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Esprit Orchestra’s New Wave Festival

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By on Classical Music, Toronto
April / May 2023

Esprit Orchestra is looking ahead to a busy second half of their 40th anniversary season. First up is the return of their New Wave Festival. Established in 2002, the festival aims to feature works by celebrated, international composers of new and experimental music alongside pieces by young emerging composers, both from Canada and abroad. This year, concerts will take place in the new TD Music Hall, an intimate performance venue nestled within the walls of Toronto’s Massey Hall. With its in-hall bar, state-of-the-art technical capabilities, and a more relaxed atmosphere than the traditional concert hall, this space is well suited…

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Photo : Sim Canetty Clarke

Review | Imogen Cooper’s Solo Piano Debut captivates Koerner Hall

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By on Concert Reviews, Toronto

Pianist Imogen Cooper has many rare gifts. One is to convey the thoughts and emotions of others with clarity. This is a trait that is prized in all walks of life. For Dame Cooper, it has defined a legendary career as a concert pianist, recipient of many prestigious accolades in the U.K. Her influences include her music critic father, her studies in Paris and Alfred Brendel. What you missed On March 5, Cooper stopped by Koerner Hall in Toronto, to perform a program consisting of mainstream “classical” music – Liszt, Beethoven and Schubert. The acoustics of the Hall are ideal.…

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Review | TSO and Kerem Hasan, Youthful Energy

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By on Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Toronto

This week’s program at the TSO bursts with the musical contemplation of youth– the composers and TSO guest conductor, Kerem Hasan. Britten’s Four Sea Interludes, op. 33a, were followed Missy Mazzoli’s Dark with Excessive Light, a contemporary Concerto for Contrabass and String Orchestra. Sparkling effervescence, Mozart’s Haffner Symphony opened the second half, followed by a return to more of Britten.c What you missed? Guest conductor Kerem Hasan exudes self-confidence onstage. He is the recipient of a Bachelor of Music degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and many prizes for his principal studies, piano and conducting. The TSO is well…

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Review | TSO, Davis and Lortie Provide Wonderful Evening

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By on Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Toronto

The style was casual elegance at Roy Thomson Hall last night, and the mood buoyant. Back from a multi-city tour through Ottawa, Montreal, New York and Chicago, the tireless TSO members were charged and ready for more stellar performances. This week’s program features Sir Andrew Davis, Conductor Laureate and Principal Conductor of the TSO from 1975-1988 and one of Canada’s foremost concert pianists, Louis Lortie. What you missed? As a pre-concert appetizer, Lortie spoke about and played Alban Berg’s Piano Sonata, Op. 1 (consisting of 1 movement). It was a teaser to the orchestral arrangement by Sir Andrew Davis that…

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Ambur Braid as Salome (front) and Karita Mattila as Herodias (back) in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Salome, 2023. Photo: Michael Cooper

Review | Canadian Opera Company’s Salome a Love-Hate Production

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By on Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Toronto

Richard Strauss’ Salome is a story of lust, obsession and unrequited love. Salome, step-daughter of King Herod, is the object of desire of both Herod and his army captain, Narraboth. Salome, however, only has eyes for Jochanaan (John the Baptist), who is being held prisoner by Herod. Jochanaan denounces the adulterous Herod and his wife Herodias, and spurns Salome’s advances. When Herod offers Salome anything she desires for a dance, she demands Jochanaan’s head on a silver platter. What you missed A sense of déjà vu hit me when the curtain lifted—the steeply raked stage bears an eerie semblance to…

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Review | TSO’s The Hockey Sweater

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By on Classical Music, Toronto

TSO’s program, The Hockey Sweater, fittingly opened with “Canada’s second national anthem”, composer Deloris Claman’s Hockey Night in Canada theme, led by RBC resident conductor Trevor Wilson, (in referee attire). What you missed? Host Abigail Richardson-Schulte introduced the two TSO teams, Team Woodwinds Brass and Percussion and Team Strings. Sections of the orchestra (many wearing hockey sweaters) displayed their instruments as the host drew analogies to hockey players positioned on the rink. The TSO launched into the William Tell Overture (Finale), Team Strings and Team Winds, Brass and Percussion engaged in frenetic melodic pursuit. In a slow motion ’replay’, the…

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Wed, Feb 1, 2023 -- Chicago Symphony Orchestra Riccardo Muti, Conductor 2023 Winter Tour Concert 1 in Toronto © Todd Rosenberg Photography 2023

Review | Fiery Mussorgsky Marks Chicago Symphony’s First Toronto Visit in a Century

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By on Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Toronto

Beethoven: Coriolan Overture, Op. 62; Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op.93; Liadov: The Enchanted Lake, Op. 62; Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (Orch. Ravel). Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Riccardo Muti, conductor. Koerner Hall, Feb. 2, 2023. We are still in the early stages of the new year, and already Toronto has experienced what surely will count as a highlight of the 2023 musical season. I am talking about the visit earlier this week of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, under its music director Riccardo Muti, for two performances at the acoustically superb Koerner Hall. This tour was Muti’s last as CSO’s…

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Photo: Michael Cooper

Review | The Marriage of Figaro Makes a Triumphant Return to Canadian Opera Company Stage

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By on Concert Reviews, Toronto

The Marriage of Figaro features a convoluted plot filled with love and desire, disguise and deception, mischief and jealousy–all elements that make for a juicy opera story. Count Almaviva tries to sabotage the wedding of Susanna and Figaro, both servants in his household. The Count intends to seduce Susanna for himself, while pressuring Figaro to marry another woman to whom Figaro owes an old debt. Along with the spurned Countess, Susanna and Figaro scheme to thwart the count’s evil plans and teach him a lesson in love. It all culminates in a happy ending with double weddings, and nobody dies…

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Review | TSO: Tarmo Peltokoski and Jonathan Crow Memorable

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By on Classical Music, Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Toronto, Violin

It was a wintery night, and the program was particularly well suited for those who braved the storm warnings. The trek to Roy Thomson Hall to hear Shostakovich 5 & Crow Plays Brahms was well rewarded. Listeners voted with their feet and the thunderous multiple standing ovations for guest conductor Tarmo Peltokoski and violinist Jonathan Crow, the TSO’s beloved concertmaster. The selection of pieces and the performances were timely and memorable. What you missed? Protégé guest conductor Peltokoski has reportedly received almost as many prizes as his age, 22. His conducting is detailed, insightful and clear and according to his…

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Review | Toronto Symphony Orchestra Celebrates Mozart’s Birthday with A Superb Requiem

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By on Choral, Concert Reviews, La Scena Online, Orchestral, Toronto

Jane Archibald, sop., Susan Platts, mezz., Isaiah Bell, ten., Kevin Deas, bbar., Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Michael Francis, cond., Roy Thomson Hall, Jan. 11, 2023. Photos: Jag Gundu January is Mozart Month at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. To mark the 267th anniversary of the birthday of the great Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan 27, 1756 – Dec. 5, 1791), the TSO is giving four performances of his incomparable Requiem Mass. The story behind its genesis is very well known, thanks to the hugely successful 1984 movie Amadeus. Mozart died before the completion of the work, and it was left…

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