This is a list of amazing concerts we are attending, wishing we could attend, or thinking about attending between Oct. 10 – 16, 2022. For more details on what’s happening around Toronto, visit our calendar here.

VOCES8/Theatre of Early Music

? Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m. at  St. James Cathedral.
? LINK
? $40+

St. James Cathedral is the appropriate setting for a concert by the noted British a cappella octet. On the program are luminous motets from the Renaissance (Byrd, Gibbons, Monteverdi, Palestrina, Victoria) through more recent times (Elgar, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff). Choristers from Daniel Taylor’s Theatre of Early Music pitch in on three selections, including Sir Hubert Parry’s I was glad. More info here.

Toronto Symphony Orchestra/Yefim Bronfman

? Wednesday, Oct. 12, 8 p.m. (repeats Friday, Oct. 14 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 15 at 8 p.m.). Roy Thomson Hall.
? LINK
? $35+

The Israeli-American veteran is the soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Gustavo Gimeno on the podium. Also heard are short works by Unsuk Chin and Christina Volpini, Haydn’s Symphony No. 39, the ethereal Prelude to Act 1 Wagner’s Lohengrin and Ligeti’s evocative Atmosphères (of 2001: A Space Odyssey fame). More info here.

Steven Isserlis/Connie Shih

? Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 7:30 p.m. Walter Hall.
? LINK
? $40 ($25 seniors, $10 students)

The established English cellist plays Hahn, Fauré (Sonata No. 2), Adès, Schumann (Introduction and Allegro) and Brahms (Sonata Op. 99). Connie Shih is the pianist. Info here.

Pacifica Quartet/Music Toronto

? Thursday, Oct. 13 at 8 p.m. Jane Mallett Theatre.
? LINK
? $47.50+ (students $10, accompanying non-student half price, 18-35 pay your age).

Familiar from recordings on Naxos, the quartet-in-residence at Indiana University brings a mostly American program of Florence Price (Quartet No. 1), Frederick Tills (spirituals), Sean Shepherd (the recently premiered String Quartet No. 3) and Dvorak (Op. 105) to the St. Lawrence Centre. Info here.

Carmen/Canadian Opera Company

? Friday, Oct. 14 at 7:30 p.m. (repeats Sunday, Oct. 16 at 2 p.m.). Four Seasons Centre.
? LINK
? $44+

Bizet’s hit returns in the COC’s 2005 production, which updates the action to the mid-20th century and transports it from Seville to a Latin republic. The much-admired American mezzo J’Nai Bridges takes the title role; her estimable Canadian counterpart Rihab Chaieb plays the temptress next week. Argentine tenor Marcelo Puente is Don José. Joel Ivany directs and Jacques Lacombe conducts. Note also repeat performances of The Flying Dutchman on Oct. 13 and 15. Info here.

Élysée Quartet/Alliance française

? Friday Oct. 14 at 8 p.m. Alliance française Spadina Theatre.
? LINK
? $30

Billed as blending French and Russian styles, this Paris-based string quartet plays Beethoven (Op. 18 No. 4), Rachmaninoff (the youthful and unfinished Quartet No. 2), Puccini (Crisantemi) and Debussy (Op. 10) at the local chapter of the Alliance française. Info here.

Jan Lisiecki/Orpheus Chamber Orchestra/RCM

? Saturday, Oct. 15 at 8 p.m. Koerner Hall.
? LINK
? $75+

The Calgarian pianist joins forces with the well-known (and conductorless) American orchestra in a program of Haydn (Symphony No. 77) and Mozart (Piano Concerto No. 9 and Symphony No. 33). This is an RCM gala with prices to match. Full details here.

Marc-André Hamelin/RCM

? Sunday, Oct. 16 at 3 p.m. Koerner Hall.
? LINK
? $45+

The Canadian virtuoso visits with an offbeat program of Dukas (Piano Sonata), Fauré (Barcarolles and Nocturnes), his own Suite à l’ancienne and the premiere of a work by the Canadian “plunderphonics” practitioner John Oswald. Info here.

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Arthur Kaptainis

Arthur Kaptainis was classical music critic of the Montreal Gazette from 1986 to 2022 and wrote for the National Post from 2010 to 2016. His articles appear in Classical Voice North America and Gramophone as well as Ludwig Van. Arthur holds an MA in musicology from the University of Toronto. He is president of the Music Critics Association of North America.

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