Volume 7 Issue 1 - September 2001

y Allan Pulker Welcome

y Allan Pulker Welcome to our seventh season. Peter Sandor It is a problem as old as music, the relationship of music to money. At times the_ church has paid the bills, at times an aristocracy. Sometimes philanthropy shines, or government, or arts councils. At the best of times these various means of paying the bills have worked well enough to ma_intain access to live music for those who can't ·afford expensive concert tickets, and to keep musical education in the lives of ' all our children. These are no longer, I think, the very best of times. Not the best time to lose, as Toronto music has, an insp.iring friend. Peter. Sandor, who died this past April, was founder and president of the Mozart Society of Toronto and benefactor of numerous musical events and artists. He understood the value· of music to the community of which he was such a vigorous part. His influence will, of course, continue to be felt because of the •.• ONCERT OTES •.• OVERVIEW EARL V MUSIC York University's Dacary Hall is catapulted to the forefront of concert venues this month with the appearance there on Sept 30 of the illustrious pianist, Naum Shtarkman, in recital. Not so well known here, probably because he was "grounded" for many years by the Soviet government, Shtarkman was the last student of the legendary Moscow Conservatory teacher, K. Igumnov and a prize winner at the Fifth International Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1955 and the First Tchaikovsky Competition in . Moscow in 1958 (the one in which Van Clibufil won first prize). This is a unique opportunity. Speaking of competition winners, on Saturday, September 22, there will be a recital at the Glenn Gould Studio by Estonian pianist, Marko Martin, the second prize winner of iast year's Esther Honens International Piano Competition and Ukrainian violinist, Andrei Bielov, second prize winner of the Hannover International Violin Competition. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear these young "stars" early in their careers. TSO mysteries. The money he has left to arts organiza- Toronto Symphony Orchestra tions, but the vital, personal inter- · begins its regular season on est and commitment that were part September 20 under the baton of of who he was will be missed. guest conductor and former TSO Sept 25, the Mozart Society Music Director, Gunther Herbig. hosts a celebration of his life and There are some who say that his contribution to the musical life under the leadership of Maestro of the city. Among the performers Herbig the TS musicians played will be two singers to.whom the more like virtuosi than ever before Mozart Society gave opportunities or since. Can Herbig do it as a ' before they were as celebrated as guest conductor? Head down to they are now - Monica Whicher Roy Thomson Hall on Sept 20 or and Isabel Bayrakdarian. 22 to fmd out. There's another mystery associated with that performance too -- a mystery ·work. No name or composer will be announced till after the run of performances; when the TSO will reveal the answer on their website. Sounds like fun for all us wannabe musicologists. And, who knows, maybe the daily press's three distinguished critics will risk their scholarly reputations and add to the fun by putting their guesses in print! Armenian. Sept 16 Toronto's own stratospheric soprano, Isabel Bayrakdarian will be part of a performance at the Toronto Centre for the Arts of Armenian liturgical music under the direction of Raffi Armenian. Maestro Armenian's own words probably tell us all we need to know about this performance: "Isabel is very involved in the Armenian Church [and] ... very much in the religious world. . . . for Armenians the church has been somehow the root of our survival .... such a concert tells people that this faith is still alive." Tickets are going fast. My colleagues' contributions tQ Concert Notes show, as always, the scope of the music scene, even in the season's quiet first month. And so, another chapter begins. Dive, in and enjoy. Next month's WholeNote offers you a much more panoramic view of the musical riches that await us in 2001-2002, in our special "PROFILES" supplement, in which all of Toronto's concert producers, large and small, have the opportunity to tell the story of their upcoming season in their own words. by Frank Nakashima Given the relative paucity of concerts in September, Early Music is off to a flying start. The wonderful lunch hour series Music Mondays at the Church of the Holy Trinity near the Eaton Centre presents, among many kinds of music, these early music offerings: I Furiosi Baroque Ensemble (Sept 3),and the a cappella vocal quartet Voyces Past (Sept 10). This is their lOth anniversary season of pay-what-you-can presentations. The Toronto Early Music Players Organization (fEMPO) workshop (Sept 9), features treasures from Scotland and Norway, led by historical clarinet specialist Colin Savage. Co-founder of Baroque Music Beside the Grange Colin also performs on modem clarinet with the Mississauga Symphony. Workshops begin promptly at 1:30pm and end at 4pm.· Individual workshops are ; annual dues, which include most Sunday workshops, are . Recorders, Violas da gamba, and other early instruments welcome! See Etcetera File, p. 28 for further details. The Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra begins their season with Baroque Masterworks (Sept 19, 20, 21, 22, 23), a rich selection from the masters - Bach, Vivaldi, Handel and Telemann. Visit their website at: , www.tafelmusik.org. The Toronto Early Music Centre's 17th annual Early ~~ tlie sound 'pOst Canada's String Shop vioiins, violas, cellos & bows expert repairs & rehairs strings & accessories at guaranteed lowest prices Canada's largest stock of string music fast mail order service all prices in CDN $-Not a US $price in the store! 93 Grenville St., Toronto M5S 1B4 tel416-971-6990 fax 416-597-9923 6 wholenote SEPTEM BER 1, 2001 -OcTOBER 7, 2001 Canada•s foremost Violin Specialists 201 Church Street Toronto, On. MSB 1Y7 email GHCL@idirect.com www.georgeheinl.com ,

~TORONTO 2001-02 SEASON+ CHAMBER MUSIC DOWNTOWN Quartets Oct. 4 Nov. 1 Nov. 22 Dec. 20 Feb. 7 Feb. 28 Mar. 21 Apr. 11 THURSDAYS St. Lawrence Quartet Petersen Quartet with guest artist Beverley Johnston, percussionist Kodaly Quartet Tokyo Quartet Avalon Quartet Emerson Quartet Arditti Q~artet Penderecki Quartet Ceorge Weston Discovery THURSDAYS Jan. 31 Robert Pomakov, bass Feb. 21 Catherine Manoukian, violinist Mar. 14 Quatuor Molinari Ensembles-in-Residence Oct. 23 Nov. 27 Jan. 15 Feb. 12 May 7 Piano Oct. 9 Nov. 5 Dec. 4 Jan. 22 Mar. 5 TUESDAYS Gryphon Trio with guest artist Scott St. John, violist Toronto String Quartet Toronto String Quartet with guest artists Sadao Harada, cellist and Yizhak Schotten, violist Gryphon Trio Gryphon Trio with narrator Colin Fox. A eo-production with SOUNDSTREAMS CANADA mostly TUESDAYS Marc-Andre Hamelin Stephen Kovacevich Anagnoson & Kinton Naida Cole Stephen Hough AFFORDABLE + ACCESSIBLE + INTIMATE + EXHilARATING ~ Jane Mallett Theatre St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts 416-366~7723 +1-800-'708-6754 SEASON SPONSOR: THE GLOBE AND MAIL SUBSCRIPI10NS FROM STILL AVAllABLE SINGLE TICKETS ON SALE NOW!