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Volume 23 Issue 1 - September 2017

  • Text
  • September
  • Toronto
  • Jazz
  • Orchestra
  • Musical
  • October
  • Recording
  • Composer
  • Symphony
  • Theatre
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!

many near sellouts in

many near sellouts in both Koerner and Walter Halls. I was fortunate to take in 15 concerts, three masterclasses, two open rehearsals, two “Conversations” and two “Kids Concerts,” less than half of what the extensive program offered. Visit www.thewholenote.com for my TSM concert reports. Two of the sold-out programs, “The TSO Chamber Soloists” and the “Tribute to Anton Kuerti,” had a direct connection to Mooredale Concerts (of which Kuerti is artistic director emeritus). The TSO players, under the leadership of TSO concertmaster Jonathan Crow, will open Mooredale’s new season on September 24 at Walter Hall. Crow will be joined by Teng Li, principal viola; Joseph Johnson, principal cello; Jeffrey Beecher, principal bass; Michael Sweeney, principal bassoon; Neil Deland, principal horn; and Miles Jaques, clarinet. Their diverse program features the Françaix String Trio, Nielsen’s Serenata in vano, CNW69, Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, Op. 28, by Richard Strauss and Beethoven’s Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20. The Nielsen is a quintet for clarinet, bassoon, horn, cello and double bass; the quintet arrangement of the Strauss uses similar instrumentation with the violin replacing the cello. Crow was gracious enough to answer several questions about the TSO Chamber Soloists (TSOCS) and the program of the Mooredale recital. WN: What was the impetus behind the origin of the TSO Chamber Soloists? JC: There are a couple of different reasons behind the TSOCS, but foremost for us is a chance to present TSO players in a more intimate setting, as we generally only get to interact with our audiences in a very large space. There is something very special about a chamber music setting that allows audiences to get to know their favourite musicians more as individuals, and also allows us to have a little more creativity in our own interpretations. There is also so much great chamber music repertoire that we want to play, and having the chance to do it with a regular group of TSO players only helps us to feel more connected when we get back to the orchestra! Violist Teng Li and cellist Joe Johnson riding Via Rail to Brockville on the TSO BMO tour, November 17, 2012. They will join Jonathan Crow to perform Francaix’s String Trio, the most straightforward (in terms of instrumentation) of the TSOCS’ intriguing program. WN: How many concerts do you do over the course of the year? JC: Personally? Too many to count! The TSOCS does four concerts a year at RTH before TSO shows, and perhaps three or four more touring concerts every season. The schedules of all the players are too complicated to allow for much more than this unfortunately. WN: How was the upcoming Mooredale recital conceived? Did it begin with the Beethoven Septet and move outward from there? JC: We like to mix well-known chamber works with other wonderful but lesser known works, and one of the goals of the TSOCS is to feature all the parts of the orchestra, not just the string section! The Beethoven Septet is one of the great works of all time for strings and winds and was an obvious choice for this show, after which we looked at other works that would complement the Beethoven to fill out the program. For this concert we focused on works that would DENIS MASTROMONACO MUSIC DIRECTOR & C O N D U C T O R MSO MASTERWORKS SYMPHONIC TITANS SIBELIUS & MAHLER OCTOBER 14, 2017 8PM HAMMERSON HALL SIBELIUS Violin Concerto MAHLER Symphony No. 1 Titan GUEST ARTIST Jonathan Crow, violin LIVING ARTS CENTRE - HAMMERSON HALL - MISSISSAUGA TICKETS START AT . TO PURCHASE, CALL: 905-306-6000 OR VISIT: MISSISSAUGASYMPHONY.CA 28 | September 2017 thewholenote.com

e composed in the same style as the Septet – fun, upbeat music that doesn’t take itself too seriously! WN: How would you characterize the Francaix String Trio? JC: This piece always makes me think of a champagne cork popping out – it’s such a light and bubbly piece! Extremely fun to play, and very enjoyable for audiences. WN: The Serenata in vano, CNW69 by Carl Nielsen is new to me. Can you tell us something about it? JC: The TSOCS did this work a few years back at RTH – Nielsen himself referred to it as “a humorous trifle.” In his words: “First the gentlemen play in a somewhat chivalric and showy manner to lure the fair one out onto the balcony, but she does not appear. Then they play in a slightly languorous strain (Poco adagio), but that hasn’t any effect either. Since they have played in vain (in vano), they don’t care a straw and shuffle off home to the strains of the little final march, which they play for their own amusement.” WN: Are you playing the quintet version of Till Eulenspiegel? Such a joyful piece. Do you recall the first time you ever heard it? Or played it? JC: Yes! This is an amazing arrangement of one of the great orchestra pieces of all time! I first did it at the Montreal Chamber Music Festival probably about 15 years ago. It’s a virtuosic showpiece for the five players and has all the excitement of the orchestral version, but the intimacy of a chamber ensemble – everything we aim for with the TSOCS! WN: What is your approach to Beethoven’s Septet? JC: We tend to think of Beethoven as a very serious composer, but sometimes I think we miss some of the humour and lightness in his compositions. This piece is truly a serenade, and we like to think of it as something perhaps a little lighter than many of the Beethoven symphonies that we play so much. In a way I think it presents a different side of Beethoven – a side of a composer who wasn’t yet deaf and didn’t yet have any idea about the loss that would inflect so many of his later works. Paul Ennis is the managing editor of The WholeNote. International Grand Music Studio presents Peter Tchaikovsky Inspiration Piano Concerto No 1 excerpts from Eugene Onegin, Queen of Spades Swan Lake Suite, Romances Sunday, October 29, 6:30pm Roy Thomson Hall Toronto Concert Orchestra conducted by Kerry Stratton Piano Solo: Victoria Korchinskaya-Kogan Singers: Inga Filippova-Williams, Vaguif Kerimov, Sergey Martsenyuk Tickets: RoyThomsonHall.com Info & Contact: igmstudio.ca sales@igmstudio.ca | (647)970-3476 SIMON FRYER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OCTOBER 5, 2017 | 1.30 PM LARA ST. JOHN Lara St. John, violin Matt Herskowitz, piano NOVEMBER 9, 2017 | 1.30 PM ZODIAC TRIO Riko Higuma, piano; Kliment Krylovskiy, clarinet; Vanessa Mollard, violin MARCH 8, 2018 | 1.30 PM ELIAS STRING QUARTET Sara Bitlloch, violin; Donald Grant, violin; Martin Saving, viola; Marie Bitlloch, cello APRIL 12, 2018 | 1.30 PM Sylvia Schwartz, soprano Olivier Godin, piano Simon Fryer with guest cellists: TORONTO DEBUT SYLVIA SCHWARTZ MAY 3, 2018 | 1.30 PM CELLODRAMA! Ariel Barnes Roman Borys David Hetherington Paul Widner Thomas Wiebe Leanne Zacharias Winona Zelenka SPECIAL GUEST: Sarah Slean, soprano 2017 2018 120 th Season Subscribe to Five Thursday Afternoon Concerts for 0 | Single tickets Walter Hall, Faculty of Music, 80 Queen’s Park (Museum Subway) wmct@wmct.on.ca www.wmct.on.ca 416-923-7052 thewholenote.com September 2017 | 29

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