Toronto, April 26, 2022 – Live music is back! With a sense of hope and optimism for the future, Tafelmusik unveils its 2022/23 Season, which celebrates beauty through music of the past. Detailed information about the 2022/23 season may be found below, and high-resolution images are available on Tafelmusik’s website. Full-season live concert subscriptions, and advance purchase of Handel Messiah and the Digital Series Pass for subscribers, are now available at tafelmusik.org. All performances take place at Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre unless noted otherwise.
“We are so excited to share this new season of baroque music and beyond with our audience,” says Carol Kehoe, Executive Director. “After more than two years of filming concerts for online broadcast, we are looking forward to reuniting with our audience and reigniting the power of live music. This season offers a wide range of repertoire and concert experiences—from large-scale works for choir and orchestra to intimate chamber music; and from the return of popular guest artists to Tafelmusik debuts by several of today’s most exciting talents in baroque music. We can’t wait to share our new season with you!”
Highlights of the 2022/23 Season include:
- Tafelmusik debuts by Francesco Corti, harpsichordist and guest director; Avi Stein, harpsichordist and guest director; Myriam Leblanc, soprano; Samuel Mariño, male soprano; Christopher Lowrey, countertenor; Valerio Contaldo, tenor.
- Back by popular demand! Several highly regarded baroque musicians and fan favourites, including Aisslinn Nosky, Rachel Podger, and Leila Schayegh, violinists and guest directors; Karina Gauvin, soprano; Krisztina Szabó, mezzo-soprano; James Gilchrist, tenor; and Jonathon Adams, Brett Polegato, and William Sharp, baritones.
- Bach St John Passion, a large-scale choral masterpiece with contemporary projections
- The long-awaited return of Tafelmusik’s Handel Messiah performances
- Tafelmusik premiere of Louise Farrenc’s Nonet (1849)
- Music by contemporary composers including Short Story by Allen Whear and a new choral commission by Tawnie Olsen
- The return of the Digital Series Pass, featuring three exclusive digital concert films: Handel Messiah, Bach Brandenburg Concertos, and La Passione: Handel & Mozart (available as an addition to live-concert subscriptions)
- Tafelmusik is proud to continue its partnership with Opera Atelier this season. Details on Opera Atelier’s 2022/23 season will be announced on May 3 at operaatelier.com.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank Elisa Citterio for her exceptional service as Music Director from 2017 to 2022,” said Board Chair David Kilburn. “Her stunning performances, remarkable musical leadership, and innovative approach to period performance have made a significant contribution to Tafelmusik. We wish her the very best in her future endeavours.”
In her role as Music Director, Elisa’s contribution to the organization has been profound. Under her inspiring leadership, Tafelmusik enhanced and broadened its status as a global leader in period performance, exploring exceptional repertoire from the 17th through 19th centuries, commissioning new works, and promoting cross-cultural exchanges. She led an acclaimed new recording, Vivaldi con amore, prestigious tours to Europe and Australia, and worked intensively on high-quality digital concerts to keep Tafelmusik connected with our audience in new ways. We are deeply grateful for her extraordinary leadership as Music Director in her five years with Tafelmusik.
2022/23 SEASON AT A GLANCE
Handel’s London
Directed by Avi Stein, harpsichord
Sept 23, 2022 at 8pm
Sept 24, 2022 at 2pm
Picture a vibrant city humming with creative spirit, attracting artists who exchange diverse ideas and perspectives. Though it sounds like present-day New York or Toronto, this is 18th-century London—the inspiration for our opening concert of the season. Guest directed by the “brilliant” (New York Times) Grammy Award-winning harpsichordist Avi Stein, this concert channels the cosmopolitan energy of baroque London, a city ripe with opportunities for cross-pollination. The program includes music by Handel, Kusser, Geminiani, Hellendaal, and Purcell, along with Short Story by late Tafelmusik cellist, Allen Whear.
Trailblazers: Mendelssohn & Farrenc
Directed by Aisslinn Nosky, violin
Oct 28, 2022 at 8pm
Oct 29, 2022 at 2pm
The “perpetually fabulous” (Boston Globe) violinist Aisslinn Nosky leads an invigorating program of large-scale chamber works from the romantic period. Concertmaster of the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston since 2011, Aisslinn is a former member of Tafelmusik and a perennial audience favourite. She directs Mendelssohn’s Octet in E-flat Major and the Nonet op. 38 by the French composer Louise Farrenc, a trailblazing woman who became the toast of Paris following the work’s triumphant premiere in 1849. After more than a century and a half of neglect, Farrenc’s music is enjoying a long overdue resurgence.
Reflections of Mary
Directed by Ivars Taurins
Tafelmusik Chamber Choir
Nov 25, 2022 at 8pm
Nov 26, 2022 at 2pm
The figure of the Virgin Mary is central to this program of choral music spanning more than three centuries. The lyricism and expressive power of Charpentier’s final mass, Missa Assumpta est Maria, is juxtaposed with lustrous a cappella works by the 20th-century composer Poulenc. Canadian composer Tawnie Olson, whose music is described as “especially glorious and ethereal” (The Wholenote), brings our musical reflection into the present day with a newly commissioned setting of a Marian text.
Handel Messiah
Directed by Ivars Taurins
Karina Gauvin, soprano
Christopher Lowrey, countertenor
Valerio Contaldo, tenor
Brett Polegato, baritone
Tafelmusik Chamber Choir
Dec 16-17, 2022 at 7:30pm
Koerner Hall, TELUS Centre
Nothing conjures the festive season like Tafelmusik’s performances of Handel Messiah! This cherished annual holiday tradition has been deeply missed over the past two years. Handel Messiah transcends cultural, geographic, and religious boundaries with its message of charity, peace, and goodwill. It also contains some of the most uplifting, touching, and magnificent music ever composed. Ivars Taurins once again leads the Orchestra, Chamber Choir, and a stellar cast of soloists in the splendid acoustics of Koerner Hall.
La Passione: Haydn & Mozart
Rachel Podger, guest director & violin soloist
Feb 10, 2023 at 8pm
Feb 11, 2023 at 2pm
“There is probably no more inspirational musician working today,” says Gramophone about violinist Rachel Podger, whose sparkling Tafelmusik debut more than a decade ago left a lasting impression. Podger makes her long-awaited return as soloist and director in a program of classical symphonies and concertos by Mozart, Haydn, and their contemporaries. The program is anchored by the dramatic Symphony no 49. Nicknamed “La Passione,” the work offers early glimmers of the romantic style that would eventually flourish decades later.
Bach’s Library
Francesco Corti, guest director & harpsichord soloist
Mar 3, 2023 at 8pm
Mar 4, 2023 at 2pm
Making his Tafelmusik debut this season is harpsichord soloist and director Francesco Corti, “a powerhouse of unbridled vivacity, exciting and excitable in equal measure” (BBC Music Magazine). Corti leads the Orchestra in a fascinating program of music by J. S. Bach and those who inspired him, including Telemann and Zelenka—composers whose manuscripts were found to be part of his personal library. The program features two works by Bach himself: the elegant Orchestral Suite no 1 in C Major, featuring Tafelmusik’s superb wind players, and the Harpsichord Concerto in D minor, an imposing, exhilarating masterpiece.
Bach St John Passion
Directed by Ivars Taurins
Myriam Leblanc, soprano
Krisztina Szabó, mezzo-soprano
James Gilchrist, Evangelist and tenor soloist
William Sharp, Jesus and baritone soloist
Jonathon Adams, Petrus, Pilatus, and baritone soloist
Tafelmusik Chamber Choir
Mar 24, 2023 at 7:30pm
Mar 25, 2023 at 3:30pm
When first performed, Bach’s St John Passion shocked the Church fathers in Leipzig with its intensity and fervour. It is just that intensity that makes it so relevant in today’s highly charged and turbulent times. Tafelmusik’s special performances of Bach’s masterpiece include projections of images from the illuminated Saint John’s Bible, a contemporary work of art that unites ancient Benedictine traditions with a modern perspective. This striking visual element offers a deeper understanding of the context around St John Passion. Harrowing, passionate, and tender by turn, St John Passion reflects our world as well as Bach’s.
Higher Love: Virtuoso Arias
Samuel Mariño, male soprano
Apr 21, 2023 at 8pm
Apr 22, 2023 at 2pm
Tafelmusik is thrilled to welcome Samuel Mariño to the stage for what promises to be a highlight of the Toronto concert season. Following debuts at major European opera houses, 28-year-old Mariño is making a name for himself with his remarkable range, astonishing vocal technique, and electrifying, youthful stage presence. Mariño’s powerful and agile soprano voice is capable of reaching stratospheric heights with apparent ease. “Quite simply the most extravagantly talented male soprano I have yet heard” (Opera). Mariño joins the orchestra for virtuoso baroque opera arias from Handel’s Armino and Vivaldi’s Il Giustino, among others.
Grand Voyage: The French Baroque
Leila Schayegh, guest director & violin soloist
May 12, 2023 at 8pm
May 13, 2023 at 2pm
Following her remarkable Tafelmusik debut in 2021/22, violinist Leila Schayegh was immediately invited to return for a program devoted to sublime French baroque music. She brings “multicoloured delicacy and suppleness” (Gramophone) to Leclair’s Violin Concerto in E Minor. The Enlightenment idealism that captured the French imagination in the 18th century infuses the orchestral selections, including Rebel’s ground breaking 1737 work, Les Élémens, Rameau’s suite of instrumental movements from Les Indes Galantes, and the Chaconne from the composer’s Dardanus—music for which Tafelmusik has received a JUNO Award and a Grammy nomination.
Save up to 20% on tickets with Full Season and 6 Concert live-concert subscriptions, on sale now. Packages are available for Friday evenings or Saturday afternoons at Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre. Subscribe by May 24 to save $10 per subscription. Buy now at tafelmusik.org/subscribe or call 1 (833) 964-6337.
Website: tafelmusik.org
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Tafelmusik is an orchestra, choir, and experience that celebrates beauty through music of the past. Founded over 40 years ago on the pillars of passion, learning, and artistic excellence, Tafelmusik continues to bring new energy to baroque music and beyond. Historically informed performances of 17th- to 19th-century instrumental and choral music share the stage with vibrant, insightful multimedia programs, and bold new music written just for the group. Each piece is played on period instruments, underscored and illuminated by scholarship.
Through dynamic performances, international touring, award-winning recordings, and comprehensive education programs, Tafelmusik invites audiences to engage with beauty and experience the breadth of emotion music can inspire.
