This is a list of concerts we are attending, wishing we could attend, or thinking about attending between March 25 and 31, 2024. For more of what’s happening around Toronto, visit our calendar here.
Orpheus Choir of Toronto: Poulenc Gloria and Other French Masterworks
Monday, Mar. 25, 12 p.m.
Roy Thomson Hall. Free, tickets required.
Sixty voices with director Thomas Burton presents a mixture of French, Canadian, and Haitian masterworks, including selections from Poulenc’s Gloria. Poulenc’s audacity to add plenty of humour to such revered text has enraged many, yet the contrast between sacred serenity and borderline banality makes his Gloria one of the most celebrated of choral works. This a great chance to further explore Poulenc’s music, if you were awed by the recent production of the Dialogues des Carmélites at Koerner Hall: if you missed it, more reason to make it to this free noon concert at Roy Thomson Hall. Organists Stephen Boda and Vlad Soloviev will provide the lush harmony from the Gabriel Kney pipe organ, Op. 95. Info here.
Canadian Opera Company: Opera Atelier: All is Love
Tuesday, Mar. 26, 12 p.m.
Richard Bernard Shaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons for the Performing Arts. Free.
In anticipation of April 2024 performances at Koerner, Opera Atelier presents a noon-concert teaser: costumed excerpts of ‘All is Love.’ A blend of singing, ballet, and orchestral music, this production was created specifically for Measha Brueggergosman-Lee, and is certainly a change of pace from Opera Atelier. Info here.
Royal Conservatory of Music: Rebanks Family Fellowship Concert, Royal Conservatory of Music
Wednesday, Mar. 27, 7:30 p.m.
Mazzoleni Concert Hall. Free, tickets required
Rebanks Family Fellowship and International Performance Residency Program at The Royal Conservatory of Music serves young artists in the early developmental stage of their careers. In this particular program, current and past Rebanks fellows ranging from string, voice, and piano, present a mixed program heavily focused on voice, ranging from Bach cantatas to Irving Berlin and Bernstein; the program also includes the rarely heard Dvořák’s ‘Drobnosti’ for 2 violins and viola, and Saint-Saëns’ crowd rouser: Introduction et Rondo capriccioso. Info here.
Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Sibelius Symphony No. 2
Wednesday, Mar. 27, 8 p.m., Thursday, Mar. 28, 8 p.m.
Roy Thomson Hall. $35+
Osmo Vänskä returns to Toronto to conduct a Finnish-German program of Peer Gynt Suite, a new cello concerto by Detlev Glanert (a TSO co-commission), and the much loved Sibelius 2. Well-known for his drive for musical excellence and philosophical stance for music in wider society, Vänskä is always championing underrepresented composers, constantly challenging audiences and musicians alike. Cellist Johannes Moser is also deeply committed to expanding the classical cello repertoire, making this North American première of Detlev Glanert’s cello concerto a golden opportunity to experience new, and old favourites. Read our Interview with Detlev Glanert here. Info here.
Esprit Orchestra: Violinissimo II
Thursday, Mar. 28, 8 p.m.
Koerner Hall. $25+
Alex Pauk, Esprit Orchestra, and Mark Fewer bring two incredible contemporary works for the violin in an ensemble setting: Max Richter: The Four Seasons Recomposed, and György Ligeti’s violin concerto. Ligeti wrote 4 concertos: Cello Concerto (1966), Chamber Concerto for 13 Instrumentalists (1970), Piano Concerto (1988), and Violin Concerto (1992). The last one of the series, this particular concerto makes hard demands from the players — microtonal scordatura and specific tunings for the strings, and doubling on non-standard symphony instruments, including a quartet of ocarinas. Richter’s The Four Seasons Recomposed, perhaps the composer’s best-known work, is astonishingly fresh and familiar simultaneously. A small break between the big works is Continuum (1968), where keyboardist Wesley Shen takes the audience through Ligeti’s playful experiments with contrasting concepts of fast, smallest pulsations vs. continuous wash of sound. Fascinating programming. Info here.
University of Toronto Global Musics Ensembles: University of Toronto Klezmer Ensemble and University of Toronto Japanese Drumming Ensemble
Thursday, Mar. 28, 7:30 p.m.,
Walter Hall, Faculty of Music, 80 Queen’s Park, Free.
Toronto’s cultural richness makes so many things possible and accessible. Directors Brian Katz and Kiyoshi Nagata, present a free evening concert of Klezmer music and Japanese Taiko drumming. You may have experienced live Taiko drumming as Kiyoshi’s ensemble, ‘Nagata Shachu’, is a regular fixture in Toronto’s world music scene. Novices, be sure to bring some earplugs, as thundering Taiko drumming really is a physical experience. Brian Katz’s Klezmer ensemble, with its characteristic wistfulness and humour, promises a rich contrast. Info here.
Music Toronto: St. Lawrence & Friends
Thursday, Mar. 28, 8 p.m.
Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, $10+
St. Lawrence quartet post-Geoff Nuttall: Christopher Costanza (cello), Lesley Robertson (viola), and Owen Dalby (violin), join long-time collaborators Stephen Prutsman (piano) and Joel Quarrington (bass), in a program of strings and piano music, with duet by Lili Boulanger, then a trio of Antonio Maria Valencia, onto a Mozart quartet, to finish with Vaughan Williams’s quintet. Info here.
Music at Met: Bach: St. Mark Passion
Friday, Mar. 29, 7:30 p.m.
Metropolitan United Church, 56 Queen St. East. $17+
Robert Koolstra’s 2017 reconstruction of St. Markus Passion, BWV 247, receives its second Canadian performance on Good Friday by the Met Baroque Orchestra and Festival Choir, under the direction of Jonathan Oldengarm. Philippe Gagné will sing the role of Evangelist, and Clarence Frazer will sing the role of Jesus. There will be a pre-concert talk about this fascinating work — one of three passions that were lost after Bach’s death. 6:30 p.m., followed by the concert at 7:30 p.m. Read our Preview here. Info here.
TO Live: Jazz at Lincoln Centre Presents: Sing & Swing featuring Bria Skonberg & Benny Benack III
Saturday, Mar. 30, 8 p.m.
George Weston Recital Hall, Meridian Arts Centre. $40+
A touring project from Jazz at Lincoln Centre Presents, Sing & Swing features music of the swing era, including tunes of Gershwin, Ellington, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin. Young and fearless, and armed with plenty of technical mastery and stylistic sensibility, this small ensemble of Bria Skonberg and Benny Benack III, co-directors proficient on both trumpet and vocals, and Jocelyn Gould (guitar), Jon Thomas (piano), Charles Goold (drums) and Mark Lewandowski (bass), promises a trip back to the past. Info here.
#LUDWIGVAN
Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.
Sign up for the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! — local classical music and opera news straight to your inbox
HERE.
- CRITIC’S PICKS | Classical Music Events You Absolutely Need To See This Week: April 22 – April 28 - April 22, 2024
- CRITIC’S PICKS | Classical Music Events You Absolutely Need To See This Week: April 15 – April 21 - April 15, 2024
- SCRUTINY | Laurie Anderson Entrances A Sold-Out Koerner Hall With A Journey Down The Rabbit Hole - April 8, 2024
