Of all the groups I’ve seen explore the boundaries of “classical music” in Toronto, none goes further than Slow Rise Music and this was especially true of their concert Collide-o-Scope which played at the Tranzac on Saturday and Sunday.
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.
operaramblings 