26 Monday
- Associates of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre. 7:30 p.m. $17-20
Mondays are always quiet nights for concerts in Toronto, and because the field is so wide open, I’ve always wondered why arts presenters didn’t see this as an opportunity to cut through the noise? At any rate, Associates of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra will be on hand for the final concert of their season: Retros and Renegades (has a nice ring to it). The concert features Britten: 3 Divertimenti; Schumann: String quartet No.1 in A Op.41; Korngold: String quartet No.2 in E-flat. Details here.
27 Tuesday
- Talisker Players with guests Alexander Dobson, baritone; Stewart Arnott, actor/reader at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre. 8 p.m. $15-35
To celebrate the end of the Talisker Players 19th season, they will present two romantic song cycles that express the full range of the lover’s experience – ardour and bitterness, passion, dreams, honesty and irony, joy and pain. (Are there any missing?) Schumann’s Dichterliebe and Fauré’s La Bonne chanson will then be paired with John Beckwith’s Love Lines, and Alexander Rapoport’s Fragments of Verlaine. Details here.
Show repeats Wednesday, May 28th.
28 Wednesday
- Bozzini Quartet at Gallery 345. 8 p.m. $20
Montréal natives, the Bozzini Quartet are in town this week to perform some rarely heard works by Sciarrino, Aldo Clementi, Cage, and Scelsi, in the intimate Gallery 345 space. Bozzini are radically contemporary, propelling and hyper-creative, and this is a do-not-miss affair for enthusiasts of contemporary chamber music everywhere. Info here and here.
- Toronto Symphony Orchestra with Julian Rachlin, violin; Juanjo Mena, conductor at Roy Thomson Hall. 8 p.m. $33-145
As people start heading up to cottage country, why not prepare with Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony: the perfect relaxing, refreshing, glowing with sunshine (except for the vivid thunderstorm of the fourth movement), music. The TSO are always happy to oblige. More info here.
Show repeats Thursday, May 29th.
29 Thursday
- Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir with Peter Harvey, baritone at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre. 8 p.m. Free!
To kick-off the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Festival, they present a free concert titled, “Delightfully Baroque”. There isn’t a lot of info online but we all know Tafelmusik rarely disappoints. Details here.
30 Friday
- Canadian Children’s Opera Company at Enwave Theatre, Harbourfront Centre. 7:30 p.m. $15-35
Parents with kids, this is for you! Toronto-based composer Norbert Palej and novelist K.T. Bryski collaborated on a new telling of a classic Norwegian folk tale, East o’ the Sun and West o’ the Moon. According to the website, “A Young farm girl saves her starving family by befriending a mysterious bear and soon finds herself matching wits with the evil Queen of the Trolls. Will she save a prince from a fate worse than death?” Sounds fantastic. Details here.
Show runs Saturday, May 30 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, June 1st at 2 p.m.
- junctQín Keyboard Collective at Gallery 345. 8 p.m. $5-20
Tonight, junctQín celebrates the classics from their repertoire vault. They will be playing works from all around the world for piano for six-hands, squeeze toys, keyboards, and three acoustic tables. Come out and support this fantastic trio. Details here.
You can hear a sample of Karlheinz Essl’s juncTions here:
31 Saturday
- Amadeus Choir Lydia Adams, conductor; Shawn Grenke, piano at Christ Church Deer Park. 7:00 p.m. $15-40
Amadeus Choir will bring in summer with a bouquet of Canadian composers: Eleanor Daley, Peter Togni, Christopher Dedrick and works by mainstays Bach, Mendelssohn and Holst. Details here.
1 Sunday
- Baritone, Dmitri Hvorostovsky at Koerner Hall. 7 p.m. $60-150
World-renowned opera superstar, Dmitri Hvorostovsky promises to be in full form after delighting audiences in Montreal earlier in the month. As far as I know, this will be his first appearance at Koerner Hall, performing works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Medtner and Liszt. His long-time collaborator, pianist Ivari Ilja will also be on hand. Details here.
Michael Vincent
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[Correction: The article originally misstated the Talisker Players as being in their 11th season. This has now been corrected to show their 19th season.]