FEATURETURNING TENNURHAN ARMAN'S SINFONIA TORONTO"Can you remember what was on the programme of that firstconcert?" (I had dipped back into my WholeNote listings archive andhad the information there in front of me, so it was a test, not arequest for information.) "I think so," he said. "The Grosse Fugue,of course; Mozart's Divertimento Kl36; Tchaikowsky: Serenade.Also Finzi, Ecologue for piano and strings. And one more. Bach .... apiano concerto. In f minor. Jane Coop was our guest artist." "I'mimpressed," I said. After all, the ensemble has close to 60 concertsunder its belt since that October nine years ago, and Nurhan Armanconducts all over Europe as well as here - two tours this pastsummer alone. "Can you remember them all?" "Not like that," hesaid. "That one was very special."The "very special" moment he was referring to took place at theGlenn Gould Studio October 30 1999 - the inaugural concert ofToronto's only true professional chamber orchestra. Allan Pulker,WholeNote's founder and publisher cottoned onto the fact thatsomething special was happening before it took place and put Armanon WholeNote's cover that month. "Why Toronto, and why here andnow," he asked Arman and then quotes the reply (as true today as itwas nine Octobers ago): "First, there isn't a chamber orchestra ofthis calibre in Toronto. Montreal on the other hand has so manychamber orchestras - more than practically anywhere else. There isa great symphony here, there is Tafelmusik whose work I respectimmensely, also the Esprit Orchestra, but this type of orchestra islacking."But it wasn't only size that Arman was offering. They would playstanding (except the cellos) in true virtuosic style, he announced. Andhe had no problem filling the positions with musicians of the calibrehe demanded - 120 applicants for the 14 positions: four first violins,NurlumArmanfour seconds; three violas; two cellos and a bass.Sinfonia Toronto left the Glenn Gould (three seasons ago, duringthe CBC lockout) for the soaring acoustic of Grace Church-on-theHill ("a great acoustic for recording too," he says) but Arman pointsto a lack of ideal spaces for an ensemble like his as a curiousdeficiency of the Toronto concert venue picture. "Ideal for us wouldbe 400-500, right on the subway, and affordable. But we are notunhappy here. "Would he go back to the Gould? "Hard to say," he says, "even if itwere a bit larger.You know, it's hard not to sound like a recording inthat room."The ensemble's vision and focus have remained unshaken in thedecade. "We are thirteen now, not fourteen," he says - one violaWWW.THEWHOLENOTE.COM 7
