1. Over View by Allan
1. Over View by Allan Pulker December gets off to ajlying start with ' 74 concerts on the weekend of December 1-3, something for every musical taste. Ldok at the listings and be prepared to make some hard choices. BENEFIT CONCERTS. At this time of the year, when we think more than usual about giving, a number of concerts are specifically for the purpose 0f raising funds for worth while causes. These include Cantores Celestes December 2 concert, a concert on December 4 at Massey Hall by a number of well-known performers to promote the cause of ridding the world of land mines, the Bach Consort on December 7, Metropolitan United Church on December 10, Critical Mass on December 12, and on January 30, the Oakville Centre on December and the T.S.O. on January 10. PIANISTS . A number of distinguished pianists will perform in December and January. Anton Kueiti will perform both of Brahms' piano concerti with Boris Brott's National Academy Orchestra in Hamilton on December 6. Emanuel Ax will appear with cellist, Yo Yo Ma at Roy Thomson Hall on 'December 7. English pianist and academic, David Owen Norris will be presented by Music TORONTO in a recital of music by three 20th Century composers on December 12. Leon Fleisher will give a chamber music recital with violinists Erica Raum and Mark Fewer, violist, Rennie Regehr and cellist, Thomas Wiebe, at the Mazzoleni Concert Hall on January 18. On January 22 :~fare-Andre . Hamelin, whom the New York Times' Harold Schonberg has called "a super-virtuoso" will live up to that title when he perform's a program that includes Charles-Valentin Alkan's · Symphony for Solo Piano, Op; 38, and Louis Lortie, will give a recital, part of the CBC OnStage Series, at the Glenn Gould Studio, on January 25, of music Schumann and Brahms. Other'piano recitals to look forward to are Laurie Duncan on December 6, Ishmael Wallace on December 8, Karen Quinton on December 17, Marfeli Pirzadeh on . January 18 and Alexander Tselyakov on January 20. Looking ahead, pianist, Murray Perahia will be both soloist and. conductor in performances with theTSO of Mozart's piano concerti #17 and #25 February 1 to 3. 8 Wholenote DECEMBER 11 2000 - JANUARY 31, 2001 ORCHESTRAS ,. Some good news pertaining to orchestral music in Toronto was, of course, Roy Thomson Hall's announcement that Russell Johnson of Artec Consultants Inc. with architect, Thomas Payne, will plan and oversee a renovation, scheduled for March to August 2002, of Roy Thomson Hall's interior to improve its acoustics. Ever since the new hall opened in 1981 musicians, and audiences alike have been frustrated by its acoustics performance, which has undoubtedly had a negative impact on the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the primary user of the . facility. Bravo to the Corporation of Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall for biting the bulletand going ahead with what has to be done! Speaking of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, December is a busy month, with four concerts conducted by Conductor Emeritus, Sir.Andrew Davis, between the 2nd and the 11th of the · month, five performances of Handel's Messiah between the 14th and the 23rd, several seasonal programs that will appeal to children as well as adults and one perfor~ance with The King's Singers on Decem er 21. They will be back in action afte the holiday on January 11. The many other orchestras that flourish in the GTA will also be busy, in December. The York Symphony Orchestra, Hamilton Philharmonic, Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra, Oshawa Durham Symphony Orchestra, Trinity Chamber Orchestra, National Academy Orchestra, Academy Chamber Orchestra, Durham Chamber Orchestra, Mooredale Youth Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, Toronto Philharmonia and Mississauga Symphony Orchestra all have concerts in December. Tafelmusik's activities in December will be limited to its four performances of Messiah on December 14, 15, 16, 17, its'next series of performances beginning on January 18. Also noteworthy are a couple of visiting brchestras, the Boston Pops on Decembet- 6 at the Hangar (I wonder how the acoustics there compare with Roy Thomson Hall) and 11 Giardino Armonico on January 14 and 15. CHAMBER MUSIC There is plenty of chamber music to choose from in this issue, beginning on December 1 with a concert at Walter Hall by Susan Hoeppner, a remarkable fl\,ltist who lives in Toronto, with several colleagues on stringed instruments. On December 3 pianist, Kent McWilliams and violinist, Jerzy Kaplanek, perform at the Mazzoleni Concert Hall, and violinist, Youry Zaidenberg, performs with pianist, Rena Amiralieva. On December 4 chamber music ensembles from the music program at York University will give a concert at the McLaughlin Hall at York University and on December 5 the percussion ensembles of the Faculty of Music at U ofT will perform at Walter Hall. Yet a third chamber music concert by students will take place at the Royal Conservatory of Music on December 15. Amici will be giving a concert at Hart House on December 10, a flute/harp duo at the Glenn Gould Studio on December 11 and a flute choir on December 14. Fast off the blocks after the holiday will be a cello quartet presented by the Associates of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra on January 8, followed on January 11 by the St. Lawrence String Quartet, presented by Music Toronto, which will also bring us the Toronto String Quartet on January 16, the Modern Quartet on January 25 and the Amernet Quartet on February 1st. Flutist, Jennifer Waring, will perform music by French composers on January 14, and January 21 will offer three chamber music concerts: the Off Centre Series at the Glenn Gould Studio, the Leaside String Quartet at Leaside Presbyterian Church and music for clarinet and piano at the Heliconian Hall. ORGAN MUSIC In addition to the three excellent weekly noon~hour organ recitals at St. James', St. Paul's and Yorkminster Park Churches, which will take a little break for the holiday, but resume early in January, and an organ recital, given by Janet Macfarlane Peaker at Rosedale Presbyterian Church on January 28, there will be several concerts showing us that the · organ has a se'cular side. These are the Wurlitzer Pops organ concert at Casa Loma on December 4, at the Don Mills Organ Society concerts on December 20 and January 17, or at the Toronto Organ Society concert on January 29. WORLD MUSIC December's "World Music" offerings are all "Celtic music" the Loretto Reid/Brian Taheny Band on December 1, Bob MacLean and Nonie Crete at Arkell Schoolhouse on December 2, Rawlin's Cross Celtic Rock Band at the Oakville Centre on December 3, and the Barra MacNeils at Massey Hall on December 22. January brings a wider variety of musical fare from around the world: the world music ensembles ofYor:k University's music program will give a concert at
Alex Pauk music director and conductor esprit orchestra 2 0 0 0 . / 2 0 0 1 www.espritorchestra.com songs of heaven and earth Saturday, January 27, 2001 8:00 pm concert (7:15 pm pre-concert talk) Jane Mallett Theatre, St Lawrence Centre Alex Pauk, conductor . guest artists , LORI FREEDMAN, bass clarinet TBA, baritone / composers DENYS BOULIANE (Canada) Le Sexe des anges for solo bass clarinet and orchestra, 2000 THEO VERBEY (The Netherlands) 6 Rilke-songs for baritone and chamber orchestra, 1998 AKIRA NISHIMURA (Japan) Kecak for six percussionists, 1979 LAURIE RADFORD (Canada) Voice Tears, 1999 To order tickets cal I (416) -366-7723 1'1u. CAN"ADA Couwcu. I L1 Co1
