Apocryphonia has been around for three years or so but Sunday evening at Heliconian Hall was the first time I managed to catch one of their concerts.  I like that they don’t do mainstream repertory, rather seeking out much less well known works, and Sunday was no exception.  It was actually a collaboration with Syrinx Concerts and the show was in two parts.  The first part featured baritone John Holland and tenor Alexander Cappellazzo with pianist Ivan Estey Jovanovic performing 20th century songs mostly from Eastern Europe and the Caucasus while the second featured works from the same area arranged for oboe (Caitlin Broms-Jacob) and piano (Madeline Hildebrand).  I say “mostly” because each half included a piece by Toronto’s Srul Irving Glick.

The songs were all essentially tonal and mostly rather lugubrious in mood, which isn’t entirely surprising given time and place.  Haas’ “V bambusovém haji” was written in Theresienstadt for example.  The Glick piece was a bit more upbeat!  There was some excellent singing and accompaniment and, yay, projected surtitles (which worked flawlessly).

I actually found the second half more interesting, perhaps because it’s quite rare to hear the combination of oboe and piano.  I think Haas’ Suite for Oboe and Piano was the only piece actually written for oboe; everything else was for violin or some other instrument.  I particularly enjoyed the selection of three pieces from Six Preludes by Gayane Chabotaryan.  There was plenty of melodic snd rhythmic invention and it made a fitting finale to some fine playing.

The next Apocryphonia gig is on October 15th and features Alexander’s renaissance vocal quintet Diapente in a programme of 16th century Spanish music.  Later in the season there will be everything from music from 16th century Antwerp to Irish drinking songs.  It’s an interesting addition to Toronto’s still (post COVID) attenuated musical landscape.