Schmaltz and Pepper is a comparatively newly formed band (November 2023) but it contains quite a few familiar faces; Rebekah Wolkstein (vocals, violin) and Drew Jurecka (vocals and assorted instruments) from Payadora, Eric Abramowitz (clarinet) from the TSO plus multitalented Jeremy Ledbetter (piano) and Michael Herring (double bass). Between them they have backgrounds in classical, klezmer, tango, calypso, Yiddish swing, jazz and much more. The focus of the new band appears to be klezmer and Yiddish swing but since most of their material is original there are lots of influences.
Wednesday evening’s Shuffle Hour concert at Toronto Summer Music was given by mezzo Alex Hetherington and pianist Vlad Soloviev in Heliconian Hall and carried the curious moniker The Tortured Poets Department. It kicked off with the letter aria from Massenet’s Werther and let’s face it if anyone deserves torturing it’s some combination of Werther himself and Goethe for inventing him (and possibly Massenet for prolonging the life of a character who might otherwise have fallen into obscurity). Whatever, Alex gave a fine, impassioned reading of the aria which set the stage well for what was to follow. 
operaramblings 