{"id":113888,"date":"2025-04-28T10:00:06","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T14:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=113888"},"modified":"2025-04-28T10:00:06","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T14:00:06","slug":"critics-picks-classical-music-events-you-absolutely-need-to-see-this-week-april-28-may-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/04\/28\/critics-picks-classical-music-events-you-absolutely-need-to-see-this-week-april-28-may-4\/","title":{"rendered":"CRITIC\u2019S PICKS | Classical Music Events You Absolutely Need To See This Week: April 28 \u2013 May 4"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"L-R
L-R (clockwise): Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra with Principal Guest Director Rachel Podger (Photo: Dahlia Katz); Red Sky Performance with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Photo courtesy of TSO); The Canadian Opera Company: Eugene Onegin, 2018 performance with Joyce El-Khoury as Tatyana (centre) and Gordon Bintner as Eugene Onegin (Photo: \u00a9 Michael Cooper 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is a list of concerts we are attending, wishing we could attend, or thinking about attending between April 28 and May 4, 2025. For more of what\u2019s happening around Toronto, visit our calendar here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Canadian Opera Company: Eugene Onegin<\/h3>\n

Friday, May 2, 7:30 p.m., Sunday, May 4, 2 p.m., Wednesday, May 7, 7:30 p.m., Friday, May 9, 7:30 p.m., Thursday, May 15, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, May 17, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, May 24, 4:30 p.m.:
\nFour Seasons Centre, $45+<\/p>\n

As spring returns to the city, the super-romantic, foolish young man, Eugene Onegin, returns to COC. Robert Carsen\u2019s production, designed for the Metropolitan Opera in 1997, was a sensation in its first mounting at the COC in 2018, and it still takes the audience\u2019s breath away, with its minimalistic sets with maximalist punch (especially with those neverending golden leaves), and beautifully crafted costumes. Amongst such rich colours, we see Pushkin\u2019s Onegin exploring his young heart, with brashness and disdain for the world, before becoming a broken, hardened man through loss of innocence, as he rejects Tatyana, and duels his friend Lensky to death. The leadership from the podium by conductor Speranza Scappucci \u2014 one of the best operatic conductors of today \u2014 promises much freshness with the signature over-the-top emotions of Tchaikovsky \u2014 is there a composer who could better craft a simple descending scale into a heart-piercing dagger? Come to this stark contrast to Wozzeck, and be transported into a dreamscape; after all, if we cannot dip into another\u2019s dream, what is the point of living? Info here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

New Music Concert: MAKEWAY 2025<\/h3>\n

Friday, May 2, 8 p.m.
\nSt. George\u2019s Grange Park, 30 Stephanie St., pay-what-you-can, $15 suggested<\/p>\n

NMC\u2019s second edition of MAKEWAY 2025 features four composers: Alex Matterson, Anju Singh, Steven Webb, and Tsz Long (Fish) Yu. Starting this Monday, these four composers and 15 musicians \u2014 ranging from standard strings and brass, to other fascinating things: Tar, Santoor, Erhu, Sho, kitchen-sink percussion, and lots of electronics, will be cooped in at the Arraymusic. They will emerge onto the stage this Friday with these brand-new works, which could be the best thing you\u2019ve yet to hear this spring. Yes, there is a bizarre fear factor regarding \u2018new music,\u2019 however, perhaps this worry isn\u2019t necessary or warranted \u2014 we do flock after new things naturally, and a few will become part of our standard experience \u2014 remember the rise of hard seltzer, tacos, and ramen restaurants? Come with an open mind, and the possibility that you might fall in love with these new creations and soundscapes. Read our Interview with the four composers here<\/a>. Info here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Tafelmusik: Concerti Virtuosi: Vivaldi & Telemann<\/h3>\n

Friday, May 2, 8 p.m., Saturday, May 3, 8 p.m., Sunday, May 4, 3 p.m.
\nJeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul\u2019s Centre, $20+<\/p>\n

The amazing Rachel Podger returns to Tafelmusik, this time centring on feisty music of Vivaldi, along with Corelli, Brescianello\u2019s Concerto grosso, and Telemann\u2019s concerto for 3 violins. Remembering the recent visit from Les Arts Florissants and Th\u00e9otime Langlois de Swarte\u2019s The Four Seasons tour, it is astonishing how brilliant and fresh these old canonic composers really are, and with Podger-Tafelmusik synergy, this program promises brilliant vitality and strength \u2014 a much needed boost to what has been a quite a dull and depressing spring climate so far. Come out and be awakened, let\u2019s reopen our eyes to the beauty that can sustain us now, and for later, as it has sustained many through the centuries. Read our Preview here<\/a>. Info here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Toronto Symphony: Young People\u2019s Concert: Adizokan<\/h3>\n

Sunday, May 4, 1:30 p.m, and 4 p.m.
\nRoy Thomson Hall, $31+<\/p>\n

In this performance of Adizokan, many talented people are brought together to present a grand, beautiful homage to the Canadian Indigenous culture experience \u2014 for youngsters, and their friends and families. Featuring the Red Sky Performance, and Nelson Tagoona, throat boxer, with composer Eliot Britton (on laptop), and the TSO, many magical sound colours from analog instruments \u2014 both purely acoustic and through sound processing \u2014 together with dance and visuals, make this Young People\u2019s Concert a great way to introduce an extended sound palette to anyone, and everyone. Come on down with your crowd, and be mesmerized. Info here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Classical music and opera events in Toronto for the week of April 28 to May 4, 2025. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":113889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[41660,74,76,18,19,875,3895,38,43,63],"tags":[628,11753,2749,11751],"yst_prominent_words":[7173,8345,6871,15851,10287,37636,22862],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/04\/Copy-of-CRITICS-PICKS-2025-04-28T094701.139.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-tCU","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113888"}],"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=113888"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113891,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113888\/revisions\/113891"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113888"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=113888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}