On September 29, Toronto’s Apocryphonia and Syrinx Concerts are presenting Sing To Me Again, a dive into rarely heard works by Eastern European and Soviet composers. The concert at Heliconian Hall is part of Apocryphonia’s Third Cycle of Musical Revelations, or a continuation of the organization’s mandate to explore the unexplored when it comes to repertoire.
Their concerts are typically a good reason to learn about new works, and Sing To Me Again is no exception.
After an opening set of vocal music, performed by Dr. John Holland (baritone), Alexander Cappellazzo (tenor), and pianist Ivan Jovanovic, the Fierbois duo will play a curated selection of vocal-like and dance music written for oboe and piano.
Fierbois’ oboist, Caitlin Broms-Jacobs, created new arrangements of works that feature the influence of folk music, along with non-Western tonality, rich melodies, and emotional delivery. The duo is rounded out by award winning pianist Madeline Hildebrand.
Program: Composers & Performers
Here’s a closer look at the composers and performers. Many of the composers lived with restrictions to their artistic work under oppressive regimes. During the first half of the 20th century, Western composers began to break apart the confines of traditional structures and tonality, resulting in entirely new movements in music such as minimalism and more.
In Eastern Europe, however, such experimentation was not acceptable, and composers were limited to more traditional idioms, often in the name of nationalism. Artists who were Jewish, women, and many others living under Soviet rule, in particular, were largely excluded from public life.
Songs: First Half
Composer Gayane Chebotarian (1918-1998) and poet Hovhannes Shiraz (1914-1984): просто мать (Just a Mother)
Gayane Chebotarian, who lived under the Soviet regime, had two strikes against her: she was a woman, and an Armenian. Despite the lack of opportunity for public performance, however, she left a captivating body of work as yet to be discovered by most people. Born in Russia, she graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory. Along with her compositions, she became a well known educator in Armenia, and taught at the Yerevan State Conservatory.
- Composer Fikret Amirov (1922-1984) and poet Nizami Ganjavi (1141–1209): Gülüm (My Rose)
The Azerbaijani and later Soviet composer Fikret Amirov followed his father’s footsteps into music, despite the death of his parent at age six, and subsequent financial difficulties. He began composing music as an adolescent, but was drafted into the Soviet army when the German army attacked the USSR in 1941. After being wounded, however, he was able to continue his music studies. His compositions are influenced by Azeri folk music, and he created the symphonic mugam genre, based on classical folk pieces.
- Composer Pavel Haas (1899-1944) and poet Wang Wei (699-761): V bambusovém háji (In the Bamboo Grove) from 4 Pisne na slova cinske poezie (4 Songs on Chinese Poetry)
Pavel Haas was a Czech composer, a follower of Leoš Janáček’s school of composition. His career, and life, were cut short by the Second World War and Nazi oppression. His oboe suite, which he’d originally written for voice and piano in 1939, was revised for oboe out of a real fear for his safety. Haas was later imprisoned, and died in the Auschwitz concentration camp.
- Georgi Zlatev-Cherkin (1905-1977): Вечерен Час (Night Hour)
Bulgarian composer Georgi Zlatev-Cherkin graduated from the State Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in Vienna in 1929, and went on to teach at the State Academy in Bulgaria, where he became the Dean of Opera Studies Faculty from 1960 to 1974. He composed more 50 solo songs, along with other vocal and chamber music works.
- Composer Srul Irving Glick (1934-2002) and poet Kenneth Patchen (1911-1972): We Must Be Slow from Two Landscapes
Srul Irving Glick was a Canadian composer and radio producer whose work is under-performed in his own country. The Toronto native studied at the Royal Conservatory of Toronto, and then the University of Toronto, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s and later Master’s of Music. He would go on to teach at the Royal Conservatory and York University. The prolific composer was awarded the Yuvel Award in 2000 by The Cantor’s Assembly of America.
- Composer Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915-1940) and poet Fráňa Velkoborský (1900-1958): Leta mlci leta jdou (The years pass in silence) from Vteriny (Seconds) op. 18
- Composer Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915-1940) and poet Viktor Kripner (1906-1956): Polohlasem (‘Under one’s breath) from Zpíváno do dálky (Sung into the distance)
Czech composer and conductor Vítězslava Kaprálová conducted the Czech Philharmonic by the age of 22, and added the BBC Phil to her resume a year later. Despite her untimely death at the age of 25 by possibly misdiagnosed illness, she left an impressive body of work.
Performers
Dr. John Holland, Bass-Baritone, is a musicologist and opera singer. He founded the Canadian Institute for Czech Music in 2013, and maintains a busy career performing opera, oratorio, and art song. In 2020, John won a JUNO award as a member of the Ottawa Bach Choir. His operatic credits are extensive, and include Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Leporello and Masetto in Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre in Prague, and Vodník in Rusalka in the Czech Republic, among many others. John is also known as a respected lecturer, scholar, and writer in the area of Czech music.
Tenor Alexander Cappellazzo was, as he says, born on the auspicious Feast Day of Bach, Handel and Purcell. With a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Vocal Performance and Opera from Montreal’s McGill University, he has become a fixture in Toronto’s music scene. He is a frequent performer in a wide variety of roles and ensembles, including VOICEBOX: Opera In Concert, Toronto City Opera, Toronto Operetta Theatre, Opera By Request, the Ashkenaz Festival, and multiple choirs – among others.
He founded Apocryphonia and the Diapente Renaissance Vocal Quintet, both dedicated to live performances of rare and underperformed classical music. Their revelations have includes unexpected treasures such as Renaissance Mexican Christmas music and Norfolk sailor songs.
Pianist Ivan Estey Jovanovic began to study the piano in his native Serbia at the Belgrade Faculty of Music. There, he earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in piano performance, and went on to a position as a répétiteur and concert pianist with the Belgrade Opera Orchestra. In 2013, he came to Toronto to complete a Master’s degree in Collaborative Piano at the University of Toronto, earning the Gwendolyn Williams Koldofsky Prize in Accompanying the same year.
Ivan is a regular vocal coach and harpsichordist in UofT’s Early Music Department, along with his work as an accompanist at Toronto City Opera, where he became the Music Director in 2017.
Fierbois Duo
Fierbois is Caitlin Broms-Jacobs, oboe and Madeline Hildebrand, piano, a duo that takes its name from the sword wielded by Joan of Arc. Joan only used the sword to inspire, never to cause harm. The duo has been active since they met at a recital series in Winnipeg in 2014. Since then, the pair have performed across Canada, combining technical skill with dynamic performance.
Caitlin is the principal oboist of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. She also performs frequently wth the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as a guest oboist. Madeline, a recent graduate of Stony Brook University, has performed with Philip Glass and the Kronos quartet, along with solo concerts across North America and Europe. She currently teaches at Brandon University and Canadian Mennonite University.
Second Half Program
- Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915-1940): Jitro from Dvė Písnė Op. 4 & April Preludes
- Srul Irving Glick (1934-2002): Suite Hebraïque no. 6
- Georgi Zlatev-Cherkin (1905-1977): Sevdana
- Pavel Haas (1899-1944): Suite for Oboe and Piano
- Fikret Amirov (1922-1984): Selections from 6 Stücke für Flöte und Klavier
- Gayane Chebotaryan (1918-1998): Six Preludes (arr. Caitlin Broms-Jacobs)
Srul Irving Gluck composed his Suite Hebraïque No. 6 as a commission for a couple’s 25th anniversary. The performance features an all-new arrangement for oboe and piano.
Bulgarian composer Georgy Zlatev-Cherkin wrote his romantic work Sevdana inspired by the story of a lost love of the his grandfather’s.
Details
At the end of each concert, Syrinx invites the audience to a post-concert reception, offering an
opportunity to mingle, as well as to meet the performers.
The concert is supported by the Canadian Institute for Czech Music as part of its Year of Czech
Music celebrations.
- Works by: Vítězslava Kaprálová, Srul Irving Glick, Georgi Zlatev-Cherkin, Pavel Haas, Fikret Amirov, Gayane Chebotarian
- Poetry by: Hovhannes Shiraz, Nizami Ganjavi, Wang Wei, Kenneth Patchen, Fráňa Velkoborský, Viktor Kripner.
Find more details, and tickets, for the PWYC concert on September 29 [HERE].
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