Ludwig van 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.
Tuesday 9
Canadian Opera Company | Chamber Music Series: Martinů and Korngold. 12 p.m. Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Free.
Members of the COC Orchestra (Aya Miyagawa and Nancy Kershaw, violin; Joshua Greenlaw and Caitlin Boyle, viola; Rebecca Morton and Olga Laktionova, cello) play Three Madrigals for violin and viola by Bohuslav Martinů and String Sextet in Da Major, Op. 10 by Erich Korngold. Full program information here. Be sure to show up early to get a seat. | Listing
Wednesday 10
Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Mozart@262 Festival: Majestic Mozart. 8 p.m. Roy Thomson Hall. Repeats Jan. 13, 8 p.m. $40.75-$154
From Jan 10 to 21, the TSO celebrates Mozart’s birth in its Mozart@262 Festival, co-curated by Bernard Labadie and Peter Oundjian. Majestic Mozart features his Symphony No. 39 and his Serenade No. 10 in B-flat Major. Bernard Labadie conducts. | Listing
Thursday 11
Music Toronto | Brentano Quartet. Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front St. E. $50-$55/$10 (full-time students)
The Brentano Quartet (Serena Canin and Mark Steinberg, violin; Misha Amory, viola; and Nina Lee, cello) returns to Music Toronto for an evening of Webern, Davidovsky, Respighi, and Schönberg, joined by soprano Dawn Upshaw in the Respighi Il Tramonto. | Listing
Friday 12
Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Mozart@262 Festival: What Makes It Great? 7:30 p.m. Roy Thomson Hall. $46.75-$89.75.
Conductor and Host Rob Kapilow returns for an analysis of Mozart’s Clarinet concerto, K. 622, the work of the mature Mozart. Maestro Kapilow speaks about the piece, followed by a complete performance, with soloist Joaquin Valdepeñas. The concert ends with a Q&A with the audience. | Listing
Saturday 13
Met Live in HD | The Opera House. 12:55 p.m. Select Cineplex Cinemas. Repeats Wednesday, Jan. 17, 12:55 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. List of participating theatres
To mark the 50th anniversary of Lincoln Centre, a new film by Susan Froemke, The Opera House chronicles the building of the new Metropolitan Opera House that opened in 1966 with the world premiere of Samuel Barber’s Anthony and Cleopatra. Soprano Leontyne Prices, now at the grand age of 91, is interviewed for this film, augmented with a great deal of archival footage. Here’s a trailer for the documentary.
Southern Ontario Lyric Opera | Encore: Favourite Opera Arias. 7:30 p.m. Burlington Performing Arts Centre, 440 Locust St., Burlington. $55-$65/$40(sr.)/$20(st 19 & under)
A short jaunt on the QEW takes you to Burlington Performing Arts Centre. Four well-known Canadians: soprano Joni Henson, mezzo Jean Stilwell, tenor David Pomeroy, and baritone James Westman sing opera, operetta and musical theatre. Sabatino Vacca conducts the Southern Ontario Lyric Opera Chorus and Orchestra. | Listing
Sunday 14
Mooredale Concerts | Piano Dialogue: David Jalbert and Wonny Song. 3:15 p.m. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building, University of Toronto. $40/$20(under 30) 1:15 p.m. Music and Truffles. $20.
Two Canadian pianists, David Jalbert and Wonny Song, give a joint recital of pieces by Rachmaninoff, Darius Milhaud, and Stravinsky. | Listing
New Music Concerts | Kammerkonzert. 8 p.m. Betty Oliphant Theatre, 404 Jarvis Street. $35/$25(sr & arts workers)/10(st)
Duo Diorama (violinist MingHuan Xu and pianist Winston Choic) plays Schönberg’s Phantasy Op. 47, Oesterle’s Chamber Concerto (world premiere), and Berg’s Chamber Concerto for piano, violin and 13 winds, joined by the NMC Ensemble directed by Robert Aitken. | Details
LUDWIG VAN TORONTO
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