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Volume 25 Issue 5 - February 2020

  • Text
  • Composer
  • Performing
  • Orchestra
  • Arts
  • Theatre
  • Musical
  • Symphony
  • Jazz
  • Toronto
  • February
Visions of 2020! Sampling from back to front for a change: in Rearview Mirror, Robert Harris on the Beethoven he loves (and loves to hate!); Errol Gay, a most musical life remembered; Luna Pearl Woolf in focus in recordings editor David Olds' "Editor's Corner" and in Jenny Parr's preview of "Jacqueline"; Speranza Scappucci explains how not to reinvent Rossini; The Indigo Project, where "each piece of cloth tells a story"; and, leading it all off, Jully Black makes a giant leap in "Caroline, or Change." And as always, much more. Now online in flip-through format here and on stands starting Thurs Jan 30.

Nadina Mackie Jackson

Nadina Mackie Jackson decision” O’Neill tells Vittes, “because I value friendship and companionship, and we loved each other, loved playing quartets—we were like family. It was a very hard decision. But we decided that it would be the best thing for me to join one of the most well-respected, established quartets in the world.” Ophelia Gets Mad The inimitable bassoonist, Nadina Mackie Jackson, took time out from preparing her new show – Ophelia Gets Mad – to fill us in via email on the raison d’être behind its catchy title. The story, she explained, is a loose retelling of Hamlet’s Ophelia: “My goal is to show possibilities and to move/provoke people to reimagine their own lives and outcomes … Ophelia Gets Mad is the best [title], because it is in opposition to the standard trope that her girlish intellect crumbled beyond repair under grief and disappointment. I think she was the only sane one in the court and would have recovered, given half a chance, but that someone pushed her off that branch. “What if this earnest and bright teenager rejected her roles of dutiful daughter, trusted needlewoman and plaything of a playboy, abandoned her solipsistic boyfriend and the twisted court of Elsinore, vaulted the moat and, carrying a sword and maybe a credit card, left behind the chains of established and deadly society, maybe with just enough psychological scarring to write a few hit songs? “The story interlaces with the music (not in this order) Vivaldi Bassoon Concerti RV483 and RV490; Mathieu Lussier’s Le Dernier Chant d’Ophélie; Marc Mellits’ Dark Matter (for electric bassoon); Drew Jurecka’s On the Roof; Glenn Buhr’s man will only grieve if he believes the sun stands still; Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now and more. From Vivaldi’s Baroque charmers to the handful of contemporary works – listen to Mackie Jackson’s live recording of the Lussier on Soundcloud for a sense of her passion and grace – the musical component of Ophelia Gets Mad is compelling. As are the musicians in the backup band, the first three of whom are members of Payadora Tango Ensemble: Rebekah Wolkstein, violin; Drew Jurecka, violin; Joe Phillips, bass; Charlotte Paradis, viola; and Rachel Desoer, cello, of the late, lamented Cecilia String Quartet. CLASSICAL AND BEYOND QUICK PICKS !! FEB 2, 2:30PM: Kingston’s Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts presents the heart-on-sleeve virtuosity of violinist Blake Pouliot in a program of Mozart, Bartók, Kreisler, Janáček, Prokofiev (Romeo and Juliet Suite) and Sarasate (Zigeunerweisen). !! FEB 3, 8PM: Pocket Concerts presents the first of four recitals with four different cellists playing Bach’s six Suites for Solo Cello. “Canada’s next big cello star” (CBC), 23-year-old Cameron Crozman starts the cycle with Suites 1 & 4. The venue is Bellwoods Coffee & Gelato because “Bach loved coffee and so do Pocket Concerts.” FEB 24, 8PM: TSO associate principal cello, Emmanuelle Beaulieu Bergeron, takes the bow for Suite No.6. !! FEB 9, 3PM: Amici Chamber Ensemble presents “Bohemian Rhapsody” with music by Ravel, Dvořák, Kukal, Sarasate and Kradjian. Among the special guests are 22-year-old violin sensation Kerson Leong, TSO principal bassoon, Michael Sweeney, and National Arts Centre Orchestra principal bass, Joel Quarrington. In Mazzoleni Hall. !! FEB 11, 7:30PM: Join Rob Kapilow in his latest foray into his “What Makes It Great?” series; this time the subject is Mendelssohn’s great Octet, with the Rolston String Quartet and U of T strings. The idea behind the series had its origin in Kapilow’s freshman year at Yale where he took an art history course from “a wonderful professor named Robert Herbert” that began to teach him the difference between “looking and seeing.” In Walter Hall. !! FEB 16, 2:30PM: Janina Fialkowska brings her pianistic warmth to a welldesigned program at Kingston’s Isabel Bader Centre. French music by Tailleferre, Fauré, Poulenc, Debussy and Ravel fills the first half; after intermission Chopin takes centre stage with a sampling of a scherzo, a nocturne, three mazurkas and the masterful Ballade No.4. !! FEB 18, 8PM: Music Toronto presents Swiss-born pianist Francesco Piemontesi, winner of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Prize in 2007, and known for his “exceptional refinement of expression.” He devotes the first part of his program to the music of Bach, including arrangements by pianists Federico Busoni and Wilhelm Kempff; in the second half he tackles Debussy’s mesmerizing Images, Book II and Rachmaninoff’s formidable Sonata No.2 in B-flat Minor, Op.36. Brahms and Beyond Brahms Clarinet Quintet Kulesha String Trio Bartók Romanian Dances Barber Adagio Season Sponsors Sunday, March 8, 2020, 3 p.m. Cidel Bank Canada Marie Bérard, violin Winona Zelenka, cello And guests; Eric Abramovitz, clarinet Aaron Schwebel, violin Victor Fournelle-Blain, viola Trinity St.Paul's Centre, 427 Bloor St.W Tickets /Senior/Student at door or online at brownpapertickets.com 26 | February 2020 thewholenote.com

!! FEB 21, 8PM: The Royal Conservatory of Music presents two sold-out concerts within five days. If you don’t already have a ticket, consider the rush line for one or both. The first features Russian-born phenomenon, pianist Daniil Trifonov performing Scriabin, Borodin, Prokofiev and Beethoven (his penultimate Sonata No.31, Op.110 FEB 25, 8PM: American pianist Murray Perahia makes a welcome visit to Koerner Hall, program TBA. !! FEB 26, 8PM: The Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society presents Kitchener- Waterloo Symphony concertmaster Bénédicte Lauzière and Ensemble Made in Canada’s pianist, Angela Park, performing sonatas by Mozart, Prokofiev and Elgar. !! FEB 27, 1:30PM: The Women’s Musical Club of Toronto presents the Diotima Quartet playing Alban Berg’s String Quartet No.3, Misako Mochizuki’s Brains and Beethoven’s penultimate String quartet No.15, Op.132. Formed in 1996 by graduates of the Paris National Conservatory, according to their website, “the quartet’s name evokes a double musical significance. At once an allegory of German Romanticism – Friederich Holderlin gave the name to the love of his life in his novel Hyperion – and a rallying cry for the music of our time, brandished by Luigi Nono in his string quartet Fragmente- Stille, an Diotima.” !! FEB 27, 8PM: Music Toronto presents the return of the Schumann Quartett, a young German quartet renowned for their assurance and accuracy. The brothers Mark, Erik and Ken Schumann were joined in 2012 by violist Liisa Randalu. Following study with the Alban Berg Quartet, they won many awards and released several acclaimed recordings culminating in the BBC Music Magazine’s Newcomer Award in 2016 and a three-year residency at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Quartets by Haydn, Shostakovich and Smetana (the evocative Quartet No.1 in E Minor “From My Life”) comprise the program. !! FEB 29, 3PM: 5 at the First Chamber Players presents Schubert’s melodious masterpiece, his Quintet in A Major D667 “The Trout,” played by a top-notch array of chamber musicians: Angela Park, piano; Mayumi Seiler, violin; Yehonatan Berick, viola; Rachel Mercer, cello; and Joel Quarrington, bass. !! MAR 6, 8PM: Legendary South Korean-born violinist, Kyung Wha Chung, brings her 50-year concertizing career to Koerner Hall for a program of Mozart, Beethoven and Franck (the glorious Violin Sonata). Longtime collaborator Kevin Kenner is at the piano. Liza Ferschtman !! MAR 6 & 7, 8PM: Dynamic Dutch violinist Liza Ferschtman is the soloist in Mendelssohn’s beloved Violin Concerto, one of the cornerstones of the repertoire. Gabriel Bebeselea, the 32-year-old principal conductor of the “Transylvania” State Philharmonic Orchestra of Cluj-Napoca, leads the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony in the program which also includes Schumann’s Symphony No.3 “Rhenish” and Enescu’s Pastorale-Fantaisie, a piece close to Bebeselea’s heart. Paul Ennis is the managing editor of The WholeNote. LEONARD COHEN’S DANCE LES BALLETS JAZZ DE MONTRÉAL FESTIVAL OF BRASS Guest Artist: GÁBOR TARKÖVI Principal Trumpet, Berlin Philharmonic Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020 3:00 PM Jane Mallett Theatre Tickets available online via: www.hssb.ca 416.366.7723 or 1.800.708.6754 St. LAWRENCE CENTRE FOR THE ARTS WINTER HOT TICKETS Africville Stories with Joe Sealy, Jackie Richardson & Joe Novotny SUN 9 FEB New Orleans Jazz Orchestra FRI 21 FEB The Symphonically Hip FRI 28 FEB Hawksley Workman & Sarah Slean WED 4 MAR Tanya Tagaq Split Tooth TUE 28 APR SUN 23 FEB 2:3OPM + 7:3OPMM Grandly executed tribute to Cohen.” - OTTAWA CITIZEN FirstOntarioPAC.ca thewholenote.com February 2020 | 27

Volumes 26-29 (2020- )

Volumes 21-25 (2015-2020)

Volumes 16-20 (2010-2015)

Volumes 11-15 (2004-2010)

Volumes 6 - 10 (2000 - 2006)

Volumes 1-5 (1994-2000)