{"id":106631,"date":"2024-08-06T09:59:04","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T13:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=106631"},"modified":"2024-08-06T09:59:04","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T13:59:04","slug":"scrutiny-evening-beethovens-triumph-toronto-summer-music-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/08\/06\/scrutiny-evening-beethovens-triumph-toronto-summer-music-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | An Evening Of Beethoven\u2019s Triumph At The Toronto Summer Music Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Violinist
Violinist Kerson Leong performs with the Toronto Summer Music Orchestra and conductor Simon Rivard (Photo: Lucky Tang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Toronto Summer Music: Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 & Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 \u201cEroica\u201d; Kerson Leong, violin, TSM Festival Orchestra, Simon Rivard, conductor. August 1, 2024, Koerner Hall.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

When Beethoven\u2019s Violin Concerto in D Major was first performed in 1806, it was met with little to no acclaim. Today, it\u2019s one of the most important pieces in a violinist\u2019s repertoire. Often likened to a revolution\u2019s score, the concerto made its way to Koerner Hall this past Thursday as part of this year\u2019s Toronto Summer Music (TSM) festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeethoven Unleashed,\u201d one of the last performances in the festival, featured the TSM Orchestra, conductor Simon Rivard, and internationally renowned violinist Kersen Leong. The first half of the program, or the Violin Concerto in D Major (Op. 61), moves through three movements of varying lengths. In Allegro ma non troppo, the longest of the three, Leong enters and weaves seamlessly through the symphony.<\/p>\n

The piece demands cohesion; rather than pedestalling the soloist, it asks for a friendship between the two. Closing one\u2019s eyes, the most prominent indicator of Leong\u2019s mastery is the particularly high register that separates him from the rest of the strings. Of course, watching Leong with your eyes open is a different type of awe. Both his music and his movements seem vulnerable, almost romantic.<\/p>\n

\"Violinist
Violinist Kerson Leong performs with the Toronto Summer Music Orchestra and conductor Simon Rivard (Photo: Lucky Tang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The program continues with Larghetto and Rondo, the latter of which concludes with thunderous applause and a standing ovation. Someone around me whispers, \u201cI\u2019ve never in my life been forced to attention like I was during that performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following intermission, the orchestra returns with Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major (Op. 55), known simply as \u201cEroica,\u201d the heroic symphony. Comprised of four movements, the piece tells the story of Beethoven\u2019s admiration of the French Revolution. The orchestra itself is comprised of musicians both distinguished and on the precipice of launching their classical careers. The young musicians, part of TSM\u2019s Emerging Artist Progam, are particularly fun to watch as they immerse themselves in scores of struggle and triumph.<\/p>\n

The night ends with another standing ovation \u2014 one of the last ones before the summer festival\u2019s finale on August 3.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBeethoven Unleashed\u201d featured the Toronto Summer Music Orchestra, conductor Simon Rivard, and internationally renowned violinist Kersen Leong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":106634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40967,76,19,52],"tags":[7875,19529,3356],"yst_prominent_words":[34710,15149,7252],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/Copy-of-REVIEW-57.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-rJR","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106631"}],"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\/113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106631"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106636,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106631\/revisions\/106636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106631"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=106631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}