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Volume 19 Issue 2 - October 2013

  • Text
  • October
  • Toronto
  • Choir
  • Concerts
  • Jazz
  • November
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Beat by Beat | Art of

Beat by Beat | Art of SongBritten, Bintnerand BeyondHANS DE GROOTThis is the centenary year of the birth of Benjamin Brittenand we have already had the opportunity of hearing a greatdeal of his music, notably in the mini-festival with which theAldeburgh Connection ended its final season. This month we can seePeter Grimes, Britten’s breakthrough opera, in a production by theCanadian Opera Company (the first night is October 5). The openingconcert of the Elmer Iseler Singers “Saint Cecilia Sings” will includemusic by Howells, Schubert, Vaughan Williams and Daley as well asBritten (October 20). The Toronto Symphony Orchestra will performthe Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, with Nicholas Phan, tenor,and Neil Deland, horn (October 31 to November 2). The November 5concert by the Orpheus Choir includes the 1938 pacifist cantata,World of the Spirit.The free lunchtime performances in the Richard BradshawAmphitheatre at the Four Seasons Centre include five concerts inOctober with music by Britten. Of these several are vocal concerts:a selection of his songs and song cycles on October 9; an afternoonof English song on October 22; highlights of Albert Herring onOctober 23.Gordon Bintner: The bass-baritone Gordon Bintner will perform inthe October 9 recital at the Four Seasons Centre. He will sing Tit forTat, a cycle that Britten wrote as a teenager but did not put togetheruntil 1968. The texts are by Walter de la Mare and they explore themental world of the child.I only know of three earlier occasions in which Bintner sang inToronto: in 2012 he was one of the Art of Song fellows in the TorontoSummer Music program; he sang Schubert with the AldeburghConnection last spring; he won both the jury prize and the audienceprize at the competition for entrance to the COC Ensemble Studiolast year. But he has a great deal of experience elsewhere. Hestudied at McGill and it is in Montreal that he gave many of hisperformances: he sang Lescaut in Massenet’s Manon for l’Opéra deMontreal. As a student he sang Don Giovanni as well as the Speakerin Die Zauberflöte and Argante in Handel’s Rinaldo for Opera McGill.In 2011 he performed Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro for Opera NUOVA(Edmonton). In 2012 he was a Merola fellow in San Francisco andperformed the role of Nardo in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera there.He also sang Mozart and Donizetti with the San Francisco OperaOrchestra.This year he has small parts in the COC productions of La Bohèmeand Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux. He will also be covering the roles ofSwallow in Peter Grimes, Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Così fan tutte andSancho in Massenet’s Don Quichotte. He will sing Don Alfonso in theCOC Ensemble Studio performance of Così in February. And there aregoing to be other engagements: Messiah in Okanagan, a recital anda masterclass in Yellowknife and Mozart’s Coronation Mass with theToronto Symphony Orchestra. While it may be a bit early to talk aboutan international career, it is worth mentioning two events: Bintner hassung Colline in La Bohème in a production by Angers Nantes Operain France and this Novemberhe will perform in Berlin inLeonard Bernstein’s A QuietPlace with the EnsembleModern under Kent Nagano.Bintner is clearly at homein song, in opera and inoratorio. He says that he lovesthe three genres equally andthat given the right opportunitieshe will sing all three!OTHER EVENTS!!October 6: The openingconcert in the Recitals atRosedale series, “The SevenVirtues,” features Leslie AnnBradley, soprano, AllysonMcHardy, mezzo, PeterBarrett, baritone, RachelAndrist and John Greer,Benjamin Britten.piano. They will performworks by Purcell, Mozart,Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, Strauss, Duparc, Vaughan Williamsand others (Rosedale Presbyterian Church).!!October 6: Bernie Lynch sings “Tenor songs through the ages.”(St. Anne’s Anglican Church).!!October 11: A Wagner program will include scenes from DieWalküre, Tristan und Isolde and Götterdämmerung; the singersare Susan Tsagkaris, soprano, Ramona Carmelly, mezzo, and StuartGraham, baritone (First Unitarian Church).!!October 11: Melody Moore and Rufus Wainwright singworks by Wainwright with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra(Roy Thomson Hall).!!October 15: Robert Pomakov, bass, will sing a new workby Bohdana Frolyak based on a text by Taras Shevchenko(Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre).!!October 24: Miriam Khalil, soprano, and Julien LeBlanc, piano, willperform a recital of French and Spanish art songs (Gallery 345).!!October 25 to 27: Katherine Hill is the soprano soloist in a programbased on Aubrey’s Brief Lives (Young Centre).Violins, violas, cellos & bowsComplete line of strings & accessoriesExpert repairs & rehairsCanada’s largest stock of string musicFast mail order serviceKARSHthesoundpost.cominfo@the soundpost.com93 Grenville St, Toronto M5S 1B4416.971.6990 • fax 416.597.9923A treasure trove for string players& lovers of string music16 | October 1 – November 7, 2013 thewholenote.com

!!October 26: StanislavVitort, tenor, and ZhenyaYesmanovich, piano, performa program presented bythe Neapolitan Connection(Montgomery’s Inn).!!October 26: MarynaSvitasheva, mezzo, and BrianStevens, piano, performworks by Schumann,Moniuszko and others(Bloor Street United Church).!!October 27: LindsayKesselman is the sopranosoloist in a program of worksfor clarinet, piano and voice(Gallery 345).!!October 31: Alexa Wing,soprano, and Peter Bishop,Gordon Bintner.piano, perform (MetropolitanUnited Church).!!November 1: Michele Bogdanowicz, mezzo, Ernesto Ramirez, tenor,and Rachel Andrist, piano, will perform works by Chopin, Viardot,Palej and Grever (Gallery 345).!!November 2: Francesco Pellegrino is the tenor soloist in a programof traditional Italian music and Mediterranean jazz (Koerner Hall).!!November 6: Adi Braun sings Kurt Weill(Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre).AND BEYOND THE GTA!!October 3: At the Colours of Music Festival in Barrie JenniferKrabbe, soprano, and David Roth, baritone, will sing works by Mozart,Mendelssohn, Brahms, Britten, Barber and Duke (Burton AvenueUnited Church).!!October 3: Also at the Colours of Music Festival, songs from wartimewill be performed by Wendy Nielsen, soprano, and Patrick Raftery,tenor (Burton Avenue United Church).!!October 9: Marion Samuel, soprano, and Anna Ronai, piano,perform “Sassy women – art songs” (Conrad Grebel University College,Waterloo).!!October 19: The Grand Philharmonic Choir will perform Britten’sWar Requiem with soloists Leslie Ann Bradley, soprano, ThomasCooley, tenor, and Russell Braun, baritone (Centre in the Square,Kitchener).!!October 22: Richard Cunningham, countertenor, will give a recitalaccompanied by our own Benjamin Stein, theorbo (Convocation Hall,McMaster University).!!October 25: A postmodern cabaret celebrating the legacy of KurtVonnegut. (Maureen Forrester Recital Hall, Wilfred Laurier University,Waterloo).!!October 26: David Moore, tenor, and Katie Toksoy, horn, willperform Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, along withworks by Elgar and Janáček (Trinity Anglican Church, Aurora).!!October 26: Sara Laux Chappel, soprano, Luke Fillion, baritone,and Brian Turnbull, piano, perform songs by Schubert, Mendelssohn,Brahms and others (Centenary United Church, Hamilton).!!November 2: Meredith Hall, soprano, and Isaiah Bell, tenor, willbe the soloists in Chorus Niagara’s performance of music by Handel(Calvary Church, St. Catharines).!!November 3: A concert by Wellington Winds includes Canteloube’sSongs of the Auvergne; the soprano soloist is Caroline Déry(Grandview Baptist Church, Kitchener).Hans de Groot is a concert-goer and active listenerwho also sings and plays the recorder. He canbe contacted at artofsong@thewholenote. com.WE iNviTE yOU TO CELEBRATE OUR15TH ANNivERSARyKen Page Memorial TrustAnnual Jazz Fundraiser Salutingthe return of theOlD Mill TORONTO17THuRSDAYOCTOBER5:30 - 11:00 P.M.Presented by JAZZ.FM91‘Canada’s Premiere JazzStation’ and supportedby the Faculty of Music atthe University of TorontoUnder the musical direction of Jim Galloway and hostedby Ted O’Reilly, don’t miss your once a year chance tospend an evening with a truly all star group of musicians:Harry Allen, saxophone, Terry Clarke, drums,Jim Galloway, saxophone, Alastair Kay, trombone,Ken Peplowski, clarinet, Brigham Phillips, trumpet,Russ Phillips, trombone, Reg Schwager, guitar,Rossano Sportiello, piano, Neil Swainson, bass,Don Thompson, bass and piano,Warren Vaché, cornet.... supporting Jazz & Jazz Artists across Canada ...BACK BYPOPULARDEMAND!5.30 p.m.6.00 p.m.6.45 p.m.Old Mill Toronto21 Old Mill RoadTorontoSpecial overnightrate available to ourGala patrons.Free on-site parking.Steps from the Old MillSubway Station.Enjoy a sparklingstart to the eveningwith a performanceby The Tim Lemke Triofrom the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto anda complimentary cocktail generously sponsored by Charton HobbsThe Main Event… and the music goes round and roundCash BarGala Dinner serviceKen Page Lifetime Achievement Award presentation to2013 recipient Jackie Richardson for her contributionsto the arts in CanadaRaffle Prize DrawsThe Grand FinaleTickets 0 each (substantially tax deductible)Reserve by calling Anne Page at 416-515-0200or email anne@kenpagememorialtrust.comwww.kenpagememorialtrust.comMake cheques payable to:The Ken Page Memorial Trust55 Charles Street West, Suite 3104Toronto, ON M5S 2W9A service charge will apply for credit card paymentsLet the Music Begin!LET THEMUSICBEGIN!Charitable Registration No. 87276 8106 RR0001thewholenote.com October 1 – November 7, 2013 | 17

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