Tag Archives: tso

Coming up in December

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december2024Here’s what’s coming down for the holiday season, as best I know:

  • December 3rd sees the Ensemble Studio performing a lunchtime concert in the RBA.
  • Soundstreams has a concert called Invocations on December 5th at the Jane Mallet Theatre.
  • Also on the 5th Oraculum opens at Buddies in Bad Times.  Previews are the 1st and 3rd and the run extends to the 15th.
  • On the 8th Opera Revue have BACH Humbug at the Redwood; the antidote to holiday music.
  • Confluence have their annual Young Associate curated gig at Heliconian on the 10th.
  • VOCES8 are appearing at Koerner Hall on the 13th.

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Another conducting masterclass

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Jennifer Tung

About a year ago I attended the Women in Musical Leadership‘s conducting masterclass with the TSO and Gustavo Gimeno at Roy Thomson Hall.  Last night I went back for this year’s version.  Three of last year’s participants; Jennifer Tung, Juliane Gallant and Naomi Woo were back.  Last year’s fourth participant, Maria Fuller, was off in Poland conducting Hänsel and Gretel which I think says a lot for the programme.  There were two new conductors; Monica Chen and Kelly Lin. Continue reading →

Verdi Requiem with The TMC

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I caught the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir’s second performance of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at Koerner Hall on Tuesday evening. It’s a piece that’s deservedly famous but I think that this was my first time seeing it live.  It’s an interesting piece.  It’s not a conventional requiem but nor would I call it “operatic”.  It’s far more dramatic than any other mass setting I can think of (even Britten’s War Requiem) but in its own way.  Part of it is structural.  Verdi keeps bringing back the “Dies Irae” text and music; even right down to. the final “Libera Me”.  As his setting for the “Dies Irae” is extremely dramatic (I want to say gonzo but that doesn’t seem very ecclesiastical!) it injects a degree of drama where the core text doesn’t really call for it.  FWIW the setting is very loud with choir and orchestra going full out and the timpani being almost scary.  It’s particularly so first up where it segues straight into the “Tuba Mirum” with trumpets up on either side of the choir loft.

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May listings

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may24It’s coming towards the end of the traditional “season” but there’s sill plenty happening.  Here’s how I see may shaping up at present (I expect more theatre listings will come in.  They tend to be somewhat less notice!):

  • May 1st and 2nd:  The TSO are coupling Brahms’ First Symphony with Emily D’Angelo and material from her enargeia CD.
  • Also on May 2nd the Women’s Musical Club are hosting Joyce El-Khoury in recital at Walter Hall.

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TSO and VOICEBOX 2024/25

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annaprohaskaThe Toronto Symphony’s 2024/25 season is the usual mix of mainstream symphony/concerto rep, Pops, film music, kids’ concerts etc.  My sense is that it has got more “popular” since the pandemic and that therefore there’s been less that’s caught my eye.  That’s my story anyway!

There are some concerts of interest to me though in the 2024/24 season though; curiously mostly in November.  The four that caught my eye were the following: Continue reading →

TSO Messiah

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This year’s Messiah at the TSO is a fairly small scale affair by TSO standards.  There’s still the 100+ strong Toronto Mendelssohn Choir but the orchestra is quite small; 12 violins, 6 violas, 4 cellos, 2 basses, 2 oboes and bassoon, plus Christopher Bagan on a sort of monster harpsichord/organ combo. There were two trumpets in the gallery for “Glory to God” and they were back (on stage) with timpani for the Hallelujah chorus and part 3.  With Jane Glover conducting it felt like it was almost in Tafelmusik territory.

TSO Messiah 5 - Photo by Allan Cabral

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Into December

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dec23First some late calls for November:

  • The Early Music folks at UoT are doing Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at Trinity St. Paul’s on the 21st and 22nd.
  • November 22nd and 23rd there’s a 20th anniversary concert for Autorickshaw at Heliconian Hall presented by Confluence Concerts.
  • Amici Chamber Ensemble have an afternoon concert on the 26th at Trinity St. Paul’s called The Winds of Time featuring chamber music for wind instruments from the 18th to 21st centuries.

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O Fortuna

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I attended the second of two performances of their season opener by the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir at Roy Thomson Hall last night.  It was an enjoyable and well constructed programme.  It opened with two pieces by composer in residence Tracy Wong.  Patah – Tumbuh (Broken – Renewed), for choir and children’s choir (Toronto Children’s Chorus) riffs off Malaysian proverbs and gamelan.  It’s an upbeat, rhythmic piece that got a really nice performance, especially from the children.  Then they got their own place in the sun for a medley of Malaysian folksongs; which was also fun.  Was this the first time Malaysian music has been performed at Roy Thomson?

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Late September and into October

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october2023There are a few adds for September. This Saturday (16th) you can catch Rachel Krehm in recital with Janelle Fung. That’s at 3pm. Details here.  Saturday 30th is a busy day.  At 7.30pm at Church of the Redeemer The Happenstancers have a concert.of mostly 20th century music for soprano and chamber ensemble.  Details and tickets here.  At the same time and repeated at 4pm on the Sunday Confluence Concerts have a concert of Irish music, both traditional and modern art song.  That’s at Heliconian Hall.  Details etc.  Also from the 22nd to 24th Tafelmusik are performing Beethoven’s 4th and 5th symphonies at Koerner Hall.  Their take on Beethoven symphonies is unusual and very interesting.  And while Tafelmusik are absent from Jeanne Lamon Hall on the 22nd and 23rd, ther Toronto Mendelssohn Singers are presenting a programme including dance.  A choreographed version of Handel’s Dixit Dominus is a rare event!

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