This is a list of concerts we are attending, wishing we could attend, or thinking about attending between February 24 and March 2, 2025. For more of what’s happening around Toronto, visit our calendar here.
Canadian Opera Company: Showcase Series: Son Cubano
Wednesday, February 26, Noon
Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre, Free with registration
As this winter drags on a bit, give yourself a hint of spring for the remaining steps through the snow with beautiful music from Cuban native Roberto Linares Brown and Combo 76. Since the 1990s, thanks to the record label Putomayo, and supergroups such as Buena Vista Social Club, Cuban music has reached the mainstream, and it remains as one of the most loved genres of music for all. In this concert, various styles of this infectious music from Son montuno, Guajira, Cha-cha-chá, Bolero, Traditional Trova, and Guaracha, will fill out this beautiful noon hour. Come and remind yourself that sunshine isn’t too far away, and that despite the terrible situation Cuba has been in for decades, music continues to flow from their hearts — and that we are so lucky to be graced with their songs. Info here.
Toronto Symphony Orchestra: Holst’s The Planets
Wednesday, February 26, Thursday, February 27, Saturday, March 1, all concerts starts at 8 p.m.
Roy Thomson Hall, $30+
Thomas Adès, one of the best musicians of our time, makes his TSO debut this week. Adès, as a composer, is always reaching to the outer extremities of what may be possible — his music is never easy, yet, his mastery of drive, rhythm, and use of time and space, is truly an experience. As a conductor, he’s been busy working all over the world with the best orchestras — it is a quite exciting opportunity to see Adès as both conductor and composer. Kirill Gerstein will bring the piano concerto to life — a fiendishly difficult work full of bursting beauty (think Kandinsky) — along with an orchestra work, ‘Paradiso’ from the ballet Dante. It would be interesting to see how the TSO rises to the challenge of this weirdly beautiful, masterminded chaos of Adès. Holst’s Planets with well-honed Soundstreams Choir 21, will be a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Info here.
Trinity Bach Project: Bach & Passages
Thursday, February 27, 1 p.m. Trinity College Chapel, 6 Hoskin Ave;
Saturday, March 1, 8 p.m. St. Matthew’s Anglican Church Riverdale, 135 First Ave.
Thursday concert open to public, Saturday concert $10+, with gratis tickets available through request.
The joyful wedding cantata BWV 196 Der Herr denket an uns: “The Lord thinks of us,” will be contrasted with the sombre funeral cantata BWV 106 Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit: “God’s time is the very best time”, centring this program, along with a cappella works of Monterverdi, James MacMillan, and William Harris. This little ensemble is a true powerhouse. Their superb musicianship, and the variety they create with additional musicians, always gives the audience concerts of great finesse through repertoire that we know and love, along with a few new things to stretch your ears. Their focus on making live music accessible to all is another great appreciation point — it is not always easy to find a way to experience high-calibre music when the cost of some tickets can be so high. Here, go and experience the beauty they present without worries — after all, with Bach’s contemplation on marriage and death, what else do we have to worry about? If you miss it this week, you can mark two more dates: March 15 in West Toronto, and March 23 in Oakville. Info here.
Faculty of Music, University of Toronto: Thierry Escaich Organ Recital
Friday, February 28, 7:30 p.m.
St. Basil’s Catholic Parish, 50 St. Joseph’s St. Free.
The French know how to make organs special. The illustrious list of French composer-organists, in addition to their sharply honed organ improvisation tradition, is simply impressive, including: Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns, Charles-Marie Widor, Louis Vierne, Maurice Duruflé, and Olivier Messiaen — the list goes on. Escaich, recently appointed as one of the four titular organists of the Notre Dame of Paris, joining the ranks with the amazing Olivier Latry, Vincent Dubois, and Thibault Fajoles, is a major force in the French contemporary scene. His works have been featured by many A-class orchestras, including Philadelphia and the Orchestre de Paris, as well as smaller chamber works performed by the BBC Singers, the Capuçon brothers — he is an extraordinarily talented man. It is a true gift from the France-Canada Distinguished Visitor in Music program, to create a free concert to hear amazing Escaich — come and experience the earth shake and the walls resonate in the beautiful church of St. Basil’s. The organ, one of the oldest instruments, thought to carry God’s voice through the breath and wind, is no shy instrument, and under the hands of Escaich, with a brain size of the planet, this will be an extraordinary event. Info here.
Royal Conservatory of Music: Pierre-Laurent Aimard
Friday, Feburary 28, 8 p.m.
Koerner Hall, $50+
Aimard, whose Ligeti etudes recording instantaneously became a standard reference, comes to Koerner. Renowned for his sharp mind for complex music, Aimard brings a program largely centred on Pierre Boulez, along with Schoenberg, Webern, Debussy, and Beethoven. It’s rare to see Boulez’s music live — and it’s lovely that Aimard is bringing loads of it: 12 notations pour piano, and the first and third sonata. Come and see Aimard navigate magic of Boulez — as a conductor, Boulez’s attention to registral timbre difference and rhythmic accuracy was legendary. To hear this man’s thoughts through the piano, a percussive instrument with a wide range, will be a real treat. The works of Schoenberg and Webern are true masterpieces — crystalline, decisive, and simply beautiful. It is a skill to make atonal music speak so easy to us mere mortals, and these two composers do exactly that. Come and see how we look at the piano now — from the modern perspective, with a lovely reference to the past. Read our Preview here. Info here.
Tallis Choir: Victoria: Tenebrae of Good Friday
Saturday, March 1, 7:30 p.m.
St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, 131 McCaul St., $10+
In anticipation of Mardi Gras (Tuesday, March 4 this year), and the following season of Lent on the subject of the death and resurrection of Christ, Renaissance-focused Tallis Choir brings the lugubrious music of Victoria. Tomás Luis de Victoria, the most famous Renaissance Spanish composer, bizarrely, is rarely performed. His mastery of polyphony and sensitivity to the Latin text shines brilliantly in this amazing work: Officium Hebdomodae Sanctae, and in the bustle of everything that is going around us — the snap election, noise about nationalism and border war, the suffering of the poor — perhaps what we need is a quiet point of reflection in St. Patrick’s, a solace in the bustle of downtown. Info here.
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