TUESDAY
- Members of the Canadian Opera Company at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, noon. Free.
Soprano Virginia Hatfield, mezzo Andrea Ludwig, tenor Michael Barrett and pianist Jenna Douglas present an hour of music inspired by the 200-year-old collection of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. Host Eric Domville hosts as the Canadian Opera Company launches a week of Grimm celebration.
Included on the programme are two pieces from Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel — the gorgeous “Evening Prayer” duet and the “Witch’s Aria” (sung by Barrett). Douglas performs Robert Schumann’s Scenes from Childhood, there is a rarely heard gem by Carl Orff, from Die Kluge, as well as songs from the Disney movies Cinderella and Snow White.
- Ontario Philharmonic with pianist Anton Kuerti at Koerner Hall, 8 p.m.
The excellent Ontario Philharmonic goes all-Brahms for the second of its Great Soloists concerts. The co-presentation with Mooredale Concerts features Toronto elder-statesman pianist Anton Kuerti performing the Piano Concerto No. 2. Music director Marco Paristotto leads the great Symphony No. 4 after intermission. This is a rare opportunity to head this big, rich music in a small concert hall. Tickets and details here.
WEDNESDAY
Maryem Tollar, Roula Saïd, Naghmeh Farahmand and Waleed Abdulhamid at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, noon, Free.
These four remarkable performers have constructed their own Middle Eastern fairytale using a basic story and eight songs sourced from Medieval Andalusia, Lebanon, Egypt and Sufism — plus an original song by Saïd. The spinning of this tale in music as well as dancec is in honour of the Canadian Opera Company’s weeklong celebration of the Grimm Bros.
WEDNESDAY TO SUNDAY
- Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir at Trinity-St Paul’s Centre. 8 p.m. (7 p.m. Wed,m 3:30 p.m. Sun.)
Conductor Ivars Taurins takes us to late-17th century France to glory in two remarkable Christmastime Mass settings by Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704). The composer wrote these pieces as the director of music at the then recently-built Church of Saint-Louis in Paris, known in pre-Revolutionary France for its elaborate liturgies and music.
For all the details and tickets, click here.
THURSDAY
- Gryphon Trio performs for Music Toronto at the Jane Mallett Theatre, 8 p.m.
It’s a Russian programme for Toronto violinist Annalee Patipatanakoon, cellist Roman Borys and pianist Jamie Parker as they look forward to their 20th anniversary as the Gryphon Trio. They should make fine work of Sergei Rachmaninov’s gorgeous Trio Elégiaque No. 1 as well as the A-minor Piano Trio of Peter Ilytch Tchaikovsky. As they have done for many seasons now, the Gryphons will also premiere a new piece,written for them by one of the teenage composers they mentor at the Claude Watson School of the Arts. For details and tickets, click here.
Here is the Rachmaninov Trio, performed by the Emerald Trio (three members of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra), to get a taste of the music:
FRIDAY
- Handel’s Coronation Anthems at Trinity College Chapel, 7:30 p.m.
Countertenor Daniel Taylor has been busy since arriving to teach at University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music this fall. His projects have included forming a new ensemble called Schola Cantorum. These young people present George Frideric Handel’s magnificent Coronation Anthems, with the help of professionals — soprano Agnes Zsigovics and baritone Alexander Dobson. Taylor conducts. This could be amazing. You’ll find ticket information here.
- Via Salzburg performs at Rosedale United Church, 159 Roxborough Dr. (corner Glen Rd), 8 p.m.
Violinist Mayumi Seiler, who founded Via Salzburg 13 years ago, configures her group different ways, depending on the concert. This one is for small string orchestra, as they present a programme that ranges from Baroque to neo-Romantic Modern, including Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 9, a Concerto for Violin and Cello by Antonio Vivaldi, a concerto by by Georg Muffatt and Kingston-based composer Marjan Mozetich’s deceptively simple, accessible, Postcards from the Sky. You’ll find the details here.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY
- Three performances of The Brothers Grimm by Toronto composer Dean Burry at the Daniels Spectrum (Regent Park Arts & Culture Centre).
The Canadian Opera Company celebrates the 500th performance of its school-tour opera with a party at the Daniels Spectrum (585 Dundas St E.). Composer Dean Burry will be on hand for the festivities at 6:30 on Friday, followed by a 7:30 p.m. performance in beautiful Ada Slaight Hall, the flagship performance space in Regent Park’s new cultural bub.
The 45-minute opera, which tells the story of the brothers Grimm and their remarkable (and often very scary) fairytale characters is performed by members of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased at the door, cash only ($15 for anyone age 15 and under, $25 for adults), by calling 416-363-8231 or by clicking here.
You can read more background on the opera here.
SUNDAY
- Pianist Valentina Lisitsa at Koerner Hall, 3 p.m.
Mexican pianist Horacio Guitérrez had to cancel his Koerner Hall recital due to a herniated disc in his neck. Instead, we get Ukrainian-born pianist Valentina Lisitsa, who has become an international sensation due to millions of YouTube hits. I’ll have more on this recital later this week. For programme details and tickets, click here.
John Terauds