MONDAY
- Musicians from Marlboro at Mazzoleni Hall (Telus Centre), 7:30 p.m.
Violinist Michelle Ross, violist Emily Deans, cellist Matthew Zalkind and pianist Gabriele Carciano are this year’s touring representatives from the wonderful summertime Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont.
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
They bring a compelling programme of chamber music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Felix Mendelssohn, Gabriel Fauré and contemporary British composer Thomas Adès to a wonderful, intimate space. Details here.
TUESDAY
- Chamber music at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, noon. Free.
We get two students — violinist Luri Lee and cellist Jonathan Lo — and two masters — violinist Barry Shiffman and pianist Jamie Parker — in a performance of one masterwork: Johannes Brahms Op. 25 Piano Quartet. I can’t think of a finer way to spend a lunchtime.
- David Occhipinti Camera Ensemble at Heliconian Hall, 8 p.m.
Guitarist David Occhipinti has a project called the Camera Ensemble for which he has written some rhythmically engaging, colourful new chamber music that is part art, part jazz for guitar, marimba (Michael Davidson), violin (Aline Homzy), bass (Andrew Downing) and reeds (Peter Lutek). They’ve honed the material during a fall Canadian tour, which concludes at home base in Toronto. Tickets are $10-$15 at the door.
Here they are at Heliconian Hall about a year ago, playing Occhipinti’s Banff Suite:
WEDNESDAY
- Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and guests at Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, 7:30 p.m.
Our city’s venerable choral society is joined by the Toronto Children’s Chorus, soprano Lesley Bouza, tenor Colin Ainsworth and reader Diego Matamoros and full orchestra under conductor Noel Edison in two cantatas that honour the 100th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Britten: The Company of Heaven and St Nicholas. For all the details, click here.
WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY
- Soprano Erin Wall and conductor Sir Andrew Davis with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall, 8 p.m.
You can’t go wrong with these guests, nor their programme, which includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 and Richard Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks. Wall sings Alban Berg’s gorgeous Seven Early Songs. Details here.
THURSDAY
- The Women’s Musical Club of Toronto presents Les Voix Humaines and soprano Suzie Leblanc at Walter Hall, 1:30 p.m.
The quiet pleasures of the viol family are augmented by guests Alison Melville on recorder and soprano Suzie LeBlanc in a programme that takes us through the four seasons, starting with fall. Not all the music is old, though, and the concert includes the premiere of a new work by the dean of Toronto composers, John Beckwith (you can find a recent interview with him here). Concert details here.
- Music Toronto presents the Miró Qiartet at the Jane Mallett Theatre, 8 p.m.
It’s an all-Schubert feast from these four remarkable chamber players, including the “Death and the Maiden” Quartet. You’ll find all the details here.
FRIDAY
- Cellist Yo-Yo Ma with pianist Kathryn Stott at Roy Thomson Hall, 8 p.m.
This powerfully expressive duo presents a programme that clearly reflects a bunch of personal favourites rather than a coherent musical arc. But when it’s Yo-Yo Ma, you know it’s going to be okay, and reviews of their collaboration from other cities have gushed praise. You’ll find all the details here.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY
- Toronto Consort presents Ensemble Lucidarium at Jeanne Lamon Hall (Trinity-St Paul’s Centre), 8 p.m.
This Italian quintet has made a specialty of Jewish music of pre-Enlightenment Europe. This programme is their distillation of how paths and current crossed freely in a part of the world and a time when Jewish people lived freely and openly among their Christian and Muslim brethren. I’ll have more on this later in the week. Concert details here.
SATURDAY
- The Larkin Singers at the Church of the Holy Trinity (Eaton Centre), 4 p.m.
Ottawa-based organist and choral leader Matthew Larkin applies his considerable skills on the talented, Toronto-based Larkin Singers, in an all-Benjamin Britten programme in honour of the composer’s 100th birth anniversary. We’ll hear the Hymn to St Cecilia as well as Rejoice in the Lamb. Details here.
SUNDAY
- Voicebox (Opera in Concert) presents Benjamin Britten’s Gloriana at the Jane Mallett Theatre, 2:30 p.m.
It had an inauspicious start as part of the festivities around the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953, but Gloriana, about the personal cost of public duty for Elizabeth I is an absolutely brilliant and deeply moving opera. Unfortunately, there’s no orchestra for this bare-bones concert presentation, but the singing cast is strong, and the very able Peter Tiefenbach is in charge of the music from the piano. You’ll find all the details here.
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These are but a few choices of the dozens of fine concert options in Toronto, for what must be one of the busiest weeks of the year. For a comprehensive list of what’s available, check out Wholenote magazine here.
John Terauds
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
