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.
Monday 19
University of Toronto Faculty of Music | The Artist’s Life Through Song: Paint Me a Song. 7:30 p.m. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building, University of Toronto. $40/$25(sr)/$10(st)
An evening of song presented in association with Canadian Art Song Project. Program includes Ben Moore’s Dear Theo and John Beckwith’s Four Short Songs. Mezzo Krisztina Szabo, tenor Christopher Enns, and pianist Stephen Philcox. | Listing
Canzona Chamber Players | Brahms Sonatas for Violin and Piano. 7:30 p.m. St. George the Martyr Church, 197 John Street. $25. Reservations required by email or call/text Jonathan Krehm at (416) 822-0613.
Violinist Robert Uchida and pianist Peter Allen play Brahms Sonatas No. 1 Op. 78, No. 2 Op. 100, and No. 3 Op. 108. | Details
Tuesday 20
Canadian Opera Company | Chamber Music Series: Prokofiev Quintet. 12 p.m. Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre, 145 Queen St. W. Free. Show up an hour ahead to ensure a seat.
Chamber musicians from the Glenn Gould School, the professional arm of the Royal Conservatory of Music, perform a program that includes Prokofiev Quintet in G minor. This replaces the originally announced Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du soldat. | Listing
Wednesday 21
Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Jaws in Concert. 7:30 p.m. Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. Remaining tickets $45-$116 Repeats Mar. 22, 23.
Films with live orchestra have become a hit genre at the symphony these days. The TSO is offering that perennial 1975 (can it really be 43 years ago?) family thriller, Jaws, with the TSO forces playing the John Williams score conducted by Constantine Kitsopoulos. | Listing
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra | Ontario Tour: Vivaldi con amore. 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. Burlington Performing Arts Centre, 440 Locust St., Burlington.
Tafelmusik maintains an average of 7 to 12 weeks a year on tour to parts of Canada, USA and Europe. For its Burlington School Concerts, it presents an all-Vivaldi program, led by its new Music Director Elisa Citterio. | Details
Thursday 22
Art of Time Ensemble | Sound and Colour. 8 p.m. Harbourfront Centre Theatre. $64-$25 Repeats Mar. 23, 24.
Andrew Burashko, pianist and Artistic Director of Art of Time Ensemble, plays Alexander Scriabin’s 24 Preludes, Op. 11, in an interesting show of immersive colour field experience, created by lighting designer Kevin Lamotte, corresponding to Scriabin’s synesthetic correlation of colour to music. | Listing
Saturday 24
University of Toronto Faculty of Music | U of T Symphony Orchestra. 7:30 p.m. MacMillan Theatre, Edward John Building, University of Toronto, 80 Queen’s Park. $30/$20(sr)/$10(st)
University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Uri Mayer, plays Cherubini Requiem in C minor with the University Choirs under the direction of Hilary Apfelstadt. Also on the program is Brahms Symphony No. 2, and Lauds for Symphony Orchestra by Tyler Versluis. | Listing
Voicebox/Opera In Concert | The Ecstasy of Rita Joe. 8 p.m. Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front St. E. $29-$73. Repeats Mar. 25, 2:30 p.m.
The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, an opera by Victor Davies based on a play by George Ryga, is on offer, with mezzo Marion Newman in the title role. Robert Cooper conducts. | Listing
Toronto Symphony Orchestra | National Arts Centre Orchestra. 8 p.m. Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. $40.75-$154.
Alexander Shelley conducts the visiting National Arts Centre Orchestra in Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2, with pianist Boris Giltburg. Also on the program is Brahms Symphony No. 2 and Earworms for Orchestra by Vivian Fung, a NACO commission. | Listing
Sunday 25
Royal Conservatory of Music | Chamber Music: Takács Quartet. 3 p.m. Koerner Hall, 273 Bloor St. $55-$100.
The renowned Takács Quartet returns to Koerner Hall to play a program of works by Haydn, Shostakovich, and Beethoven. Pre-concert talk by Rick Phillips at 2 p.m. | Listing
LUDWIG VAN TORONTO
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- SCRUTINY | The Glenn Gould School Spring Opera Presents A Superb Dialogues Des Carmélites - March 22, 2024
- SCRUTINY | Effervescent Bartered Bride Marks Opera By Request’s First 2024 Presentation - March 12, 2024