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Volume 20 Issue 2 - October 2014

  • Text
  • October
  • Toronto
  • Choir
  • November
  • Concerts
  • Jazz
  • Musical
  • Arts
  • Orchestra
  • Theatre
Includes the 2014 Blue Pages Member Directory

to audiences. The

to audiences. The anniversaryconcert featurestwo classical favourites,Haydn’s Lord Nelson Massand Mozart’s unfinished DMinor Requiem.Gerontian Forces:On October 30 andNovember 1 the AmadeusChoir and Elmer IselerSingers provide the vocalforces for the TorontoSymphony Orchestra’sperformance of Elgar’sThe Dream of Gerontius.Elgar (1857-1934) is oftenbest known for his Pompand Circumstance MarchNo. 1, which contains thefamiliar “Land of Hope andGlory” tune.This catchy melody is always – always – played at British-styleProms concerts, which gives listeners the impression that Elgar’scompositions are musical expressions of British imperialism. Britishwhat? For you youngsters out there, there was actually a time whenBritannia ruled the waves, so Britannia waived the rules, and – oh,forget it. Just Google it, okay?Elgar, like his colleagues Holst and Vaughan Williams, was anythingbut an imperialist. He had a mystical, solitary side, like many artists,and as a Roman Catholic and self-taught musician, felt himself to bean outsider in the circles that dominated English musical life. TheDream of Gerontius is a searching, deeply felt work that delineatesthe journey of one man’s soul from his deathbed to God and eventualjudgement.Others of Note: (For those who would like another opportunity tohear more English music, the Pax Christi Chorale performs “Blest Pairof Sirens – A Celebration of Voice and Verse” on October 19. Musicincludes selections by Parry, Elgar and Canada’s foremost exponent ofthe English cathedral tradition, Healy Willan. Pax Christi is joined bythe Aslan Boys Choir. )On October 25 York University hosts “G.I.V.E,” or the “GospelInter-Varsity Explosion.” As someone who actively shunned all teamsports in university, this is the kind of collegiate enterprise I could getbehind. The York, McMaster and University of Toronto gospel choirsare joined by Karen Burke’s terrific Toronto Mass Choir, and all theseenergetic groups can be heard for the absurdly low sum of five dollars,Grand Philharmonic Choirwhich redefines the phrase“extreme bargain.”If you happen to be inKitchener around that time, youcould opt instead for the GrandPhilharmonic Choir’s performanceof Orff’s Carmina Burana,on October 24 and 25. The GPCjoin with their children’s choirand TorQ Percussion Quartet forOrff’s perennial crowd-pleaser.For those who want tosee how the next generationof choral singers is faring,St. Michael’s Choir Schoolperforms “For All the Saints:Annual Founder’s Day Concert”on October 17 and the TorontoChildren’s Chorus TrainingChoirs and Choral Scholarsperform “Seasonal Splendours” on October 25.On November 7 the choirs of the Ontario Christian Music Assemblyjoin together for their “Christian Festival Concert” at Roy ThomsonHall, with guests the Toronto Brass Quintet.I missed a few choirs in this column, for which I apologize – makesure to check ’em out in the listings. See you next month!Benjamin Stein is a Toronto tenor and lutenist.He can be contacted atchoralscene@thewholenote.com.Visit his website at benjaminstein.ca.PETER MAHONSales Representative416-322-8000pmahon@trebnet.comwww.petermahon.comRobert Cooper, CM, Artistic DirectorEdward Moroney, AccompanistGreg Rainville, Assistant ConductorTickets:; senior; student416 530 4428www.orpheuschoirtoronto.comBMOFinancial GroupFinancial GroupOrpheus Choir’s season sponsorBMO Financial Groupan Ontario government agencyun organisme du gouvernement de l’OntarioThe End of InnocenceNovember 11, 2014 7:30 p.m.Grace Church on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale RoadThrough music, words and images, remember the pride,passion and pathos of ‘the war to end all wars’,in a nostalgic and heartfelt commemoration of the100th Anniversary of the Great War.Guest Narrators: Bethany Jillard, Mike Shara,Stratford Festival30 | October 1 - November 7, 2014 thewholenote.com

Beat by Beat | Early MusicViva Italia!DAVID PODGORSKIDoes anyone still remember when Italian music meant eitherVerdi opera or Vivaldi’s Four Seasons? It turns out Italians havebeen making music for quite a few years before Vivaldi (andafter Verdi), and much of it is still well worth listening to three orfour centuries later. It’s not often that we get to hear much Italian artmusic in concert, but in a rare coincidence, Torontonians have theunique opportunity to take in the complete history of music of theItalian baroque this month, as artists based in the GTA will be playingthe complete span of Italian music in the 17th and 18th centuries fromMonteverdi all the way to Vivaldi.Monti at Tafelmusik: Who better to play Italian music than actualItalians? Tafelmusik will do just that, devoting an entire concertto Italian music of the 18th century while being led by the Italianviolinist Davide Monti. Two concertos of Antonio Vivaldi headline aprogram that includes many of Vivaldi’s lesser-known contemporariessuch as Benedetto Marcello, Tomaso Albinoni, Baldassare Galuppi andEvaristo Felice Dall’Abaco. Albinoni is occasionally played today, whileMarcello has been revived by early-music specialists as well as havingbeen admired in his own time by J.S. Bach. You may well enjoy theseother, capable lesser-knowns who lived in Vivaldi’s shadow, but at thevery least you’ll come away with a new appreciation for what a greatcomposer Vivaldi was. Catch this concert October 9 to 12 at JeanneLamon Hall in Trinity St-Paul’s Centre and on October 14 at GeorgeWeston Recital Hall. (Oh, and it’s very likely that Monti is a contenderfor the position of artistic director of Tafelmusik, so I’m willing to bethe’ll try to burn the house down at every performance. Just thoughtyou should know.)Roach takes on Sances: Later this month, Bud Roach, himself agreat lover of Italian music of the 17th century, will be presenting themusic of Giovanni Felice Sances, an Italian tenor and composer fromthe generation after Monteverdi. Sances was well known in his owntime as a composer of opera in Venice; later he moved to Vienna andeventually became Kapellmeister under Ferdinand III. Unfortunatelyfor Sances’ legacy, his operas were all lost, so we have no chance ofperforming any of his larger-scale works. Roach will perform a selectionof Sances’ surviving material, a collection of solo songs and duets,on Saturday, October 18 at St. John the Evangelist Church in Hamilton.He’ll also accompany himself on guitar and sing along with baritoneDavid Roth in several duet performances. The pair will also bring outsome other hidden gems from the Italian 17th century, including songsby Alessandro Grandi and Carlo Milanuzzi. This should be a fantasticconcert for anyone who enjoys renaissance music or Monteverdi. Ifyou can’t make it, keep in mind Roach’s Sances CD will be releasedlater in the month. There’s also a Toronto concert in the works, but noword yet on when that’s going to happen.Alcina at Atelier: If an extravagant Italian opera is more yourstyle, then you’ll be pleased to make it out to Opera Atelier’s debutperformance of Handel’s Alcina, later this month at the Elgin TheatreOctober 23 to November 1. Handel was already a mature composerwhen he penned Alcina in 1735 for his inaugural year at the CoventGarden Theatre in London, but sadly, it wasn’t particularly successful,and has only recently been revived by the early music movement.Whatever 18th-century Londoners may have thought of Alcina, it’sstill perfectly fine by the standards of opera seria (i.e. the arias areall catchy). The music is great, and it’s hard to go wrong with Handelwhen Tafelmusik is your pit orchestra. Of course the plot is ludicrous.But as long as you don’t bother paying attention to the storyline ofwhat’s actually happening on stage, Alcina done by Opera Atelier willbe the perfect night at the opera.Monteverdi in Ordinary? You can’t think of Italian opera withoutthinking of Monteverdi, of course. Arguably the greatest composer~E TO|oNTOCºNSO|tPRESENTSPA|iSCºNFIDENTIALRenaissance Paris that is! Join us on aninsider’s tour of bustling markets, booksellers andthe royal chapel organized by Alison Mackay,featuring music, words and stunning images.Friday, Nov. 7 & Saturday, Nov. 8, 8pmCall 416-964-6337 or TorontoConsort.orgTrinity-St. Paul’s Centre, Jeanne Lamon Hall,427 Bloor St. West • Tickets - thewholenote.com October 1 - November 7, 2014 | 31

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