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Volume 20 Issue 1 - September 2014

  • Text
  • September
  • October
  • Toronto
  • Jazz
  • Musical
  • Theatre
  • Festival
  • Concerts
  • Symphony
  • Arts

days later Fewer and the

days later Fewer and the other members of the St. Lawrence StringQuartet, along with Wallfisch, Newman and Phillips, are joined byBrad Turner (trumpet), Drew Jurecka (violin) and David Braid (piano)for a concert showcasing Bach and Braid.U of T Faculty of Music: Before travelling to Owen Sound, Fewer,violinist Geoff Nuttall, violist Leslie Robertson and cellist ChristopherCostanza (aka the St. Lawrence String Quartet) bring their infectiousenergy to the opening concert of the U of T Faculty of Musicseason September 16, which includes Golijov’s tuneful Kohelet andVerdi’s sublime String Quartet. Two weeks later, the Faculty celebratesaccordion virtuoso JoeMacerollo’s 70th birthdayand his appointment asOfficer of the Order of Canadawith an accordion extravaganzafeaturing current andformer students and guestartists, and including compositionsfrom Macerollo’s pastplus a new commission byAnna Höstman.Macerollo’s infectiousmusical spirit was mostrecently on display July 28 atChurch of the Holy Trinity in aMusic Mondays re-imaginingof the songs of Kate Bush, Prince and Radiohead with soprano ZoranaSadiq where the performers “boiled the songs down to their deep,dark essence – from the Bulgarian sweep of Bush’s pop-scenas to thesweet synth build of Prince’s perfect pop.” Macerollo’s recent CD,Persuasion – The Contemporary Accordion, showed his commitmentto contemporary composers Walter Buczynski, Charles Camilleri,Alexina Louie, Torbjorn Lundquist, Norman Symonds and BeverleyJohnston. August 30 Macerollo hosted the always interesting CBCRadio 2 program This Is My Music. If you’re quick you can still hear itstreamed on the Internet.Flute Street at Church of the Holy Trinity: Internationallyacclaimed piccolo virtuoso Jean-Louis Beaumadier and pianist JordiTorrent will perform music by Damase, Reichert, Feld, Novak andGyöngyösi September 26. The legendary Jean-Pierre Rampal wroteabout Beaumadier: “Endowed with marvellous technique, he standsout, thanks to his winning personality and his developed artistry. It isa joy to hear him in turn dream and turn pirouettes; he is the Paganiniof the piccolo.”TSO Returns: Back from their successful European tour, the TSObegins the new season September 18 with a trio of romantic orchestralshowpieces with the charismatic violinist Joshua Bell as soloist inLalo’s Symphonie espagnole. September 20 and 21 sees concertmasterJonathan Crow take the spotlight in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade,the first public performance of the piece since its August CD releasethat marked the TSO’s new recording contract with Chandos Records.The live performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is incentiveenough to hear this iconic work but on September 23 to 25 the TSO ismaking it even more essential by including Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsodyon a Theme of Paganini with piano soloist Daniil Trifonov. No lessthan the great Martha Argerich said of the young Russian’s touch:“I never heard anything like that – he has tenderness and also thedemonic element.”Two Innovative Presenters: Two of the most creative Toronto seriesreinforce their programming reputations with the opening concerts intheir 2014/15 seasons. September 26, the Jupiter Symphony ChamberPlayers bring their enthusiasm to a Mooredale Concerts program thatincludes Beethoven’s invigorating Septet, Dohnányi’s lyrical Serenadein C Major for String Trio and Mozart’s mysterious Clarinet Quartet inB Flat Major after K378.And I’m particularly looking forward to the Toronto debut of thehighly touted France-based Trio Wanderer (after Schubert). TheirOctober 2 Women’s Musical Club of Toronto program includes pianotrios by Fauré, Liszt and Tchaikovsky.Paul Ennis is managing editor of The WholeNote.Beat by Beat | Early MusicOff To Early StartsDAVID PODGORSKIWhile summer is not over, it’s time to start thinking moreabout getting back to the office and less about fishing on thelake. I’m happy to say that anyone returning to or remainingin town for the month of September will be amply rewardedmusically. Judging from the sheer number of performances betweennow and October, I think it’s safe to say that Toronto musicians areexcited to get back to work and begin a new concert season.One Toronto-based group eager to make an early start this yearis Harmonie, a string-based baroque group that includes harpsichordistJanet Scott, violinists Sheila Smyth and Valerie Sylvester andviol player Philip Serna. Their first concert this season features a veryunusual program, comprised solely of Dutch music from the 17th and18th centuries; it’s extremely unlikely that anyone who attends willhave heard any of this music before.“It’s a really unknownarea of music that’sHarmoniedifferent, exciting andquirky,” explains Sylvesterwhen I ask her whatinspired the group toprogram an entire concertof Dutch music. “The Dutchcomposers of the 17thcentury wrote unusualand beautiful music, andyou won’t hear music like this anywhere else.” Why Dutch baroquemusic has been deemed unworthy of performance in the past isalso something of a mystery – the country had a virtual monopolyon composers in the renaissance, and as the vast number of paintingsfrom the period indicates, the 17th century was the Netherlands’golden age. Seventeenth-century Holland saw levels of wealth andculture unmatched in the country’s history. International trade flourished,and the Dutch had money to spend on culture, be it in the formof tulip gardens, art collections or public architecture. So why notmusic? Sylvester speculates it had to do with Dutch politics and religionin the period. “Holland in the 17th century was newly Calvinist,so there was less church music than in previous centuries,” sheexplains. “It was also a republic, so there was no king to play for andno court to play at.”24 | September 1, 2014 – October 7, 2014 thewholenote.com

2014-2015 SEASONPA|iS CºNFIDENTIALNovember 7 & 8, 2014~E LI#LE BA|l EY-CºRNEYuletide Revels from the RenaissanceDecember 12, 13 & 145CONCERTSFROM SPLENDºURS oƒ~E EMPE|o R’S CHAPELFebruary 6 & 7, 2015DºW¬ND IN DUBLINwith Michael Slattery and La NefMarch 27 & 28~E P¬Y oƒ DANIELMay 22, 23 & 24Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, Jeanne Lamon Hall427 Bloor St. WestSubscribe Now and Save! • Call 416-964-6337 • TorontoConsort.orgon period instruments10th SeasonBegins September 144 Concerts /47/27www.windermerestringquartet.comthewholenote.com September 1, 2014 – October 7, 2014 | 25

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