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Volume 19 Issue 3 - November 2013

  • Text
  • November
  • Toronto
  • Jazz
  • December
  • Theatre
  • Symphony
  • Orchestra
  • Concerts
  • Arts
  • Bloor

home, space, land,

home, space, land, migration, love and the human condition. Themain performances are on November 7, 9, 16 and 23 in Toronto andon November 8 in Hamilton. An audio installation, “Whispering Rain,”runs from November 9 to 30 in the NAISA space.4. 416 TCIF: As always, the improvisation scene is hopping withcrossover possibilities. This month is the 12th edition of the 416Toronto Creative Improvisers Festival with “the best music you’venever heard.” For four nights from November 6 to 9, at the TRANZAC,the programming includes hand-signal-directed orchestra, laptopmash-ups by the McMaster University-based Cybernetic Orchestra,ambient dreamscapes and free jazz virtuosity with both local andvisiting guest artists.5. and 6. Soundstreams and KWS: Extemporizing even further onthe subject of fusion, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony is programmingan evening of rock-inspired music for orchestra on November 7and 8 in Kitchener and November 9 at Koerner Hall, including NicoleLizée’s Triple Concerto for Power Trio: Fantasia on Themes by Rush,a virtuosic blast for guitar, bass and drum. And on November 13,you’ll have an opportunity to experience “Reimagining Flamenco”with Soundstreams’ presentation of contemporary perspectives onflamenco works. Blending fire and passion, this concert will offerreinventions for guitar, piano and flamenco singer of the old masterManuel de Falla and Paco de Lucia, among others. Alongside thesepieces will be the premiere of a new work by Canadian composerAndré Ristic, whose music also appears in Esprit Orchestra’sgamelan concert.7. and 8. Piano virtuosi: On November 24, “Music She Wrote: ATribute to Canadian Woman Composers” will be another opportunityto hear new orchestral music. This time it’s the Koffler ChamberOrchestra with conductor Jacques Israelievitch featuring pianistChristina Petrowska Quilico, one of Canada’s leading interpreters ofcontemporary music. She will perform two piano concertos writtenby two Canadian women composers — Heather Schmidt and VioletArcher. The orchestra, comprised of professional, community andmusic students, will also perform orchestral works by Ann Southamand Larysa Kuzmenko. Ms. Petrowska Quilico has had a connectionwith all four composers, having previously given the premiere performancesand released CD recordings of the Schmidt and Archer works,as well as a CD release of Southam’s music. Both recordings resultedin JUNO nominations for the three composers. On the same evening(November 24) Eve Egoyan, another virtuosic pianist and interpreterof contemporary music who also enjoyed a close artistic relationshipwith Ann Southam, will perform works by James Tenney,Piers Hellawell, Linda C. Smith and Michael Finnissy as part of theKitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society series. This program willrepeat in Toronto on November 26 presented by Music Toronto.9. Arraymusic has a busy month with two concerts on November 9and 10 of “Small Wonders,” their popular minatures series. Numerouscomposers have written these short moments in time for theensemble over the years, and this concert will feature severalensemble pieces from the past along with eight new premieres. TheArray ensemble will also perform short works by Webern, Feldmanand Carter alongside two longer compositions by Jo Kondo andCanadian Ruth Guechtal. I also want to mention an important Arrayconcert on December 6 , “The Signal Itself,” a celebration of the musicof James Tenney. Tenney was a visionary and a beloved composer ofthis city who taught at York University for over two decades. More tocome on this in the December issue, but I just wanted people to knowwell in advance.10. Additional new music events:!!Thin Edge New Music Collective: November 21.!!Canadian Music Centre: November 9 – Rosedale Winds;November 13 – junctQin Keyboard Collective.!!Canadian Opera Company: November 13 – Piano Virtuoso Series.!!Royal Conservatory/Toronto Harp Society: November 10 – Works byBuhr, Schafer and others.!!Toronto Mendelssohn Choir: November 20 – Britten at 100.Wendalyn Bartley is a Toronto based composer and electro-vocalsound artist. She can be contacted at sounddreaming@gmail.com.Beat by Beat | On OperaShowtime for theSmall and ShinyCHRISTOPHER HOILEIn november it’s the turn for the smaller opera companies toshine. Six companies in particular will present the kind of unusualrepertoire that keeps the opera landscape in Ontario so diverse.Arcady: First up, on November 2, is Ronald Beckett’s opera Ruth,based on the book in the Bible of the same name. It is performed byArcady, an ensemble dedicated to the performance of baroque musicand Beckett’s work. Composed of a collection of singers, actors andinstrumentalists from throughout Ontario, Arcady combines establishedprofessionals, outstanding university music students and recentErin Bardua and Maureen Batt, co-founders of Essential Opera.performance graduates. The performance takes place at the HopeChristian Reformed Church in Brantford.The opera will feature a cast of young soloists led by Elise Naccaratoin the title role and Michael York as Boaz. The role of the narrator willbe sung by tenor Christopher Fischer, Naomi by Montreal’s MeaganZantingh and Malchi-Shua by Brantford’s own Shawn Oakes. Thework uses three choruses — a chorus of the women from Moab, amale chorus of Elders who appear at the trial of Malchi-Shua and ayouth choir. In 2007 Arcady recorded Ruth for Crescendo Records,and anyone wishing get a sense of the 80-minute work can listen toexcerpts on iTunes or CDBaby.TOT: On November 3, Toronto Operetta Theatre presents a concertperformance of the zarzuela, The Saucy Señorita (La revoltosa), from1897 by Ruperto Chapí (1851–1909). A zarzuela is the Spanish versionof operetta and the short one-act La revoltosa is considered one of26 | Novemberr 1 – December 7, 2013 thewholenote.com

the masterpieces of the form. Beth Hagerman is Mari-Pepa, the flirtatioustroublemaker of the title, who causes a row among the men inher Madrid neighbourhood (sung by Diego Catala, Fabian Arciniegasand Marco Petracchi) and angers the women. Music director NarminaAfandiyeva provides the piano accompaniment. The TOT fills out theevening with a selection of hits from the world of zarzuela.Essential Opera: On November 8, Essential Opera opens its fourthseason with Haydn’s charming two-act comic opera L’isola disabitata(1779) in concert at Heliconian Hall in Yorkville. This four-characterscore will be sung in Italian with onscreen English translation. Musicdirection and piano accompanimentare by Kate Carver.All the action in L’isola disabitatatakes place on a tiny desertisland inhabited only by Costanza(Erin Bardua), who was abandonedthere 13 years earlier by her faithlessfiancé, along with her younger sisterSylvia (Maureen Batt). Their lonelinessis interrupted by the arrival ofEnrico (Giovanni Spanu) and his bestfriend (Stefan Fehr), none other thanGernando, Costanza’s fiancé.As Bardua and Batt told me in aninterview, “For season four, we wantedto begin with something from the classicalperiod; that’s what we startedPeter Tiefenbach.with (Le nozze di Figaro was our firstshow), and it felt like the perfecttime to revisit that era. This Haydnwas immediately appealing; it was designed for a small castand performance space, so as soon as we discovered it, weknew it was a good fit. It’s entirely about relationships andhow they’re formed — Costanza’s motherly/sisterly bond withSylvia; Sylvia’s desperate need for variety and affection, whichmakes her fall instantly for the gruff Enrico; Enrico’s loyalty andgrowing empathy; Gernando’s unwavering faith. Those relationshipsall get resolved in a really satisfying way. Plus, it’s prettyfunny — Haydn clearly felt the subject matter was lighthearted atits core, and we love laughs at Essential Opera.” For an idea of aperformance by Essential Opera, Bardua and Batt recommend visitingtheir YouTube channel for highlights of their season three spring show,Two Weddings & a Funeral.GGS: On November 15 and 16, the Glenn Gould School of Musicat the Royal Conservatory presents a major rarity in the form of TheSilent Serenade (Die stumme Serenade) by Erich Wolfgang Korngold(1897–1957). Korngold is probably best known as the composer ofnumerous rousing scores for Hollywood movies like The Adventuresof Robin Hood (1938) and The Sea Hawk (1940). But before leaving forHollywood at the request of Max Reinhardt, Korngold had written ina wide range of classical genres. One of his six operas, Die tote Stadt(1920) is still performed today.Peter Tiefenbach, who will conduct The Silent Serenade, told mein an interview that Korngold’s stay in the U,S, gave him the desireto write a musical. When he couldn’t find a producer in the States,Korngold decided to try his luck in West Germany and had the originalEnglish libretto translated into German. It was broadcast by RadioVienna in 1951 and staged by Theater Dortmund in 1954. Set in Naplesin 1826, the plot concerns a fashion designer, Andrea Coclé, who fallsin love with his famous actress client Silvia Lombardi. The style isa mix of operetta and jazzy 1920s-style cabaret songs with the mostdifficult music given to Andrea and Silvia. What excites Tiefenbachmost about the work is Korngold’s marvellous orchestration forchamber orchestra.The original English libretto being lost, Korngold’s publisherscommissioned an English translation of the German. The Glenn GouldSchool performance will mark the world premiere of this translation.ROBERT KORTGAARDLIVING OPERAfor Schools (Grades 9 to 12)Meet an opera singer, do a drama workshop andtake a backstage tour, PLUS get tickets to the opera!coc.ca/Explore 416-306-2392SponSored BySchool Program 2012. Photo: COC. Creative: BT/Athewholenote.com November 1 – December 7, 2013 | 27

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