Past Events › Period ensemble

Elisa Citterio, Cristina Zacharias violins Brandon Chui viola Christina Mahler, Allen Whear violoncellos The French violinist Cartier once wrote, “If God wished to speak to man through music, he would choose Haydn. If he wanted to listen to the music himself, he would choose Boccherini.” The virtuoso cellist Luigi Boccherini was one of the most sensual composers of the eighteenth century, exploiting the colours and textures of string instruments and imbuing them with the flavour of Spain, where he worked for the Infante Don Luis.…

Elisa Citterio, Cristina Zacharias violins Brandon Chui viola Christina Mahler, Allen Whear violoncellos The French violinist Cartier once wrote, “If God wished to speak to man through music, he would choose Haydn. If he wanted to listen to the music himself, he would choose Boccherini.” The virtuoso cellist Luigi Boccherini was one of the most sensual composers of the eighteenth century, exploiting the colours and textures of string instruments and imbuing them with the flavour of Spain, where he worked for the Infante Don Luis.…

Behold the glorious sights and sounds of 17th-century Rome! Our season kicks off in the musical world of one of Italy’s most celebrated early Baroque luminaries, Girolamo Frescobaldi. Let his music and that of Palestrina, Landi, and Caroso wash over you as images of Rome’s glittering treasures delight. This multi-media event features dazzling arias, improvisation on bass lines, and florid ornamentation of canzonas, early sonatas, and sacred works for archlute, voices, chamber organ, recorder, and hurdy-gurdy.

One of Toronto’s beloved Christmas traditions returns! Singers, violins, cornetti, sackbuts, theorbos and keyboards grace the balconies and stage, as we recreate the joy of Christmas Vespers as it might have been heard under the direction of Michael Praetorius in 17th-century Germany. In the spirit of the season, the audience and Consort join musical forces in singing favourite early Christmas carols. A sell-out in previous seasons, this is a yuletide celebration not to be missed!

Tafelmusik’s popular chamber series returns to Temerty Theatre in the TELUS Centre. This season, we will transport you to three 18th-century European cafés to enjoy the musical delights offered there. Springtime in Paris! In March we may still be shivering in Toronto, but let us transport you to the warm embrace of a Parisian café to enjoy an afternoon of musical delights. Baroque Paris saw the establishment of the café chantant (home of the French chanson) and of the café-concert, where patrons might hear…

Masaaki Suzuki, guest director Hannah Morrison, soprano Terry Wey, countertenor James Gilchrist, tenor/Evangelist Stephan MacLeod, bass-baritone/Jesus Tyler Duncan, baritone Tafelmusik Chamber Choir Members of the Toronto Children’s Chorus World-renowned Bach specialist Masaaki Suzuki directs the composer’s iconic masterpiece. In a standout highlight of this anniversary season, Masaaki Suzuki, multi-award-winning conductor and founder of the Bach Collegium Japan, makes his Tafelmusik debut conducting one of Western culture’s most iconic masterpieces: Bach’s St Matthew Passion. Bach’s musical telling of Christ’s final hours is…

The incredible flourishing of musical styles in the middle of the 18th century was due in no small part to composers travelling from their native countries to new lands. In many cases, they proved to be more popular abroad than back home! This concert is an exploration of gallant music written by composers who settled far from home. Among these are Johann Christoph Bach, who enjoyed a successful career in England as “the London Bach.” The Silesian double-bass player Johann…

The incredible flourishing of musical styles in the middle of the 18th century was due in no small part to composers travelling from their native countries to new lands. In many cases, they proved to be more popular abroad than back home! This concert is an exploration of gallant music written by composers who settled far from home. Among these are Johann Christoph Bach, who enjoyed a successful career in England as “the London Bach.” The Silesian double-bass player Johann…

Jeanne Lamon returns for this classical concert featuring the nobility of the horn. Tafelmusik's Music Director Emerita returns to direct this classical program featuring music by friends and colleagues, Haydn and Mozart, and with the noble and unmistakable sound of the classical horn at its heart. Tafelmusik’s Scott Wevers takes the solo part in Mozart’s joyous Horn Concerto no. 4, continuing our new cycle of Mozart concertos. Four horns take the stage in Mozart’s youthful and dramatic Symphony no. 25…

Jeanne Lamon returns for this classical concert featuring the nobility of the horn. Tafelmusik's Music Director Emerita returns to direct this classical program featuring music by friends and colleagues, Haydn and Mozart, and with the noble and unmistakable sound of the classical horn at its heart. Tafelmusik’s Scott Wevers takes the solo part in Mozart’s joyous Horn Concerto no. 4, continuing our new cycle of Mozart concertos. Four horns take the stage in Mozart’s youthful and dramatic Symphony no. 25…

Patricia Ahern, Chris Verrette violins Dominic Teresi dulcian Lucas Harris lute Charlotte Nediger harpsichord The stylus fantasticus (“fantastic style”) was all the rage in the 17th century: instrumental music written in a bold, unrestrained, and extravagant manner. The performers were urged to embrace an unbridled style of playing, virtuosic and spontaneous. This audacious style had its origins in Venice and Rome, but quickly travelled north. Our concert includes music written in Austria, Italy, and Germany. As spring gives way to summer, be sure to join us on…

Patricia Ahern, Chris Verrette violins Dominic Teresi dulcian Lucas Harris lute Charlotte Nediger harpsichord The stylus fantasticus (“fantastic style”) was all the rage in the 17th century: instrumental music written in a bold, unrestrained, and extravagant manner. The performers were urged to embrace an unbridled style of playing, virtuosic and spontaneous. This audacious style had its origins in Venice and Rome, but quickly travelled north. Our concert includes music written in Austria, Italy, and Germany. As spring gives way to summer, be sure to join us on…

1730 Leipzig to 1960 Yorkville It’s 1730s Leipzig, Germany. J.S. Bach and his colleagues gather at Zimmerman’s coffee house for weekly concerts featuring the new music of the day. Fast forward to Toronto in the 1960s. Yorkville (now known as the ‘Mink Mile’) is a hub of subversion and anti-establishment activism. Undiscovered artists are making their breaks and international acts have come to sling it in underground dives and coffee houses. Legends of this counterculture scene pepper music collections across…

This concert sends the orchestra back to Vienna’s baroque roots, recovering a time when Austrian composers rubbed shoulders with their Italian counterparts, a vital cross-cultural endeavour.  Experience a time when the sound of the baroque was breaking like a wave over Europe, its rich and soulful sounds reaching deep into human emotions, revealing a world, now familiar, then novel and radical. Program Farina Sonata detta la Farina, for violin & continuo (1628) Bertali Ciacona, for violin & continuo (c.1650) Buonamente Sonata prima a…

Whether enjoyed in refined 16th-century courts or in today’s traditional music scene, the undeniable appeal of French music has endured through the centuries! We kick off the season whirling and twirling through the popular “voix de ville” songs and exquisite courtly music of Claude Le Jeune and his contemporaries, combined with the magic of guest traditional fiddler and dancer Emilyn Stam. Grab a hand, step onto the floor—don’t miss these toe-tapping delights!

Purcell’s semi-opera based on Dryden’s text draws the eye and ear with richly textured choral movements and beautiful songwriting. Hear Purcell’s famous ‘Fairest Isle’ and ‘Cold Genius’ as the versatile young harpsichordist/conductor Christopher Bagan leads the Collegium Musicum and Schola Cantorum. Through a new staging by director Erik Thor, the audience is asked to consider our national identity and the conflict of ideologies of our own time. Erik Thor, stage director Christopher Bagan, conductor

One of the world‘s leading chamber orchestras on period instruments, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (Akamus), has established itself as one of the pillars of Berlin’s cultural scene, with its own concert series at the Konzerthaus Berlin for more than 30 years. It also performs a concert series at Munich’s Prinzregententheater. Having sold more than a million CDs, their highly successful recordings have won all important awards for classical recordings, including the Grammy, Diapason d‘Or, Cannes Classical, Gramophone, Edison, MIDEM…

Thrill to the sound of the wind Harmonie, playing the cover songs of the classical era. In Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven's day, the hits from the latest operas were arranged for groups of wind musicians who performed in the homes of the rich, and in spas, pubs, and pleasure gardens for the public. These ensembles, called Harmonie, became the juke box of the eighteenth century, playing not just covers of popular opera music but original works by Viennese masters as…

The sensuous sounds of the French baroque are brought to life in this concert curated, conceived, and directed by Vittorio Ghielmi, a virtuoso on the viola da gamba. Conceived as a dramatic dialogue shifting from solo gamba (the more intimate, subtle cousin of our modern violin and cello) to full orchestra, the concert features orchestral dance suites by Lully and Rameau in musical conversation with solo gamba music, as well as a brand new piece written by Vittorio Ghielmi himself. Dreaming…

Alison Mackay's superb multimedia creations, blending music, visuals, narration, dance, and social commentary, are now famous the world over. In this latest offering, she traces the significance of the introduction into 17th-century Europe of indigofera tinctoria, the indigo dye that provided both the royal blue of the Bourbon courts and the colour of the cotton fabric worn by the common folk, known as denim. This fascinating social and musical journey travels from the courts of Europe to the lowest classes of…

Alison Mackay’s superb multimedia creations, blending music, visuals, narration, dance, and social commentary, are now famous the world over. In this latest offering, she traces the significance of the introduction into 17th-century Europe of indigofera tinctoria, the indigo dye that provided both the royal blue of the Bourbon courts and the colour of the cotton fabric worn by the common folk, known as denim. This fascinating social and musical journey travels from the courts of Europe to the lowest classes of…

Directed by Ivars Taurins Jana Miller, soprano Krisztina Szabó, mezzo-soprano Charles Daniels, tenor William Sharp, baritone Andrew Mahon, bass-baritone Tafelmusik Chamber Choir

Program Grégoire Jeay World premiere Bach Goldberg Variations (arranged for orchestra by Elisa Citterio)