If we had a concert presenter-of-the-week prize, it would go to the Canadian Opera Company. It’s a wonderful week for fans of vocal music in Toronto — some of which is free for the listening:
TUESDAY
- Soprano Anna Christy at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, noon. Free admission.
The Canadian Opera Company’s wonderful Lucia sings bel canto arias as well as Italian and American art songs with accompanist Liz Upchurch. This should be a huge treat. Details here.
WEDNESDAY
- Cellos of the COC with Johannes Debus at the piano at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, noon. Free admission.
In a programme that ostensibly celebrates the 200th anniversary of Richard Wagner’s birth, seven cellists from the COC Orchestra, with music director at the piano for some of it, present a programme of works new and old written or arranged for this rich sonic combination. The Wagner content is the Feierliches Stück from Lohengrin and a snippet of Parsifal in four-cello form. Details here.
WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY & SATURDAY
- The Toronto Symphony Orchestra presents Brahms’ German Requiem, 8 p.m. (7:30 p.m. Sat.).
Music director Peter Oundjian has chosen American composer Peter Lieberson’s substantial Songs of Love and Sorrow (in its Canadian premiere) to go with Johannes Brahms’ masterpiece A German Requiem — with baritone Gerald Finley as soloist in both works. The soprano soloist in the Brahms is Klara Ek. The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir flanks the stage. Details here.
Here is a 2010 clip from the premiere of the Lieberson song cycle — based on poems by Pablo Neruda and written for Finley. The Boston Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Jayce Ogren:
THURSDAY
- Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio graduates sing goodbye at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, noon. Free admission.
Sopranos Mireille Asselin and Ambur Braid, mezzo Rihab Chaieb and bass-baritone Neil Craighead sing a rich programme that includes song cycles by Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Arthur Honegger. The concert closes with Asselin singing Samuel Barber’s magical Knoxville: Summer of 1915. Details here.
FRIDAY
- The boys of St Michael’s Choir School at St Paul’s Basilica, 7:30 p.m. Free admission.
Music director Jerzy Cichocki and teachers Teri Dunn and Charissa Bagan conduct the excellent boy choristers of the venerable choir school as it celebrates its 75th anniversary with an all-Canadian sacred programme. More on the school here.
- Organist Karen Christianson at Metropolitan United Church, 7:30 p.m.
This excellent teenage organist from Philadelphia celebrates her imminent high school graduation with a substantial concert for the Organix 13 festival. You can read my interview with her here. Concert details here.
FRIDAY, SATURDAY & SUNDAY
- Toronto Consort at Trinity-St Paul’s Centre, 8 p.m.
These Early Music specialists conclude their season with a new programme centred around the music and lives of women composers of the Middle Ages, Renaissance and early Baroque. The concert includes spoken word performances by actors Maggie Hukulak and Karen Woolridge. I’ll have more on this later in the week. Concert details here.
SATURDAY & SUNDAY
It’s Doors Open weekend, with some venues offering a bit of musical enticement to come and darken the entranceway. For example, the Beach Hebrew Institute (109 Kenilworth Ave.) is offering a lecture-concert by cantor Katie Oringel on Sunday at 11 a.m. At my Church of the Holy Trinity, right behind the Eaton Centre, the Toronto representatives of Casavant Frères, the country’s great organ builder, will be giving demonstrations on the instrument on Saturday and Sunday. And I’ll play this and that in between on Saturday.
You can find all of the Doors Open details here.
SATURDAY
- Exultate Chamber Singers at St Thomas’s Anglican Church, 383 Huron St., 7:30 p.m.
Composer Stephanie Martin, former Church of St Mary Magdalene music director, guest conducts the season-closing concert by the Exultate Chamber Singers, with ensemble founder John Tuttle at the organ. This is a spiritually-oriented programme that starts with Hildegard of Bingen and ends with much loved Canadian choral composer Imant Raminsh and the premiere of a new piece by Martin. Concert details here.
SUNDAY
Today’s first choice would have been the third installment of Aldeburgh Connection’s Britten Festival of Song — and the concert presenters’ final concert. But the Walter Hall adieu is sold out, and it’s rare to find scalpers outside the Edward Johnson Building.
John Terauds