'1-1.l ·MU s
'1-1.l ·MU s announcedtheappointmentofAndrew "J:::1 Zl D T"""\T Bach," with harpsichord soloists Shaw to the position of CEO, thus . ~ ll CLASSICAL CoMi\IENT Charlotte Nediger, Hank Knox,' IC Rejean Poirier, and Olivier Fortin with the Tafelmusik Baroque Or- chestra (at the Toronto Centre for opening a new, and we hope, a ruippier, chapter in the orchestra's history. Theconcertoftheirsthatcaught that caught my eye this cycle is April by Frank Nakashima the Arts, March 2; and at tije Royal 3 at the Weston Recital Hall, in which Ontario Museum, March 3); and the they will perform Paul Hindemith's The first weekend of March is Toronto Classical Singers' cel- 1943 work, OrchestralMetamorpho- a veritable festival of early music ebration of the anniversary of the sis on Themes by Carl Maria von with Quebec City's Ensemble Queen's coronation (March 3) with Weber. Written shortly after the com- Anonymus presenting, a free pro- Handel's Coronation Anthems and poser's emigratioh via Switzerland to gram of J2lh to 14'h century sacred Mozart's Coronation Mass. Whew! the United States, this magnificently and secular works (March l); the And there's more! Just out of orchestrated work is rich in reson- Canadian debut of Britain's The town, Wilfrid Laurier University ances with the past but at the same Dufay Collective (March l); "Mu- Opera and WLU Baroque Ensemtime confidently contemporary in sic of Restoration London" in the hie will collaborate to present.two style, Baroque Music Beside the Grange rare short operas on the therpe of Soundslikeagoodomen! series (March 2); Bell' Arte Sing- all-conquering love. The first will ers' "The Glory of Baroque" be Francesco Cavalli and Giovanni Yegor Dyachkov . (March 2); a once-in-a-lifetime op- Faustini's master-piece, "Egisto" Russian-Canadian cellist, Yegor portunity to hear two of the world's and the second will be C. W. Gluck · Dyachkov, performs in the .final greatest counter-tenors, Daniel and Charles-Simon Favart' s Women's Musical Club recital this Taylor and James Bowman, to- "Cythere Assiegee". The stage diseason March 21. gether in "A Counter-Tenor Ex- rection is by Edgaf Tumak and the In 2000 he was awarded the travaganza"·March 2); the courtly musical direction by Michael Women's Musical Club of Toronto Musici~ns in Ordinary (Hallie Purves-Smith. Performances are Career Development Artist of the Fishel, soprano; John Edwards, Marcjl 1 & 2 at 8:00, and March 3 Year Award. Equally at home as a archlute, · baroque guitar; . at 3:00 in the Wilfrid Laurier Unisoloist and as a chamber musician, Christopher Verrette & Linda versity Theatre Auditorium (tickets Dyachkov is considered one of the Melsted, baroque violins) perform- .00). These are both fascinating most promising cellists of his gen- · ing some cheery "Music for the works. The Gluck is an hnportant eration. Merry Monarch" .(March 2); gem that has not been performed AnothereoupforToronto'sold- Tafelmusik's "The Genius of since the late 1750s. Mostinterestest ongoing chamber concert series! David Tamblyn ing is the fact that it will be staged as a vaudeville. "This is an interesting hybrid form that so far as I. know appears for the first time in this incarnation," says Michael Purves-Smith. Moving along in the month, the Arbor Oak Trio teams up with a few others to present the music of one of France's greatest composers, Franc;:ois Couperin (selections from Concerts Royaux and Les Nations; Troisieme le~on de tenebres) in their "Great Composers" series (March 6). And Monteverdi's magni-ficent Vespers of 1610, Vespro delta Beata Vergine (March 8) will be performed by the award-winning Exultate Chamber Singers, Ann Monoyios, soprano; Scot Weir, tenor; the Aradia Ensemble; and the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble; John Tuttle, conductor. David Fallis will be giving the 7: 15 preeoncert lecture. In its continuing series, the Toronto Early Music Centre presents "Musically Speaking," a one-hour (free admission) enlightening program of historical Performance at the Church of the Holy .Trinity (near the Eaton Centre). I i :!:::~-. 6xq1-1isite Bow~ · +-lat\dmade it\ the Fl'et\ch Tl'aditiot\ DAVID JENSEN Harpsichord Maker CUSTOM MADE HARPSICHOR.QS, VIRGINALS &CLAVICHORDS Repairs, Restorations, Tuning and Regulation since 1976 (905) 973-1314 & (905) 529-2527 I www.harpsichord-man.com harpsichordman@hotmail.com PHILIP L .. DAVIS Luthi er formerly with f.f. Schroder: Fionkfurt, West perrnany A Fine Selection of Small m:uj. Full Sized Instruments and Bows • Expert Repairs (416) 466-9619 67 Wolverleigh Blvd., Toronto, Ontario, M4J 1R6 14 Fifth 5tl'eet Torot\to Jsla"d 01\tal'io Cat\ada M532B9 Tel. 416-203-0789 CUA VIERS B.AROQUES Harpsichords CI~vichprds ForteP~'hnos .. ~ . .,;._::«.. ·· -* .,~.;.;;;~,,. · ' custom instruments, service, rentals; r~pairs an
"Stabat Mater," by Pergolesi (March 10), is the featured work, with Jenni Hayman, soprano, Elaine Robertson, mezzo-soprano and Jurgen Petrenko, organ. And what a fabulous month this is for Handel operas! Opera in Concert presents Handel's Semele ,(March 16, 17, 18) with a great line-up of singers - Tracy Dahl, Catherine Robbin, John Tessier,. David Dong Qyu Lee, Alain Coulombe, Giles _Tomkins, along witli. the Aradia Ensemble and the Opera in Concert Chorus under the direction of Kevin Mallon. The informative pre-concert chat with Iain.Scott is well-worth attending. The anxiously-awaited Canadian Opera Company's production, of Handel's Julius Caesar in Egypt, in Italian with English surtitles, (originally created for the Florida Grand Opera) is just around the corner (starting April 6). Made possible _with generous support from the Baroque Opera Fund, founded by the late Peter E. Sandor, and the E. Nakamichi Foundation) the production features Ewa Podles (Giulio Cesare), Isabel Bayrakdarian (Cleopatra), Daniel Taylor (Sesto), Brian Asawa (T9lomeo), Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Cornelia) & others with Kenneth Montgomery "at the helm." Check the website for details: www.coc.ca 'lf I'm not mistaken, Missa Bell 'Amfitrit altera (March 19) by Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594) is written for "double choir." Critical Mass presents the one-on-a-part version at St. James.' Cathedral, with proceeds going to "Out of the Cold." And speaking of one-on-apart, under the direction of the brilliant Engl\sh conductor Andrew Parrott, a prominent advocate of performing Bach's choral works with only one singer on• a part, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra will introduce you to an intimate version of Bach's St. Matthew Passion (March 21, 22, 23, 24, 26). CLASSICAL COMMENT . CHORAL SCENE by Larry Beckwith This is a rich month for fans of the human voice. Nearly all of Toronto's first-rate choirs can be heard in concert, and one or two of the finest singers in the world visit our city this month, as well. •. The first weekend in March is a crowded one, so the concertgoer would do well to consult WholeNote . to make sure they're going to the . ~ right concert! No-one should be at home March 2 with so many concerts to choose from. From Glenda Catherine Robbin sings with Crawford's wonderful Oakville · Opera in Concert March 16- Children's Choir to the pell' Arte 18, directs at York March 13 Singers singing Bach and Handel, versity's Department of Music, choral fans will be well-served. Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (March And there are no fewer than three 13). · . different programs celebrating the Two days later, the I Furiosi genius of'John Blow and Henry the Toronto Chamber Choir. The same day sees the Toronto Classical Singers singing Mozart and Handel aild the Victoria Scholars tackling the German Romantics and more. On Friday March 8, the Exultate Chamber Singers have the evening to themselves for a performance of Monteverdi's Vespers service of 1610. If you've never heard a live performance of this work, I highly recommend it. You '11 be on the edge of your seat with the spine-chilling full chorus, solo and ensemble numbers. John Tuttle's laid on a few more tenors in the choir and contracted soloists Scott Weir and Ann Monoyios - two singers able to sing Monteverdi with authority. And the instruments! Sac).
