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.
SOPHIA PERLMAN - MARKET
SOPHIA PERLMAN - MARKET BORN Beat by Beat | On Opera TRACEY NOLAN Growing up in the market often felt like living in the middle of a sort of permanent festival, with different music tumbling out of every doorway and a parade of every imaginable person going past your window. And it was especially exciting when someone in the community decided it was time to throw a party on purpose. People who couldn’t agree on anything else seemed to be able to come together if it meant a parade, or music in the park or rolling out their awnings on a Sunday so the celebration could go on come freak rainstorm or unseasonable sun. They were community events in the truest sense, and it was that community spirit that let us build traditions that were our own, without the input of big corporate sponsors. It’s part of what built a vital, resourceful, resilient creative community here, and I love that KMJF is a festival in that tradition. I’m struck, looking at the lineup, by how many of the musicians have deep connections to the neighbourhood – as past and present residents or as artists who found a creative home here at various stages of their careers. As a child, the market used to largely shut down at sunset, when the stores mostly closed and the shoppers all went home. Now there is no shortage of places to go and things to do and see after dark. I love the way the ticket model and concert schedule seem designed to encourage people to walk through the neighbourhood. Even if they come looking for some particular music that they want, they might go home with something new and exciting that they had never heard of. Or something old and wonderful that is completely new to them. That, to me, seems very much in the spirit of this wonderful, crazy, resilient community. Born and raised in the heart of the Market, Sophia Perlman has become a fixture of the Ontario jazz and blues scene. Musicality, old-soul voice and skill as an improviser have made her a first-call featured singer with some of the top ensembles and musicians in the country. In addition to performing and touring with her own quartet and as part of the duo PerlHaze, with fellow vocalist/multiinstrumentalist Terra Hazelton, she is found performing regularly with numerous artists and ensembles, including Adrean Farrugia, the Toronto Jazz Orchestra, the Darcy Hepner Jazz Orchestra, the Toronto Rhythm Initiative, the Vipers, and Chuck Jackson’s Big Bad Blues Band. Six Seasons at a Glance CHRISTOPHER HOILE Based on the schedules that have already been announced, the 2016/17 opera season in Toronto will feature an intriguing mix of old favourites, revivals of major rarities and world premieres. The Canadian Opera Company opens the season with a new production of Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma (1831), an opera not heard at the COC since 2006. Alternating in the title role of the Druid priestess will be Sondra Radvanovsky and Elza van den Heever. Pollione, her fickle Roman lover, is Russell Thomas, while Pollione’s new love, Adalgisa will be Isabel Leonard. Dimitry Ivashchenko will sing Norma’s father Oroveso. Stephen Lord conducts the eight performances running from October 6 to November 5. Alternating with Norma, the COC continues its exploration of Handel with the company premiere of the composer’s 1734 opera Ariodante based on an episode from Ariosto’s epic poem Orlando Furioso (1532). Alice Coote sings the trouser role of Ariodante, Jane Archibald is his beloved Ginevra and Varduhi Abrahamyan sings the second trouser role of the jealous Polinesso. Johannes Debus conducts his first ever Handel opera for seven performances running from October 16 to November 4. The winter season sees the revival of two COC productions, Mozart’s The Magic Flute running for 12 performances from January 19 to February 24 and Wagner’s Götterdämmerung running for seven performances from February 2 to 25. Andrew Haji and Owen McCausland share the role of Tamino, while Elena Tsallagova and Kirsten MacKinnon sing the role of Pamina. Joshua Hopkins and 2016|2017 SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE NOW! Choice of 4 Packages – Save up to 45% visit www.torontooperetta.com WALTZ RIVALS A Tribute to Kálmán and Lehár Michael Rose, Music Director Sunday, November 6, 2016 Guillermo Silva-Marin General Director THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE by Gilbert & Sullivan Derek Bate, Conductor, Guillermo Silva-Marin, Stage Director Elizabeth Beeler, Vania Chan, Colin Ainsworth, Curtis Sullivan December 27, 30, 31, 2016 and January 6, 7, 8, 2017 THE CHOCOLATE SOLDIER by Oscar Straus Peter Tiefenbach, Conductor, Guillermo Silva-Marin, Stage Director Jennifer Taverner, Anna Macdonald, Stefan Fehr, Michael Nyby April 26, 28, 29, 30, 2017 GALOPE OFFENBACHIENNE A Tribute to Jacques Offenbach Michael Rose, Music Director Sunday, June 4, 2017 416-366-7723 | 1-800-708-6754 | www.stlc.com 18 | September 1, 2016 - October 7, 2016 thewholenote.com
CORY WEAVER Phillip Addis alternate in the role of the bird catcher, Papageno. The Queen of the Night is Ambur Braid. Sarastro is sung by Goran Jurić in his Canadian debut and by Matt Boehler. Ashlie Corcoran directs the revival of the 2005 production and Bernard Labadie makes his COC debut at the podium. The COC’s production of Götterdämmerung, last seen in 2006, stars the acclaimed Christine Goerke, who continues Brünnhilde’s journey that she began in Die Walküre in 2015 and continued in Siegfried in 2016. Her Siegfried this time will be Andreas Schager. Martin Gantner is Gunther, Siegfried’s rival, Ileana Montalbetti is Gunther’s sister Gutrune, Ain Anger is Gunther’s dangerous half-brother, Hagen, and Robert Pomakov is the dwarf Alberich. Johannes Debus conducts his first-ever Götterdämmerung and Tim Albery returns to direct. The highlight of the Toronto opera calendar occurs in the COC’s spring season. From April 20 to May 13, the COC presents a new production of Louis Riel by Harry Somers, written for Canada’s centennial in 1967, remounted in 1975 and now revived for Canada’s sesquicentennial in 2017 in a co-production with the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Generally regarded as Canada’s greatest opera, Louis Riel runs for seven performances from April 20 to May 13 in Toronto and from June 15 to 17 at the NAC. www.operainconcert.com VOICE B OX OPERA IN CONCERT Guillermo Silva-Marin, General Director Sondra Radvanovsky as Norma 2016 2017 SEASON Subscriptions now on sale! Save up to 35% Shakespeare 400 A Tribute Benefit Concert SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2016 I Capuleti e i Montecchi The Capulets and the Montagues by Vincenzo Bellini Caitlin Wood, Anita Krause, Tonatiuh Abrego SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2016 L’isola disabitata The Deserted Island by Joseph Haydn with Kevin Mallon and the Aradia Ensemble, Valérie Bélanger, Marjorie Maltais, Alexander Dobson SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2017 Khovanshchina Хованщина The Khovansky Affair by Modest Mussorgsky Emilia Boteva, Andrey Andreychik, Dion Mazerolle SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2017 416-366-7723 | 1-800-708-6754 | www.stlc.com 2016•17SEASON SONGS OF ENCHANTMENT Tales of wonder, spells and tranformation OCTOBER 25 & 26, 8 PM ’S WONDERFUL The best of the Gershwin songbook JAN. 29, 3:30 PM & JAN. 31, 8 PM LAND OF THE SILVER BIRCH Songs of Canada’s first European settlers MARCH 28 & 29, 8 PM A MIXTURE OF MADNESS The fine line between insanity and revelation MAY 16 & 17, 8 PM tickets: 416-978-8849 | uofttix.ca Talisker Players Music @TaliskerPlayers www.taliskerplayers.ca thewholenote.com September 1, 2016 - October 7, 2016 | 19
