Critic’s Picks (Nov. 5 – 11)
Ludwig van Toronto’s weekly Critic’s Picks are a curated list of some of the best concerts happening now through the end of the week. For a look at the full breadth of what’s available in and around Toronto, check out our curated concert listings here.
Monday 5
International Resource Centre for Performing Artists | Ten Singing Stars: The Next Generation. 7:15 p.m. Zoomer Hall, 70 Jefferson Ave. $30(cash @ door)/$25(adv)/$20(sr/arts workers adv). Post-concert reception.
Ten young singers in a program of opera and oratorio arias. They had previously participated in a full-day “Encounter” with soprano Adrianne Pieczonka. The singers are Tonia Cianciulli, Jocelyn Fralick, Beth Hagerman, Teiya Kasahara, Kathleen Promane, Sara Schabas, Gwenna Fairchild-Taylor, sopranos; Georgia Burashko, mezzo; Zachary Rioux and John-Michael Scapin, tenors. The pianist is Rachel Andrist. A post-concert reception celebrating IRCPA’s 35th-anniversary. | Details
Wednesday 7
Canadian Opera Company | Jazz Series: Moderne Frau.5:30 p.m. Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre, 145 Queen St. W. Free. Note the late afternoon start time.
Jazz vocalist Adi Braun and her ensemble perform selections from her CD, Moderne Frau. Braun is a former operatic mezzo, the daughter of late Canadian baritone Victor Braun and sister of baritone Russell Braun. Besides being a terrific jazz singer, Adi Braun teaches German art song at the Royal Conservatory, and is German diction coach at the COC. | Details
Thursday 8
Women’s Musical Club of Toronto | Music in the Afternoon. 1:30 p.m. Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building, University of Toronto, 80 Queen’s Park Crescent. $45.
Dutch baritone Thomas Oliemans makes his Toronto debut in this innovative program where two famous song cycles, Schuman’s Liederkreis and Brahms’ Die schone Magelone, are interwoven to tell an interesting story. Malcolm Martineau is the collaborative pianist. This recital requires preparation, and reading Oliemans’ program notes will be extremely helpful (PDF). | Listing
Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Britten: War Requiem. 8 p.m. Roy Thomson Hall. $35.50-$131.75. Repeats Nov. 10 8 p.m.
Given Remembrance Day is this week, the TSO is programming Britten’s War Requiem to mark the occasion, with Russian soprano Tatiana Pavlovskaya, English tenor Toby Spence, and Canadian baritone Russell Braun. Bramwell Tovey conducts. Choral forces supplied by the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and Toronto Children’s Chorus. Not to be missed. | Listing
Tafelmusik | Steffani: Drama & Devotion 8 p.m. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor St. W. $30-$99. Repeats Nov. 9 & 10 at 8 p.m., Nov. 11 at 3:30 p.m.
This concert features the sacred and secular works by a forgotten Baroque composer, Agostino Steffani. On the program are his Stabat Mater, and arias from Henrico Leone, Tassilone, and Niobe. Mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabo is joined by the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir. Ivars Taurins directs the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. | Listing
Friday 9
Opera by Request | Pique Dame. 7:30 p.m. College St. United Church, 452 College St. $20
Given that Toronto audiences have just experienced a staged Eugene Onegin, it’ll be interesting to hear Tchaikovsky’s other popular work, Pique Dame, albeit in a more modest scale, in concert with piano accompaniment. Soloists are Paul Williamson, tenor (Gherman); Anush Pasishnik, soprano (Lisa); Anna Belikova, mezzo (Old Countess); Yevgeny Yablonovsky, baritone (Tomsky); Andrey Andreychik, and baritone (Yeletsky). William Shookhoff, piano. College St. United Church, 452 College St. | Listing
Royal Conservatory of Music | Hilary Hahn. 8 p.m. Koerner Hall, Telus Centre, 273 Bloor St. W. $45-$100. Sold Out.
Violinist Hilary Hahn returns to Toronto for an all-Bach program – Sonata No.2 for Solo Violin in a BWV1003; Partita No.3 for Solo Violin in E BWV1006; Sonata No.3 for Solo Violin in C BWV1005. Pre-concert talk at 7 p.m. It is listed as sold out, but do call the box office for same-day returns. | Listing
Saturday 10
Met Opera Live in HD/ Cineplex | Marnie. 12:55 p.m. Select Cineplex Cinemas in the GTA. $28/$27(sr) Encores on Jan. 26, 28, 30, Fe. 17.
Marnie is American composer Nico Muhly’s second opera at the Met, following his Two Boys which was staged there in 2014. Based on a novel by Winston Graham, it stars mezzo Isabel Leonard in the title role, opposite British baritone Christopher Maltman. Robert Spano conducts. | Details
National Ballet of Canada | Anna Karenina. 7:30 p.m. Four Seasons Centre, 145 Queen St. W. $71-$265. Repeats Sunday, Nov. 11 2 p.m., plus eight additional performances running to Sunday, Nov. 18.
The National’s new season opens with a North American premiere – Anna Karenina by famed choreographer John Neumeier, loosely based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy, but set in present day. It contains music by Tchaikovsky but also Alfred Schnittke and Cat Stevens! | Listing
Sunday 11
Royal Conservatory of Music | Songmasters Series: L’invitation au voyage. 2 p.m. Mazzoleni Hall, Royal Conservatory, 273 Bloor St. W. $30
Two excellent Canadian singers, soprano Joyce El-Khoury and mezzo Beste Kalender, join forces in a recital of songs by Ravel, Duparc, Debussy and others. For some reason, the RCM website makes no mention a pianist (as of Nov. 1)! | Listing
Elmer Iseler Singers/Toronto Children’s Chorus | We Remember. 7:30 p.m. George Weston Recital Hall, 5040 Yonge St. $40/$35(sr)/$15(st).
The Elmer Iseler Singers’ 40th Anniversary Season opens with We Remember, a concert commemorating the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, conducted by Lydia Adams. They are joined by the Toronto Children’s Chorus (Elise Bradley, conductor) and the Toronto Youth Choir, singing works of war and peace, including a world premiere of WWI popular songs arranged by Stuart Calvert. | Listing
