle ry.org to sign up.SEPTE MBER 1 - O CTOBE R 7 2007 WWW. TH EWHOLENOTE.COM 21Back to Ad Index

Volumes 26-29 (2020- )

Volumes 21-25 (2015-2020)

Volumes 16-20 (2010-2015)

Volumes 11-15 (2004-2010)

Volumes 6 - 10 (2000 - 2006)

Volumes 1-5 (1994-2000)