What's a vinyl renaissance? What happens when Handel's Messiah runs afoul of the rumba rhythm setting on a (gasp!) Hammond organ? What work does Marc-Andre Hamelin say he would be content to have on every recital program he plays? What are Steve Wallace's favourite fifty Christmas recordings? Why is violinist Daniel Hope celebrating Yehudi Menuhin's 100th birthday at Koerner Hall January 28? Answers to all these questions (and a whole lot more) in the Dec/Jan issue of The WholeNote.
Handel’s Messiah: It
Handel’s Messiah: It Looks Like We Have A Keeper! HOWARD DYCK Relief of the Prisoners in several Gaols, and for the Support of Mercer’s Hospital in Stephen’s-street, and of the “For Charitable Infirmary on the Inns Quay, on Monday the 12th of April, will be performed at the Musick Hall on Fishamble-street, Mr. Handel’s new Grand Oratorio call’d the MESSIAH, in which the Gentlemen of the Choirs of both Cathedrals will assist, with some Concertos on the Organ, by Mr. Handel.” Thus ran the advertisement (The Dublin Journal, 23-27 March 1742) for the first performances of what came to be the most beloved piece of music in England and, eventually, Canada. Rehearsals, each of them reviewed in the papers, attracted overflow crowds, and the opening performance was even pushed back a day to allow an extra public rehearsal. In order to seat as many listeners as possible, the event organizers requested that the ladies dispense with their hooped skirts and the gentlemen were enjoined to leave their swords at home. From the first, audiences and critics were charmed: “On Tuesday last (13 April) Mr. Handel’s Sacred Grand Oratorio, The Messiah, was performed at the New Musick-Hall in Fishamble Street, the best Judges allowed it to be the most finished piece of Musick. Words are wanting to express the exquisite Delight it afforded to the admiring, crowded Audience. The Sublime, the Grand, and the Tender, adapted to the most elevated, majestick and moving Words, conspired to transport and charm the ravished Heart and Ear.” In the intervening 273 years, little has changed: Messiah continues to work its charms on thousands of music lovers, in Canada and in many countries around the world. Although Handel’s Dublin performing forces were exceedingly modest in size, it wasn’t long until enormous choirs and orchestras took on this remarkable work. Of its evolution into a lumbering warhorse, the most perspicacious critic was surely George Bernard Shaw. In a 1913 magazine article he argued his case: “Handel is not a mere composer in England: he is an institution. What is more, he is a sacred institution. When his Messiah is performed, the audience stands up, as if in church, while the Hallelujah chorus is being sung…Every three years there is a Handel Festival, at which his oratorios are performed by four thousand executants from all the choirs in England. The effect is horrible; and everybody declares it sublime.” Happily, those days of unwarranted excess are largely behind us. Nowadays, especially during the month of December – strange thing, that, given that Handel intended Messiah to be performed during the Easter season – it is possible to hear a great number of performances, some with very economical forces, others with large choirs and orchestras, albeit mostly displaying the transparency and agility we have come to expect. This year, once again, WholeNote readers will have ample opportunity to hear Handel’s iconic masterpiece. A quick perusal of GTA and southwestern Ontario listings yielded about 30 different productions, many of them offering multiple performances. In Toronto, you can hear historically informed performances by Tafelmusik; Against the Grain’s staged version has been generating a lot of attention recently; and the venerable Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Sir Andrew Davis will do a series of performances at Roy Thomson Hall. Indeed, the TMC/TSO reading will be recorded for commercial release by Chandos. Incidentally, the last time TMC/ TSO recorded it was at Kitchener’s Centre in the Square back in 1986. During one particularly fraught session, soprano Kathleen Battle stormed out of the hall, taking refuge in her hotel room. It took all of Andrew’s charm and seductive wiles to persuade the diva to return and complete the session. If, during this year’s performances, you see the maestro crossing his fingers, you’ll know why! My own experience of conducting Messiah goes back half a century. Before that, aged 10 or 11, I first heard it performed live in a small town in Manitoba and I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. Mind you, I was quite familiar with the music even then. The annual live CBC broadcast from Massey Hall with Sir Ernest MacMillan conducting was de rigueur listening in our farmhouse. And most years, our local church choir would attempt the Hallelujah Chorus. The best part was waiting to see which overwrought tenor or bass would come in early during the big general pause close to the end! We were rarely disappointed. Messiah holds great personal significance for me. My very first date with the beautiful young woman who would later become my wife was a performance of Messiah. We were both ushers at the Civic Auditorium in Winnipeg, and during the performance we sat on the steps in the balcony. Lois Marshall was the soprano soloist. Over the years I’ve conducted about 120 performances, most of them in Canada, but also a few in Europe and one memorable one in China, more about which later. There are conductors who dread the notion of directing yet another Messiah, but I am not among them. For me, each new performance of this glorious music is an eagerly anticipated event, an opportunity to discover another layer of meaning in this inexhaustible work. Things go wrong from time to time in Messiah performances. Somebody faints or is sick on stage, soloists show up late or not at all (yep, that’s happened to me). One soloist inadvertently locked himself into a church washroom, delaying the start of the performance by a few minutes until we could extricate him. An image that will forever remain in my memory is of three soloists and me struggling to do up the fly of our tenor who somehow managed to get his zipper stuck. The expectant audience was treated to some spontaneous offstage hilarity as we dealt with this little existential crisis. And then there was the Hammond organ incident. It was one of my first Messiah performances. We were in a small rural Manitoba church, said sanctuary having been adorned with a Hammond electric organ (remember those?). Well, we got through Part One without incident. Then, in Part Two, where things start to get really serious, there was a short circuit in the accursed instrument, and the rhumba rhythm kicked in. It was surely the first time such a decidedly secular element had been heard in that place of worship. My organist’s frantic Messiah in the GTA ●●Dec 04 8:00: Elmer Iseler Singers. Handel’s Messiah. Lydia Adams, conductor. Metropolitan United Church (Toronto). ●●Dec 04 8:00: Nathaniel Dett Chorale. An Indigo Christmas…Soulful Messiah. R&B rendition of Handel’s Messiah. Ballet Creole. Fleck Dance Theatre, Harbourfront Centre. Also Dec 5(8:00),6(3:00). ●●Dec 05 7:30: York Chamber Ensemble. Handel’s Messiah and Christmas Favourites. Trinity Festival Chorus. Trinity Anglican Church (Aurora). ●●Dec 06 7:00: Hart House. Hart House Chamber Strings. Handel: Sinfonia from Messiah and works by Dvořák, Elgar, Lauridsen and Bach. Hart House, Great Hall. ●●Dec 06 7:30: Toronto Beach Chorale. G.F. Handel: Messiah in the Beach. Kingston Road United Church. ●●Dec 07 7:30: University of St. Michael’s College. A Baroque Concert for Advent. Handel: Foundling Hospital Anthem; also works by Geminiani. With Musicians in Ordinary. St. Basil’s Church, University of St. Michael’s College. ●●Dec 07 8:00: Soundstreams. Ear Candy: Electric Messiah. Drake Hotel. Also Dec 8. ●●Dec 12 4:00: Church of St. Mary Magdalene. Children’s Messiah. Pax Christi Chorale. Church of St. Mary Magdalene (Toronto). ●●Dec 12 7:30: Village Voices. Messiah. Joan Andrews, conductor. Markham Missionary Church. ●●Dec 12 7:30: Voices Chamber Choir. Messiah. Handel. Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. ●●Dec 15 8:00: Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Messiah. Handel (orchestration, Andrew Davis). Andrew Davis, conductor. Roy Thomson. Hall Also Dec 16,18,19(8:00),20(3:00). ●●Dec 16 7:30: Brott Music Festival. Handel’s Messiah. Boris Brott, conductor. Burlington Performing Arts Centre. ●●Dec 16 7:30: Tafelmusik. Handel Messiah. Ivars Taurins, director. Koerner Hall. Also Dec 17-19. Also Dec 20(Sing-along) ●●Dec 16 8:00: MasseyHall/Against the Grain Theatre. AtG’s Messiah. Handel. Topher Mokrzewski, conductor. Harbourfront Centre. Also Dec 17,18(8:00),19(2:00). ●●Dec 17 8:00: Living Arts Centre. Ballet Creole: Soulful Messiah. ●●Dec 18 7:30: Humber Valley United Church. The Magic of Christmas. M. Wilberg: musical 8 | December 1 2015 - February 7, 2016 thewholenote.com
GRYPHON TRIO PHOTO COURTESY OF HOWARD DYCK Thursday December 10 at 8 pm MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN ministrations were to no avail. The Spanish dance continued. “He was despised” with rhumba accompaniment is, shall we say, unique! By this time the audience was rolling on the floor. Finally, we had to shut the instrument down and continue with the piano which, mercifully, was to hand. I concluded this was divine wrath visited upon a parish that would sully its place of worship with a Hammond! Only once have I had to fire a soloist the day before the concert, an alto who just wasn’t up to Handel’s demands. Enter Catherine Robbin at the very last minute, visibly pregnant with her first child. It was the first of many times we worked together, and of course she sang like an angel. There was one Messiah where Ben Heppner and Daniel Taylor graced the same stage. Their duet “O death, where is thy sting?” is the only time Canada’s leading Heldentenor and countertenor have ever sung together. It was pure gold! In April 2014 I conducted a Messiah performance in Waterloo with the Nota Bene Baroque Players & Singers. It was a deeply personal moment for my tenor soloist, Michael Schade. His father, already quite ill and confined to a wheelchair, was able to attend. Hans Schade passed away a month or so later. And shortly after that, Michael’s mother, Liesl, died quite unexpectedly. That Messiah was the last time they heard their illustrious son. But of all my Messiah experiences, there is one that stands out from all the rest. In 1999 I was invited to participate in an international arts festival in Kunming, China. (In 2012 and 2013 I would return to that arrangements; Handel: Messiah (excerpts). ●●Dec 19 7:30: Musikay. Messiah. St. John’s United Church, Oakville. ●●Dec 19 8:00: Missisauga Symphony Orchestra. Highlights from Messiah. Jennifer Tung, choral director. Living Arts Centre, Hammerson Hall. ●●Dec 20 2:00: Tafelmusik. Sing-along Messiah. Ivars Taurins, director. Massey Hall. ●●Dec 20 3:00: St. Anne’s Anglican Church. Christmas Cantate. Rutter: Magnificat (excerpts); Handel: Messiah (excerpts); Christmas carols arr. by Sir David Willcocks, Derek Holman, Paul Halley and John Rutter. Messiah beyond the GTA ●●Dec 04 2:30: Queen’s University School of Music. Messiah Sing-along. Grand Lobby, Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, Kingston. ●●Dec 05 7:30: Orchestra Kingston. Sing- Along Messiah. Handel. Guest soloists and audience sing-along. Salvation Army Citadel, 816 Centennial Dr., Kingston. 613-634- 9312. -. Scores available at the door. Rehearsal for ticket holders: Dec 1 (5:30). ●●Dec 12 7:30: Dufferin Concert Singers/New Tecumseth Singers. G.F. Handel’s Messiah. Westminster United Church, Miao Villagers sing Messiah, 2012 Messiah continues on page 84 Orangeville. Also Dec 13 (Alliston). ●●Dec 12 7:30: Grand Philharmonic Choir. Handel: Messiah. Mark Vuorinen, conductor. Centre in the Square, Kitchener. ●●Dec 13 3:00: Bach Elgar Choir of Hamilton. Bach Elgar Sing-Along Messiah. Melrose United Church, Hamilton. Scores available to borrow or buy. Rehearsal on Dec 8(7:15) with ticket. ●●Dec 13 3:00: Dufferin Concert Singers/ New Tecumseth Singers. G.F. Handel’s Messiah. Banting Memorial High School, Alliston. Also Dec 12 (Orangeville). ●●Dec 13 3:00: Elora Festival Singers. Messiah. St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Fergus. ●●Dec 13 3:00: Peterborough Singers. Handel’s Messiah. George Street United Church, Peterborough. Also Dec 14(7:30). ●●Dec 14 7:30: Brott Music Festival. Handel’s Messiah. Boris Brott, conductor. St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, Hamilton. ●●Dec 19 7:30: Guelph Chamber Choir. Handel’s Messiah. Gerald Neufeld, conductor. River Run Centre, Guelph. ●●Dec 20 3:00: Grand River Chorus. Handel’s Messiah. St. Pius Roman Catholic Church, Brantford. Tuesday January 5 at 8 pm ANDRIANA CHUCHMAN Soprano Thursday January21 at 8 pm www.music-toronto.com at JACK Quartet Thursday January 14 at 8 pm Co-produced with New Music Concerts Canadian Heritage Patrimoine canadien 416-366-7723 1-800-708-6754 order online at www.stlc.com thewholenote.com December 1 2015 - February 7, 2016 | 9
Visions of 2020! Sampling from back to front for a change: in Rearview Mirror, Robert Harris on the Beethoven he loves (and loves to hate!); Errol Gay, a most musical life remembered; Luna Pearl Woolf in focus in recordings editor David Olds' "Editor's Corner" and in Jenny Parr's preview of "Jacqueline"; Speranza Scappucci explains how not to reinvent Rossini; The Indigo Project, where "each piece of cloth tells a story"; and, leading it all off, Jully Black makes a giant leap in "Caroline, or Change." And as always, much more. Now online in flip-through format here and on stands starting Thurs Jan 30.
Welcome to our December/January issue as we turn the annual calendar page, halfway through our season for the 25th time, juggling as always, secular stuff, the spirit of the season, new year resolve and winter journeys! Why is Mozart's Handel's Messiah's trumpet a trombone? Why when Laurie Anderson offers to fly you to the moon you should take her up on the invitation. Why messing with Winterreisse can (sometimes) be a very good thing! And a bumper crop of record reviews for your reading (and sometimes listening) pleasure. Available in flipthrough here right now, and on stands commencing Thursday Nov 28. See you on the other side!
On the slim chance you might not have already heard the news, Estonian Canadian composing giant Udo Kasemets was born the same year that Leo Thermin invented the theremin --1919. Which means this is the centenary year for both of them, and both are being celebrated in style, as Andrew Timar and MJ Buell respectively explain. And that's just a taste of a bustling November, with enough coverage of music of both the delectably substantial and delightfully silly on hand to satisfy one and all.
Long promised, Vivian Fellegi takes a look at Relaxed Performance practice and how it is bringing concert-going barriers down across the spectrum; Andrew Timar looks at curatorial changes afoot at the Music Gallery; David Jaeger investigates the trumpets of October; the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution (and the 20th Anniversary of our October Blue Pages Presenter profiles) in our Editor's Opener; the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir at 125; Tapestry at 40 and Against the Grain at 10; ringing in the changing season across our features and columns; all this and more, now available in Flip Through format here, and on the stands commencing this coming Friday September 27, 2019. Enjoy.
Vol 1 of our 25th season is now here! And speaking of 25, that's how many films in the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival editor Paul Ennis, in our Eighth Annual TIFF TIPS, has chosen to highlight for their particular musical interest.
Also inside: Rob Harris looks through the Rear View Mirror at past and present prognostications about the imminent death of classical music; Mysterious Barricades and Systemic Barriers are Lydia Perović's preoccupations in Art of Song; Andrew Timar reflects on the evolving priorities of the Polaris Prize; and elsewhere, it's chocks away as yet another season creaks or roars (depending on the beat) into motion. Welcome back.
What a range of stuff! A profile of Liz Upchurch, the COC ensemble studio's vocal mentor extraordinaire; a backgrounder on win-win faith/arts centre partnerships and ways of exploring the possibilities; an interview with St. Petersburg-based Eifman Ballet's Boris Eifman; Ana Sokolovic's violin concert Evta finally coming to town; a Love Letter to YouTube, and much more. Plus our 17th annual Canary Pages Choral directory if all you want to do is sing! sing! sing!
Arraymusic, the Music Gallery and Native Women in the Arts join for a mini-festival celebrating the work of composer, performer and installation artist Raven Chacon; Music and Health looks at the role of Healing Arts Ontario in supporting concerts in care facilities; Kingston-based composer Marjan Mozetich's life and work are celebrated in film; "Forest Bathing" recontextualizes Schumann, Shostakovich and Hindemith; in Judy Loman's hands, the harp can sing; Mahler's Resurrection bursts the bounds of symphonic form; Ed Bickert, guitar master remembered. All this and more in our April issue, now online in flip-through here, and on stands commencing Friday March 29.
Something Old, Something New! The Ide(a)s of March are Upon Us! Rob Harris's Rear View Mirror looks forward to a tonal revival; Tafelmusik expands their chronological envelope in two directions, Esprit makes wave after wave; Pax Christi's new oratorio by Barbara Croall catches the attention of our choral and new music columnists; and summer music education is our special focus, right when warm days are once again possible to imagine. All this and more in our March 2019 edition, available in flipthrough here, and on the stands starting Thursday Feb 28.
In this issue: A prize that brings lustre to its laureates (and a laureate who brings lustre to the prize); Edwin Huizinga on the journey of Opera Atelier's "The Angel Speaks" from Versailles to the ROM; Danny Driver on playing piano in the moment; Remembering Neil Crory (a different kind of genius)' Year of the Boar, Indigeneity and Opera; all this and more in Volume 24 #5. Online in flip through, HERE and on the stands commencing Thursday Jan 31.
When is a trumpet like a motorcycle in a dressage event? How many Brunhilde's does it take to change an Elektra? Just two of the many questions you've been dying to ask, to which you will find answers in a 24th annual combined December/January issue – in which our 11 beat columnists sift through what's on offer in the upcoming holiday month, and what they're already circling in their calendars for 2019. Oh, and features too: a klezmer violinist breathing new life into a very old film; two New Music festivals in January, 200 metres apart; a Music & Health story on the restorative powers of a grassroots exercise in collective music-making; even a good reason to go to Winnipeg in the dead of winter. All this and more in Vol 24 No 4, now available in flipthrough format here.
Reluctant arranger! National Ballet Orchestra percussionist Kris Maddigan on creating the JUNO and BAFTA award-winning smash hit Cuphead video game soundtrack; Evergreen by name and by nature, quintessentially Canadian gamelan (Andrew Timar explains); violinist Angèle Dubeau on 20 years and 60 million streams; two children’s choirs where this month remembrance and living history must intersect. And much more, online in our kiosk now, and on the street commencing Thursday November 1.
Presenters, start your engines! With TIFF and "back-to-work" out of the way, the regular concert season rumbles to life, and, if our Editor's Opener can be trusted, "Seeking Synergies" seems to be the name of the game. Denise Williams' constantly evolving "Walk Together Children" touching down at the Toronto Centre for the Arts; the second annual Festival of Arabic Music and Arts expanding its range; a lesson in Jazz Survival with Steve Wallace; the 150 presenter and performer profiles in our 19th annual Blue Pages directory... this is an issue that is definitely more than the sum of its parts.
In this issue: The WholeNote's 7th Annual TIFF TIPS guide to festival films with musical clout; soprano Erin Wall in conversation with Art of Song columnist Lydia Perovic, about more than the art of song; a summer's worth of recordings reviewed; Toronto Chamber Choir at 50 (is a few close friends all it takes?); and much more, as the 2018/19 season gets under way.
PLANTING NOT PAVING! In this JUNE / JULY /AUGUST combined issue: Farewell interviews with TSO's Peter Oundjian and Stratford Summer Music's John Miller, along with "going places" chats with Luminato's Josephine Ridge, TD Jazz's Josh Grossman and Charm of Finches' Terry Lim. ) Plus a summer's worth of fruitful festival inquiry, in the city and on the road, in a feast of stories and our annual GREEN PAGES summer Directory.
In this issue: our sixteenth annual Choral Canary Pages; coverage of 21C, Estonian Music Week and the 3rd Toronto Bach Festival (three festivals that aren’t waiting for summer!); and features galore: “Final Finales” for Larry Beckwith’s Toronto Masque Theatre and for David Fallis as artistic director of Toronto Consort; four conductors on the challenges of choral conducting; operatic Hockey Noir; violinist Stephen Sitarski’s perspective on addressing depression; remembering bandleader, composer and saxophonist Paul Cram. These and other stories, in our May 2018 edition of the magazine.
In this issue: we talk with jazz pianist Thompson Egbo-Egbo about growing up in Toronto, building a musical career, and being adaptive to change; pianist Eve Egoyan prepares for her upcoming Luminato project and for the next stage in her long-term collaborative relationship with Spanish-German composer Maria de Alvear; jazz violinist Aline Homzy, halfway through preparing for a concert featuring standout women bandleaders, talks about social equity in the world of improvised music; and the local choral community celebrates the life and work of choral conductor Elmer Iseler, 20 years after his passing.
In this issue: Canadian Stage, Tapestry Opera and Vancouver Opera collaborate to take Gogol’s short story The Overcoat to the operatic stage; Montreal-based Sam Shalabi brings his ensemble Land of Kush, and his newest composition, to Toronto; Five Canadian composers, each with a different CBC connection, are nominated for JUNOs; and The WholeNote team presents its annual Summer Music Education Directory, a directory of summer music camps, programs and courses across the province and beyond.
In this issue: composer Nicole Lizée talks about her love for analogue equipment, and the music that “glitching” evokes; Richard Rose, artistic director at the Tarragon Theatre, gives us insights into their a rock-and-roll Hamlet, now entering production; Toronto prepares for a mini-revival of Schoenberg’s music, with three upcoming shows at New Music Concerts; and the local music theatre community remembers and celebrates the life and work of Mi’kmaq playwright and performer Cathy Elliott . These and other stories, in our double-issue December/January edition of the magazine.
In this issue: conversations (of one kind or another) galore! Daniela Nardi on taking the reins at "best-kept secret" venue, 918 Bathurst; composer Jeff Ryan on his "Afghanistan" Requiem for a Generation" partnership with war poet, Susan Steele; lutenist Ben Stein on seventeenth century jazz; collaborative pianist Philip Chiu on going solo; Barbara Hannigan on her upcoming Viennese "Second School" recital at Koerner; Tina Pearson on Pauline Oliveros; and as always a whole lot more!
In this issue: several local artists reflect on the memory of composer Claude Vivier, as they prepare to perform his music; Vancouver gets ready to host international festival ISCM World New Music Days, which is coming to Canada for the second time since its inception in 1923; one of the founders of Artword Artbar, one of Hamilton’s staple music venues, on the eve of the 5th annual Steel City Jazz Festival, muses on keeping urban music venues alive; and a conversation with pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, as he prepares for an ambitious recital in Toronto. These and other stories, in our October 2017 issue of the magazine.
In this issue: a look at why musicians experience stage fright, and how to combat it; an inside look at the second Kensington Market Jazz Festival, which zeros in on one of Toronto’s true ‘music villages’; an in-depth interview with Elisa Citterio, new music director of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; and The WholeNote’s guide to TIFF, with suggestions for the 20 most musical films at this year’s festival. These and other stories, in our September 2017 issue of the magazine!
CBC Radio's Lost Horizon; Pinocchio as Po-Mo Operatic Poster Boy; Meet the Curators (Crow, Bernstein, Ridge); a Global Music Orchestra is born; and festivals, festivals, festivals in our 13th annual summer music Green Pages. All this and more in our three-month June-through August summer special issue, now available in flipthrough HERE and on the stands commencing Thursday June 1.
From science fact in "Integral Man: Music and the Movies," to science fiction in the editor's opener; from World Fiddle Day at the Aga Khan Museum to three Canadians at the Cliburn; from wanting to sashay across the 401 to Chamberfest in Montreal to exploring the Continuum of Jumblies Theatre's 20-year commitment to the Community Play (there's a pun in there somewhere!).
In this issue: Our podcast ramps up with interviews in March with fight director Jenny Parr, countertenor Daniel Taylor, and baritone Russell Braun; two views of composer John Beckwith at 90; how music’s connection to memory can assist with the care of patients with Alzheimer’s; musical celebrations in film and jazz, at National Canadian Film Day and Jazz Day; and a preview of Louis Riel, which opens this month at the COC. These and other stories, in our April 2017 issue of the magazine!
On our cover: Owen Pallett's musical palette on display at New Creations. Spring brings thoughts of summer music education! (It's never too late.). For Marc-Andre Hamelin the score is king. Ella at 100 has the tributes happening. All; this and more.
In this issue: an interview with composer/vocalist Jeremy Dutcher, on his upcoming debut album and unique compositional voice; a conversation with Boston Symphony hornist James Sommerville, as as the BSO gets ready to come to his hometown; Stuart Hamilton, fondly remembered; and an inside look at Hugh’s Room, as it enters a complicated chapter in the story of its life in the complex fabric of our musical city. These and other stories, as we celebrate the past and look forward to the rest of 2016/17, the first glimpses of 2017/18, and beyond!
In this issue: a conversation with pianist Stewart Goodyear, in advance of his upcoming show at Koerner Hall; a preview of the annual New Year’s phenomenon that is Bravissimo!/Salute to Vienna; an inside look at music performance in Toronto’s health-care centres; and a reflection on the incredible life and lasting influence of the late Pauline Oliveros. These and more, in a special December/January combined issue!
In this issue: David Jaeger and Alex Pauk’s most memorable R. Murray Schafer collabs, in this month’s installment of Jaeger’s CBC Radio Two: The Living Legacy; an interview with flutist Claire Chase, who brings new music and mindset to Toronto this month; an investigation into the strange coincidence of three simultaneous Mendelssohn Elijahs this Nov 5; and of course, our annual Blue Pages, a who’s who of southern Ontario’s live music scene- a community as prolific and multifaceted as ever. These and more, as we move full-force into the 2016/17 concert season- all aboard!
Music lover's TIFF (our fifth annual guide to the Toronto International Film Festival); Aix Marks the Spot (how Brexit could impact on operatic co-production); The Unstoppable Howard Cable (an affectionate memoir of a late chapter in the life of of a great Canadian arranger; Kensington Jazz Story (the newest kid on the festival block flexes its muscles). These stories and much more as we say a lingering goodbye to summer and turn to the task, for the 22nd season, of covering the live and recorded music that make Southern Ontario tick.
It's combined June/July/August summer issue time with, we hope, enough between the covers to keep you dipping into it all through the coming lazy, hazy days. From Jazz Vans racing round "The Island" delivering pop-up brass breakouts at the roadside, to Bach flute ambushes strolling "The Grove, " to dozens of reasons to stay in the city. May yours be a summer where you find undiscovered musical treasures, and, better still, when, unexpectedly, the music finds you.
INSIDE: The Canaries Are Here! 116 choirs to choose from, so take the plunge! The Nylons hit the road after one last SING! Fling. Jazz writer Steve Wallace wonders "Watts Goode" rather than "what's new?" Paul Ennis has the musical picks of the HotDocs crop. David Jaeger's CBC Radio continues golden for a little while yet. Douglas McNabney is Music's Child. Leipzig meets Damascus in Alison Mackay's fertile imagination. And "C" is for KRONOS in Wende Bartley's koverage of the third annual 21C Festival. All this and as usual much much more. Enjoy.
From 30 camp profiles to spark thoughts of being your summer musical best, to testing LUDWIG as you while away the rest of so-called winter; from Scottish Opera and the Danish Midtvest, to a first Toronto recital appearance by violin superstar Maxim Vengerov; from musings on New Creations and new creation, to the boy who made a habit of crying Beowulf; it's a month of merry meetings and rousing recordings reviewed, all here to discover in The WholeNote.
2016 is off to a flying start! We chronicle the Artful Times of Andrew Burashko, the violistic versatility of Teng Li, the ageless ebullience of jazz pianist Gene DiNovi and the ninetieth birthday of trumpeter Johnny Cowell. Jaeger remembers Boulez; Waxman recalls Bley's influence, and Olds finds Bowie haunting Editor's Corner. Oh, and did we mention there's all that music? Hello (and goodbye) to the February blues, and here's to swinging through the musical vines of the Year of the Monkey.
What's a vinyl renaissance? What happens when Handel's Messiah runs afoul of the rumba rhythm setting on a (gasp!) Hammond organ? What work does Marc-Andre Hamelin say he would be content to have on every recital program he plays? What are Steve Wallace's favourite fifty Christmas recordings? Why is violinist Daniel Hope celebrating Yehudi Menuhin's 100th birthday at Koerner Hall January 28? Answers to all these questions (and a whole lot more) in the Dec/Jan issue of The WholeNote.
"Come" seems to be the verb that knits this month's issue together. Sondra Radvanovsky comes to Koerner, William Norris comes to Tafel as their new GM, opera comes to Canadian Stage; and (a long time coming!) Jane Bunnett's musicianship and mentorship are honoured with the Premier's award for excellence; plus David Jaeger's ongoing series on the golden years of CBC Radio Two, Andrew Timar on hybridity, a bumper crop of record reviews and much much more. Come on in!
Vol 21 No 2 is now available for your viewing pleasure, and it's a bumper crop, right at the harvest moon. First ever Canadian opera on the Four Seasons Centre main stage gets double coverage with Wende Bartley interviewing Pyramus and Thisbe composer Barbara Monk Feldman and Chris Hoile connecting with director Christopher Alden; Paul Ennis digs into the musical mind of pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, and pianist Eve Egoyan is "On the Record" in conversation with publisher David Perlman ahead of the Oct release concert for her tenth recording. And at the heart of it all the 16th edition of our annual BLUE PAGES directory of presenters profile the season now well and truly under way.
Paul Ennis's annual TIFF TIPS (27 festival films of potential particular musical interest); Wu Man, Yo-Yo Ma and Jeffrey Beecher on the Silk Road; David Jaeger on CBC Radio Music in the days it was committed to commissioning; the LISTENING ROOM continues to grow on line; DISCoveries is back, bigger than ever; and Mary Lou Fallis says Trinity-St. Paul's is Just the Spot (especially this coming Sept 25!).
