There are a couple of interesting concerts coming up in the last week of the Toronto Summer Music Festival.  On the 24th at 7.30pm in Walter Hall you can see Collectìf in a “spooky” programme.  Collectìf is a group started by Danika Lorèn and friends.  They do shows that incorporate staging, art song and video and they are never boring.  (They also do adult cabaret but that’s another story!).  Wednesday’s show is called Beyond Perception: What Haunts Us Now and features three sections.  The first is built around the theme of La Dame Blanche, the second features Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and the last deals with the myth of Daphne and Apollo.  Recommended.  And as an added incentive for operaramblings readers there’s a discount code OR10 which will get you $10 tickets.  Tickets from the Royal Conservatory Box Office online, in person or by phone.

On August 1st in Koerner Hall there’s a chance to see Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde in the Schoenberg/Riehn arrangement.  It’s a good way to hear the songs because the reduced orchestration, whilst preserving most of the colour of the original, makes it easier for the singers to express themselves rather than fighting the orchestra.  There are two excellent young soloists; tenor Mario Bagh, winner of last year’s Montreal International Music Competition Aria Prize and mezzo Rihab Chaieb; who needs no introduction in Toronto.  Gemma New is conducting and the programme also includes Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major with Jonathan Crow as soloist.  There’s an incentive for this one too.  Discount code OR20 will get you 20% off the regular price, also via the RCM box office.

If Koerner just isn’t your thing, the same evening Lucia Cesaroni and Adrian Kramer have an evening of music and readings in the Ernest Balmer Studio.