Trickle-down economics works far better as a way of illustrating how orchestras work — and Toronto makes for a fine case study.
The presence of four all-professional orchestras draws a lot of great musicians to the city. They, in turn, encourage others, through networking and teaching, which creates a cycle of growth and renewal that feeds the growth of other orchestras and ensembles, and makes for a flourishing chamber-music as well as symphonic culture.
Tafelmusik, Toronto’s period-performance flagship, has attracted so many fine masters of Baroque- and Classical-era performance practice that they have been able to give birth to the Aradia Ensemble and a number of chamber-music series, including the Eybler (founded by members of Tafelmusik) and Windermere string quartets.
The busy members of the Eybler don’t have time for a concert season. The Windermere, on the other hand, offers a series of Sunday-afternoon concerts at St. Olave’s Church, at Bloor St and Windermere Ave. in neat-and-tidy Bloor West Village.
Their final concert of the season is tomorrow at 3 p.m.
Guest players, violinist Emily Eng and cellist Rebecca Morton, join Windermere regulars, violinist Elizabeth Loewen Andrews, violist Anthony Rapoport and cellist Laura Jones, in a programme featuring Beethoven’s Trio in D Major, Op. 9 No. 2, the C-Major Quintet, D956, by Franz Schubert, and a String Quartet by the mysterious and exciting “Mozart Noir,” Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799).
All the music is performed on period instruments, which have a mellower sound.
It only costs $20 ($14, if you’re a senior or student) to get in.
The generous album features three core pieces from the Classical canon: Mozart’s “Dissonance” Quartet, K 465, Joseph Haydn’s “Joke” Quartet, Hob. III:38, and Beethoven’s Op. 18 No. 4 Quartet in C minor.
These are sparkling, straightforward interpretations that nicely show off the more delicate, rhythmically lively sound one can get from period instruments. The disc would make a fine addition to any chamber music-loving listener’s library.
For more on the Windermeres, the concert and their new album, click here.
In case you need a better idea of what Boulogne’s music sounds like, here is his Op. 7 No. 2 Violin Concerto, in B-flat Major (I don’t know who the performers are):
John Terauds