CRITIC’S PICKS | Seven Shows Worth Seeing This Week

Joseph So

10 years ago

For the week of April 11 to 17

COC | Carmen (centre) Paul Gay as Escamillo. Photo from Carmen (Canadian Opera Company, 2010); (Photo: Michael Cooper)

Musical Toronto’s weekly Critic’s Picks are a fully curated list of some of the best concerts happening now through the end of the week. Of course, this is not to say we are the provocateurs of taste, but simply seek to provide a good weekly summary. For a look at the full breadth of what’s available in and around Toronto, check out our concert listings in the Musical Toronto Datebook.

I am currently on assignment, getting my fill of opera and the arts in amazing Berlin, but you know what? I’m looking forward to coming home for a sampling of what TO has to offer musically this week. It may be less variety, but I find the quality at home to be consistently high:

Tuesday 12

COC | Georges Bizet’s Carmen at The Four Seasons Centre. 7:30 p.m. $55-435 (Repeats April 12 to May 15. Start times vary)

The Canadian Opera Company’s spring season opens on April 12 with Carmen. This is the same Michael Yeargan production as seen in the past, but now directed by fast-rising Canadian stage director Joel Ivany of Against the Grain Theatre fame. With a total of 13 performances, all principal roles are double-cast. The two performances this week (April 12 and 17) stars Georgian mezzo Anita Rachvelishvili, who has previously sung Carmen and Dulcinée at the COC. Don Jose is American tenor Russell Thomas, who was Hoffmann a few seasons back. Micaela is former COC Ensemble Studio soprano, Simone Osborne. American bass-baritone Christian Van Horn returns as Escamillo. Paolo Carignani conducts. According to the most recent statistics of the past five seasons, Carmen is the second most performed opera in the world, just behind La traviata and ahead of La boheme. For veteran opera attendee or neophyte alike, you can’t go wrong with this piece. See link, for all the details.

OPERA ATELIER | Lucio Silla at the Elgin Theatre. 7:30 p.m. $38 -191 (Repeats April 12, 15 and 16)

Opera Atelier, Canada’s premiere Baroque opera company, continues its spring season of Mozart’s early work, Lucio Silla, with three performances (Apr. 12, 15, 16) this week at the Elgin Theatre. It received rave reviews from audiences and critics alike, with good reason. It’s the same production that made a splash at Salzburg and La Scala. Kresimir Spicer leads a stellar cast of Peggy Kriha Dye, Meghan Lindsey, Allyson McHardy and Mireille Asselin. Details found, here.

Wednesday 13

TSO | Angela Hewitt at Roy Thomson Hall. 8:00 p.m. $33.75 -148 (Repeats April 13, 14 and 16. Start times vary)

Canada’s premiere Bach pianist Angela Hewitt returns for three performances with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall, as both soloist and orchestral leader in the Bach pieces. She plays the Bach piano concertos in F Minor and D Minor. As an interesting juxtaposition, the concert also features Shostakovich Symphony No. 8. Remember the Saturday concert is half an hour earlier but with only one of the Bach concertos, the D Minor. Peter Oundjian conducts. More info, here.

Thursday 14

SOUNDSTREAMS | Steve Reich at 80 at Massey Hall. 8:00 p.m. $22 -67.50

The adventurous Soundstreams is presenting Steve Reich at 80, where the American composer is celebrating his 80^th birthday at Massey Hall on April 14, with a long list of featured musicians performing his music. If new music and Steve Reich is your thing, this is an important event not to be missed. Full details, here.

COC | Kara Huber at The Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre. Noon. Free!

Music and sports don’t seem to mix but in reality, there are a surprising number of people devoted to both. I, for one, am a baseball and an opera fan, as I am fond of saying that both are long-winded! American pianist Kara Huber is giving a noon hour concert at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre on Thursday, April 14 which she calls Baseball, Yoga, and Other Sports for the Contemporary Pianist. She’s performing works inspired by the world of sports. The program includes a world premiere by David Rakowski and the Canadian premiere of Douglas Pew’s Bagatelles, as well as Canadian composer Alexina Louie’s Put on Your Running Shoes and a work by Annie Gosfield inspired by the pivotal Yankees-Dodgers Game 4 in the 1941 World Series. Sounds like fun! Here’s a PDF of the program.

MUSIC TORONTO | DuoTergeon at Jane Mallett Theatre. 8:00 p.m. $10-55

Music Toronto presents its last concert of the 2015-16 season on Thursday, April 14 8 p.m. at the Jane Mallett Theatre, with the appearance of the Berlin-based Artemis Quartet. The program features pieces by Beethoven, Wolf, and Shostakovich. Concert details found, here.

Sunday 17

MOOREDALE CONCERTS | Afiara String Quartet at Walter Hall. 8:00 p.m. $10-55

The Canadian chamber group, the Afiara String Quartet, is giving a concert on April 17 at Walter Hall under the auspices of the Mooredale Concerts. On the program are works by Mendelssohn and Dvorak. Joining them is the Canadian and principal bass of the LSO, Joel Quarrington. Info here.

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Joseph So

Joseph So is Professor Emeritus at Trent University and Associate Editor of Opera Canada.He is also a long-time contributor to La Scena Musicale and Opera (London, UK). His interest in music journalism focuses on voice, opera as well as symphonic and piano repertoires. He appears regularly as a panel member of the Big COC Podcast.He has co-edited a book, Opera in a Multicultural World: Coloniality, Culture, Performance, published by Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group).