Critic's Picks Oct 7-13

Classical music and opera events happening in and around Toronto for the week of October 7 – 13.

Critic’s Picks (Oct. 7 – 13)

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 7

Stereo Live Presents |The Rosebud String Quartet. 8 p.m. Campbell House Museum, 160 Queen St. W., Toronto. $25 ($27.24 with service fee)

The Rosebud String Quartet (violinists Aaron Schwebel and Sheila Jaffe; violist Keith Hamm; cellist Leana Rutt) plays a program of Haydn String Quartet in B-flat major, opus 76 no. 4, “Sunrise;” Schulhoff Five Pieces for String Quartet; Puccini I Crisantemi for String Quartet; Britten String Quartet No. 1 in D major. | Details

Tuesday 8

Canadian Opera Company | Vocal Series: Parlami d’Amore: Speak to Me of Love. 12 p.m. Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W. Free. Arrive early to secure a seat.

Led by co-directors Sandra Horst and Michael Patrick Albano, the Opera Division at the University of Toronto presents Parlami d’amore (Speak to me of Love), drawing upon three centuries of operatic repertoire, and exploring aspects of love promised, fulfilled, and betrayed. | Details

Wednesday 9

Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Gimeno Conducts Daphnis et Chloé. 8 p.m. Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St. $41-$154. Repeats Oct. 10 & 12. Check website for details.

The TSO’s incoming Music Director Gustavo Gimeno conducts Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé and Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 with pianist Beatrice Rana. Rounding out the evening is Tchaikovsky The Tempest Fantasy-Overture and a TSO Co-commission by Guillaume Connesson. | Details

Thursday 10

Canadian Opera Company | Chamber Music Series: Debussy Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp. 12 p.m. Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W. Free. Arrive early to secure a seat.

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra Chamber Soloists play a program of works centered on the Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp by Claude Debussy. Details unavailable at press time. | Details

The Piano Lunaire | Aaron Copland: The Music Within. 7:30 p.m. 918 Bathurst Centre for Culture, Arts, Media and Education, 918 Bathurst St. $25/$20(sr)/$15(st).

Pianist-composer Adam Sherkin plays Sherkin: Prelude: The Music Within (world premiere); Copland: Piano Fantasy (1955-57); and Sherkin: Postlude The Music Beyond (world premiere). This concert is part of a tour that includes Buffalo, Toronto, and New York City. | Details

Tafelmusik | Haus Musik: Café Counterculture – 1730 Leipzig to 1960 Yorkville. 8:30 p.m. Burdock Music Hall, 1184 Bloor St. W. $20(adv)/$25(at door).

In this first Haus Musik concert of the season, members of Tafelmusik (Marco Cera, oboe; Elisa Citterio, violin; Dominic Teresi, bassoon; Charlotte Nediger, harpsichord) present sonatas by Bach plus new arrangements of iconic songs by Buffy Saint-Marie, Joni Mitchell, Simon and Garfunkel, and others. Curated with guest artists Andrew Downing (double bass, arranger) and Alex Samaras (vocals). | Details

Friday 11

Neil Crory’s Musical Colleagues and Friends| The Neil Crory Tribute Concert 7 p.m. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor St. W. $60 General Seating (all proceeds to support the Neil F. Crory Endowment Fund). Special pre-concert chat with Robert Harris at 6 p.m.

Neil Crory (1950-2019) was a music producer at the CBC and his work has nurtured the development of many Canadian classical music artists. This Neil Crory Tribute Concert celebrates his passion for music and the human voice, and all proceeds to the Neil F. Crory Endowment Fund to support young singers enrolled in the Stratford Summer Music Vocal Academy. Artists to perform include Phillip Addis, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Isaiah Bell, Benjamin Butterfield, Tracy Dahl, Nathalie Paulin, Brett Polegato, Jean Stilwell, Krisztina Szabó, Daniel Taylor, Erin Wall, Monica Whicher, as well as alumnae of the Stratford Summer Music Vocal Academy. | Details

Against the Grain Theatre |La bohème. 8 p.m. Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Ave. $25-$40. Ten more performances to Oct. 25. Details

The show that started it all at Against the Grain Theatre, Puccini’s La bohème, returns to Toronto. Marcel D’entremont, tenor (Rodolfo); Jonelle Sills, soprano (Mimì); Clarence Frazer, baritone (Marcello); Danika Lorèn, soprano (Musetta); Andrew Aldridge, baritone (Schaunard); Giles Tomkins, bass-baritone (Colline); Greg Finney, baritone (Benoît/Alcindoro); Joel Ivany, stage director; David Eliakis, music director/piano. | Details

Saturday 12

Cineplex Canada |Met Live in HD: Turandot 12:55 p.m. Select Cineplex cinemas. $28.

The new Met Live in HD season is here! And by sheer coincidence, it opens with the same opera that is currently showing at the COC, Puccini’s Turandot. The two productions can’t be more different. COC’s Robert Wilson production is minimalist in aesthetic, while the Met’s Zeffirelli production is likely to give the audience visual overload – the choice is yours! Canada’s Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts. Christine Goerke (Turandot), Eleonora Buratto (Liù), Yusif Eyvazof (Calàf), James Morris (Timur). | Details

Canadian Opera Company | Rusalka 7:30 p.m. Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W. $45-$350. Eight more performances to October 27. Start times vary.

Antonin Dvořák’s most popular opera, Rusalka, returns to the COC in a production by David McVicar. It stars soprano Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role. Tenor Pavel Černoch is the Prince, bass Stefan Kocan is Vodnik, mezzo Elena Manistina is Jezibaba, and soprano Keri Alkema is the Foreign Princess. COC Music Director Johannes Debus conducts. | Details

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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).

CRITIC'S PICKS | 10 Concerts You Absolutely Need To See In Toronto This Week (Oct. 7 – 13)