MONDAY
- Associates of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Church of the Redeemer, 7:30 p.m.
One of the city’s best kept chamber music secrets is this series of five concerts presented every season by these friends and patrons of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
This concert, at the Church of the Redeemer (at the corner of Bloor St and Avenue Rd), features Toronto Symphony Orchestra violinists Paul Meyer and Wendy Rose, violist Kent Teeple and cellist Marie Gélinas in a rich trio of pieces from the string quartet canon: Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet in D Major, Op.76 No.5, Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet No.5 in A Major, Op.18 No.5 and the String Quartet No.3 in B-flat Major, Op.67 No.3, by Johannes Brahms.
The most expensive tickets are but $18, and are available at the door.
TUESDAY
- Soprano Erin Wall sings Richard Strauss at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, noon. Free.
Run, don’t walk, to the Four Seasons Centre about 45 minutes before the start of this special lunchtime concert, which features soprano Erin Wall singing an all-Richard Strauss programme with piano accompanist (and Canadian Opera Company chorus master) Sandra Horst. The singer, who is doing a wonderful job as Antonia in the COC’s current production of Tales of Hoffman, is in full vocal flower and has a seductive way with a musical phrase. The programme includes Strauss’s four-song cycle Mädchenblumen (Maidenflowers), Op. 22.
In case you need an introduction, here is Barbara Hendricks singing “Kornblumen,” the first of the Mädchenblumen:
WEDNESDAY TO SUNDAY
- British violinist Rachel Podger makes her début with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra at Trinity St. Paul’s Centre.
I’ll have more on this later.
THURSDAY
There are two very different, yet equally notable concerts on this night:
- Soprano Layla Claire in recital at the Glenn Gould Studio, 8 p.m.
Pianist Steven Philcox has the pleasure of accompanying what I think is the Toronto recital début of Penticton, B.C. native Layla Claire, who has leapt from success to success since winning herself a spot in the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and picking up a clutch of international competition laurels.
Instead of opera, Claire is presenting a classic art song programme, starting with Henry Purcell’s timeless Music for a While and Benjamin Britten’s gorgeous cycle, On This Island. There are Ophelia-Lieder by Richard Strauss, mélodies by Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy, Ernest Chausson and Joseph Canteloube, and Lúa descolorida, by Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov.
For more information, and tickets, click here.
Here is Claire singing a bit of Handel with Elizabeth DeShong in the Met’s production of Enchanted Island last month, followed by some backstage vocal development at the Met with Kiri Te Kanawa:
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- Yuri Bashmet and the Moscow Soloists 20th Anniversary Tour at Roy Thomson Hall, 8 p.m.
One of the highlights of this concert, presented by Show One Productions, is the first Toronto appearance by Russian cellist Mischa Maisky in 24 years. Expect plenty of fireworks from this group of musical firebrands.
The programme is made up of smaller-scale music that should shine, despite the size of Roy Thomson Hall. Included is Gustav Mahler’s expansion on Franz Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” String Quartet, Joseph Haydn’s C-Major Cello Concerto, the Op. 19 Nocturne for cello and orchestra by Peter Ilytch Tchaikovsky and Johannes Brahms’ B-minor Quintet for viola and strings, Op. 115.
For tickets (and very little extra information), click here.
FRIDAY
- Jane Bunnett and the Gismontis at Koerner Hall, 8 p.m.
This isn’t classical music, but a blend of Brazilian influences and jazz, featuring the multi-talented brothers Egberto and Alexandre Gismonti , courtesty of Soundstreams.
For more details, click here.
SATURDAY
- The Tallis Choir at St. Patrick’s Church, 7:30 p.m.
Director Peter Mahon (also a prominent member of the Tafelmusik Chramber Choir) has brought a great deal of polish to the Tallis Choir, which closes its season with highlights from the history of the English church anthem in the friendly acoustics of St. Patrick’s Church (on McCaul St. just around the corner from the AGO).
The Renaissance is represented by Thomas Tallis’s haunting setting of the Lamentations of Jeremiah and William Byrd’s Sing Joyfully. There are Three Motets by Charles Villiers Stanford and, to close, the epitome of the 20th century anthem, Faire is the Heaven, by William Harris.
For more information, click here.
Here’s the choir singing Gabrielli’s setting of O magnum mysterium at St. Patrick’s in Dec. 2010, followed by the University of London Chamber Choir singing Faire is the Heaven:
SUNDAY
- The Pax Christi Chorale celebrates its 25th anniversary with a performance of Edward Elgar’s The Kingdom, with full orchestra, at Koerner Hall, 3 p.m.
I will have more on this later.
John Terauds