{"id":102075,"date":"2024-03-04T09:58:46","date_gmt":"2024-03-04T14:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=102075"},"modified":"2024-03-04T10:56:30","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T15:56:30","slug":"critics-picks-classical-music-events-absolutely-need-see-week-march-4-march-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/03\/04\/critics-picks-classical-music-events-absolutely-need-see-week-march-4-march-10\/","title":{"rendered":"CRITIC\u2019S PICKS | Classical Music Events You Absolutely Need To See This Week: March 4 \u2013 March 10"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"L-R
L-R (clockwise): Dominic Desautels (Photo: Taylor Long); Igor Levit (Image from the album cover Fantasia on Sony Classics); Payadora (Photo courtesy of the artists)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is a list of concerts we are attending, wishing we could attend, or thinking about attending between March 04 and 10, 2024. For more of what\u2019s happening around Toronto, visit our calendar here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Canadian Opera Company: Instrumental Series: Voices of the Harp<\/h3>\n

Tuesday Mar. 5, 12 p.m.
\nRichard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons for the Performing Arts. Free.<\/p>\n

Matt Dupont (harp) and J\u00e9r\u00e9mie Roy (narration) present a program exploring harp, musicality and orality. Orality \u2014 speech and other verbal communication forms \u2014 has always been at the centre of human communication, and the common reference to the \u2018voice\u2019 as an essence of an instrument, or an idea, is the focus of this concert. Mixture of spoken poetry and solo harp promises an afternoon break full of beauty. Info here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Royal Conservatory of Music: Discovery Series: GGS Chamber Competition Finals<\/h3>\n

Wednesday Mar. 6, 7:30 p.m.
\nKoerner Hall. Free tickets available through the box office.<\/p>\n

An annual event for Glenn Gould School, GGS Chamber Competition is organized in two groups: duos, and chamber groups of three or more. Each group plays two contrasting pieces (maximum 35 minutes per group) on the first day, then the final round features selected groups performing repertoire from their preliminary round list, at the discretion of the jury. The open final round often features less-familiar combinations of instruments: last year\u2019s final selection included harp-cello duo and woodwind quintet, in addition to the standard piano trio, and clarinet-piano duo. A great way to see upcoming young musicians, along with possible exposure to unexpected repertoire\/ensemble combinations. The concert is free to the public, please register for tickets. Info here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Payadora Tango Ensemble: A Night of Tango with Payadora<\/h3>\n

Wednesday Mar 6, 8 p.m.
\nJazz Bistro, 251 Victoria St. $25 cover<\/p>\n

A local favourite, Payadora players draw from wide traditions \u2014 Classical, Jazz, Latin, Eastern European folk music, and improvisation. A dance form born of a colourful mix of Argentine Milonga, Spanish-Cuban Habanera and Uruguayan Candombe, and of colonialism and slavery, tango has enticed many composers with its rhythmic virtuosity and harmonic complexity. This is a great chance to explore tango in a live, relaxed setting at the Jazz Bistro. Repertoire will include classic and modern tango, originals, and South American folk music. Info here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Womens Musical Club Toronto: Music in the Afternoon: Dominic Desautels & Jean-Philippe Sylvestre<\/h3>\n

Thursday March 7, 1:30 p.m. Pre-concert talk at 12:15 p.m.
\nWalter Hall, University of Toronto. $50; Free for students<\/p>\n

Established in 1898, Women\u2019s Musical Club has been nurturing concert culture in Toronto through \u2018Music in the Afternoon\u2019, an annual series of five chamber music concerts of both established and upcoming musicians, and by creating scholarship and performance opportunities for young musicians. This week\u2019s concert features Dominic Desaultels and Jean-Philippe Sylvestre. Though (very) hard to see from above, Dominic has been playing in the Canadian Opera Company pit since 2017 as the principal: with Jean-Philippe, and guest Zs\u00f3fia Stef\u00e1n (Bassoon), the program will feature clarinet-piano duo music of both Schumanns, Glinka, Norbert Burgm\u00fcller, and Brahms. Pre-concert lecture by Peter Stoll, starting at 12:15, will give a brief overview of the clarinet as a chamber music instrument. Info here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

TO Live\/Attila Glatz Concert Productions: Amadeus Live<\/h3>\n

Thursday March 7, 7:30 p.m.
\nMeridian Hall, 1 Front St. East, Toronto. $59+<\/p>\n

The live-orchestra-at-movies concept has been a great success in recent years\u2014 notable sell-out houses include Coco (TSO), The Lord of the Rings in Concert (GFN Productions & FILMharmonic Orchestra), and Harry Potter\u2122 Film Concert Series (Attila Glatz Concert Productions). This week, TO Live Orchestra plays for Amadeus Live, a live-music version of the 1984 multi-Academy Award winning motion picture. For classical music enthusiasts, Amadeus was one of the most successful films ever made about classical music, and those heart-crushing scenes near the end, where Mozart struggles to finish the Requiem, will be sung by- of course- the Amadeus choir. Info here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Tafelmusik: Bach Motets & Company<\/h3>\n

Friday March 8, 8:00 p.m.
\nJeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul\u2019s Centre. $40<\/p>\n

Under the baton of Ivars Taurins, Tafelmusik choir presents motets from Bach, his family, and of his predecessors at St. Thomas Church, Leipzig, in a sparse setting of choir and organ, in this time of lent. Guest group Ori Shalva, led by Shalva Makharashvili, will sing traditional sacred Georgian music, weaving in-and-out of the Baroque motets. Recognized by the UNESCO\u2019s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the polyphonic Georgian sacred music will be an interesting contrast to the German Baroque motet- not only musically, but also in theological and spiritual context. Info here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Women from Space Festival<\/h3>\n

Friday Mar 8, Sat Mar 9, Sun Mar 10
\n918 Bathurst Centre for Culture, Arts, Media and Education. $15+<\/p>\n

It is impossible to summarize the Women from Space Festival in a single sentence. The festival happens annually on International Women’s Day weekend, with an emphasis on: ‘…all women artists, non-binary, genderqueer, genderfluid and gender non-conforming artists, and all who have a relationship to the term women.’ The three-day program is packed with 30+ true avant-garde musicians in 9 performances, giving ample chance to hear and see what may be possible for a ‘performance’\u2014 there will be new things for everyone, from contemporary music beginners to seasoned veterans of avant-garde performance.<\/p>\n

The line-up varies wildly, ranging from solo artists with electronics, to the in-house 17-star improvising band of 3 percussionists, electronics, winds, strings, and voice: BIG BANG! (March 8), with\u00a0support from the Canadian Music Centre, the Music Gallery, and the Toronto Dance Theatre.\u00a0 Info here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Orpheus Choir of Toronto: Poulenc\u2019s Gloria: Jewels of the French Repertoire<\/h3>\n

Saturday March 9, 7:30 p.m.
\nGrace Church on-the-Hill. $20+<\/p>\n

It is rare to hear Francis Poulenc\u2019s music in Toronto \u2014 a shame, as Poulenc\u2019s extreme range from sublime, unconditional love and tenderness, to downright vulgarity and violence, is so powerful and distinctive. Poulenc\u2019s Gloria, a commission from the Koussevitsky Foundation of America, was initially considered borderline sacrilegious \u2014 not a surprise, as his love for the extreme was well-known in his circle: \u2018There is in him something of the monk and the street urchin.\u2019 Orpheus Choir of Toronto, with soloist Midori Marsh, and organist Stephen Boda, will present this glorious work along with a selection of French choral works by Maurice Ravel, Lili Boulanger, Franco-Ontarian Marie-Claire Saindon and Haitian-American Sydney Guillaume. Info here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Toronto Chamber Choir: The Muse of Novara<\/h3>\n

Saturday March 9, 7:30 p.m.
\nCalvin Presbyterian Church, $5+<\/p>\n

Toronto Chamber Choir returns to the stage under the direction of Lucas Harris. Harris, who may be very familiar to Toronto audiences through his lute playing with Tafelmusik, Toronto Consort, and the Vesuvius Ensemble, brings his A-game as a choral conductor and a researcher. This program focuses on the music of Isabella Leonarda (1620-1704), who composed over 200 works while living in the Ursuline convent from age 16 till her death at age 83, ranging from motets and masses to sonatas.\u00a0 A lovely event to experience the essence of 17th-century Italian music from the perspective of a rare woman composer. Info here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Igor Levit<\/h3>\n

Sunday March 10, 3 p.m.
\nKoerner Hall. $50+<\/p>\n

Igor Levit brings a fresh program to Koerner Hall\u2014 orchestral transcriptions for solo piano, and Hindemith\u2019s Suite 1922. Levit\u2019s intellectual curiosity combined with flawless technique, always leads to interesting choices in programming, whether it be based on the true, tested canon of piano literature (he is a self-fessed lover of Franz Liszt), or a take on a Metallica song. This program is no exception, as he juxtaposes music from Mahler and Beethoven with Hindemith\u2019s 1922, Op. 26, a satire on the petit-bourgeois culture, drawing from scenes from the circus. Info here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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\nHERE<\/a>.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Classical music and opera events in Toronto for the week of March 4 to March 10, 2024. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":102076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40967,74,11,76,19,3895,38,63,72],"tags":[1436,40995,9497],"yst_prominent_words":[7173,6871,17187,6715,12000,6606,6616,10330,17180,6741,33716],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/03\/Copy-of-CRITICS-PICKS.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-qyn","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102075"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102075"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102081,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102075\/revisions\/102081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102075"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=102075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}