Critic’s Picks for the week of April 10 to 16
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. 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 curated concert listings here: Musical Toronto Datebook.
Tuesday 11
Canadian Opera Company | Chamber Music Series: The Beauty of Brass. Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre. Noon. Free.
Members of the COC Orchestra brass section (Robert Weymouth, trumpet; Mikhailo Babiak, horn; Charles Benaroya, trombone) join forces with pianist Rachael Kerr in a concert featuring works by Bach, Enescu, Franz Joseph Strauss, and Canadian composer Ian MacDougall. Show up an hour early to ensure a seat. Program details here (PDF)
Flato Markham Theatre | Russian National Ballet Theatre: Swan Lake. 8 p.m. 171 Town Centre Blvd., Markham. $64-$69. Repeats Apr 12 and 13.
When it comes to iconic ballet classics like Swan Lake, any performance is an occasion. Toronto balletomanes are treated this spring to not just the National Ballet’s version (June 15-25) but the visiting touring troupe, the Russian National Ballet Theatre! Great to have a chance to compare and contrast the two styles. Full event details found here.
Wednesday 12
Toronto Mendelssohn Choir | Sacred Music for a Sacred Space. St. Paul’s Basilica, 83 Power St. 7:30 p.m. $35-$50. Repeats Apr 14 (Good Friday).
This annual TMC concert, now on two nights, brings together contemplative music with the beautiful setting of St. Paul’s Basilica. On the program are works by Allegri, Pärt, Mendelssohn, Lukaszewski and others. Noel Edison conducts. Listing details here.
Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Liszt Piano Concerto 2. Roy Thomson Hall. 8 p.m. $33.75-$148. Repeats Apr 13 at 2 p.m.
Russian maestro Andrey Boreyko returns to the TSO to conduct Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2 with soloist Lucas Debargue, who was a 2015 Tchaikovsky Competition prize winner. Also on the program are Brahms Symphony No. 3 and The Isle is Full of Noises by Greek Canadian composer Christos Hatzis. More info found here.
Thursday 13
Royal Conservatory of Music | Chamber Music Concert: Les Violons du Roy. Koerner Hall. 8 p.m. From $40
The outstanding Quebec chamber orchestra Les Violons du Roy is in town for a concert of works by Handel, Bach, Fux, and Graun. A major attraction is the appearance of French countertenor sensation Philippe Jaroussky. Mathieu Lussier conducts. Complete listing info here.
Friday 14
St. Barnabas Anglican Church | Bach: St. Mark Passion. 2 p.m. 361 Danforth Ave. Freewill offering.
This being Holy Week, there are fewer purely classical music events but plenty of religious programming. One that caught my eye is the St. Mark Passion performance on Good Friday with five excellent soloists – sopranos Ellen McAteer and Agnes Zsigovics, countertenor Daniel Taylor, tenor Asitha Tennekoon and baritone Brett Polegato. Info, here.
Kindred Spirits Orchestra | Death and Transfiguration. Flato Markham Theatre, 171 Town Centre Blvd., Markham. 8 p.m. Pre-concert recital 7:15 p.m., Pre-concert talk 7:30 p.m. Intermission discussion with pianist Rudin Lengo. $15-$40
Markham-based Kindred Spirits Orchestra, under the baton of its conductor Kristian Alexander, offers a Good Friday program of Strauss’s sublime Death and Transfiguration, paired with Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3, with pianist Rudin Lengo. Michael Berec is host of the evening. More details here.
Sunday 16
Stereo Live Presents | Rosebud String Quartet. Campbell House Museum, 169 Queen St. W. 3 p.m. $25
The Rosebud String Quartet (violinists Sheila Jaffé and Aaron Schwebel, violist Keith Hamm and cellist Arnold Choi) plays a program of Haydn and Schumann in the historic Campbell House, the oldest remaining house from the original site of the Town of York. See here for all the details.
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