This week’s listings post is exceedingly dull. Though the season of mince pies and Messiahs will soon be upon us, next week is really quiet. The only event I’m aware off at this point is a concert next Sunday afternoon by the Canadian Children’s Opera Company. It’s at 2pm at Grace Church on the Hill. It will be their first public performance since Dean Burry took over a musical director.
Next week is a bit crazy. Tomorrow is the Elizabeth Krehm memorial concert in aid of St. Mike’s ICU. They are playing Mahler 2 and it’s PWYC with a tax receipt. 8pm at Metropolitan United Church. Tueday sees the opening of Philippe Boesmann’s Julie at 8pm at the Bluma Appel. It’s an important, if bleak, contemporary piece and for the first time here, in a Soundstreams/CanStage presentation, it will be sung in English. It runs until the 29th so plenty of chance to catch it.
A bit of a lull this week with the COC fall season over and Yaksmas festivities still, mercifully, some time away. Still there are a couple of events of note. Simone Osborne is singing with the TSO at Roy Thomson Hall on Thursday and Saturday in a program of Mahler, Dvoràk, Charpentier and Strauss. There’s also the fall production from the Glenn Gould School. It’s a double bill of Xavier Montsalvatge’s Puss in Boots and Luciano Berio’s Folk Songs. Friday and Saturday at 7.30pm in Mazzoleni Hall.
I don’t think the program for Sondra’s Koerner Hall recital program was available when I posted about it last month so here it is:
Quite a mix! I don’t think I’ve ever heard her sing in German and there is virtually no overlap with her Zoomerplex recital last year.
As Brian Cohen discovered picking a Messiah is a tricky business. So is picking a Messiah. As usual the winter solstice season in Toronto offers multiple options. The nearest thing to the John Barbirolli approach is the TSO at Roy Thomson Hall. This is your big, grand Messiah with famous soloists, modern instruments and a big chorus. This year, besides the perennial Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, there are soloists Erin Wall, Liz DeShong, Andrew Staples and John Relyea and, best of all, Andrew Davis conducts. This one is on December 15th, 16th, 18th and 19th at 8pm with a 3pm matinee on the 20th.
There are a few new interesting shows coming up. Fawn Chamber Creative have announced a fully staged production of Adam Scime’s L’homme et le ciel. This has been in the works for a while. I missed last year’s workshop performance but caught an excerpt from Bicycle Opera Project. It made me want to see the whole thing. The piece takes its story from the 2nd century Christian literary text The Shepherd of Hermas, and depicts the journey of a male slave named Hermas as he struggles to accept his humanity within the parameters of his faith. Hermas, a pious man, has spent his life striving to live a righteous life, only to discover that there are elements of human instinct that cannot be denied. Hermas’ break in self-concept leads him down a path of discovery through a series of out of body interactions and revelations, which slowly bring him closer to understanding. Music by Adam Scime, libretto by Ian Koiter. Amanda Smith directs and the singers are Alexander Dobson, Larissa Koniuk and Adanya Dunn. It’s playing at The Music Gallery on December 3rd and 4th at 8pm. Tickets here.
The Art Gallery of Ontario is starting a new Friday night music initiative. Each Friday night in November (6th, 13th, 20th, 27th), the inaugural month of AGO Friday Nights, will celebrate the opening of J.M.W. Turner: Painting Set Free, a major exhibition featuring the works of Joseph Mallord William Turner. The AGO is partnering with Tapestry to present Music Set Free, a special performance featuring pianist/composer Adam Sherkin and mezzo-soprano Marion Newman. Capturing a selection of music from Turner’s time in addition to pieces inspired by his influences, subjects and artistic practice, the concert will feature works ranging from Beethoven to Britten, as well as a special world premiere of an original work by Adam Sherkin, commissioned by Tapestry for the occasion. Music Set Free is curated by Michael Mori, Artistic Director of Tapestry Opera. The performances will be from 7.30pm to 8.30 pm and are included in the admission price to the exhibition. There will be a bar and food and stuff too.
A few notable events this coming fall week. Tuesday sees the COC’s annual gala competition for young singers, Centre Stage. Prizes and possible places in the Ensemble Studio for next year are up for grabs. The public part of the event starts at 5.30pm at The Four Seasons Centre with a cocktail reception followed by the final round of the competition. Unusually this competition feature the full COC orchestra, not just piano.
I haven’t really done a full analysis of the COC’s recently released financials but what I have done suggests cause for cautious optimism. As anyone who reads this blog knows I have, for the last three years or so, pointed up the rather stark reality underlying the company’s relentlessly optimistic propaganda. To whit, a steady decline in seats sold, revenue and realisation (actual revenue dollars per seat sold). This year doesn’t look so bad.
The first part of the week isn’t too crazy. Quinn Kelsey, currently singing Germont at the COC, has a noon recital in the RBA on Tuesday. Rachel Andrist will be at the piano and the program includes Vaughan Williams’ Songs of Travel and Finzi’s Let Us Garlands Bring. Enticing I think.
Wednesday sees a premiere and fundraiser for Syrian refugees; David Warrack’s Abraham at Metropolitan United Church. Then on Thursday there’s Toronto Darknet Market, a fundraiser with an edge, this time for an upcoming production of Charpentier’s Medée. Both causes worth supporting.
operaramblings 