{"id":116490,"date":"2025-08-05T07:12:43","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T11:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=116490"},"modified":"2025-08-05T11:08:04","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T15:08:04","slug":"scrutiny-festive-evening-viennese-waltzes-brings-toronto-summer-music-mainstage-joyous-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/08\/05\/scrutiny-festive-evening-viennese-waltzes-brings-toronto-summer-music-mainstage-joyous-close\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | A Festive Evening Of Viennese Waltzes Brings Toronto Summer Music Mainstage To A Joyous Close"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Simone
Simone McIntosh, mezzo-soprano with Jonathan Mak, piano (centre); TSM Festival Orchestra with Artistic Director & violinist Jonathan Crow (Photo: Lucky Tang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Toronto Summer Music: An Evening in Vienna \u2014 Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525; Kreisler: Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen; R. Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier Waltz (arr. V\u00e1\u0161a P\u0159ihoda); Mozart: Ch\u2019io mi scordi di te?, K. 505; J. Strauss: Radetzky-Marsch, Op. 228; J. Strauss \u2013 Rosen aus dem S\u00fcden, Op. 388; Emmerich K\u00e1lm\u00e1n & Leo Stein: Die Cs\u00e1rd\u00e1sf\u00fcrstin; Franz Leh\u00e1r: Meine Lippen, sie k\u00fcssen so hei\u00df; Franz Leh\u00e1r: Vilja Lied; Franz Leh\u00e1r: Zigeunerliebe ; J. Strauss: Kaiser-Walzer, Op. 437; J. Strauss: Wein, Weib und Gesang, Op. 333. Simone McIntosh, mezzo-soprano; Yura Lee, violin; Jonathan Mak, piano; TSM Festival Orchestra; Jennifer Mak, host. Koerner Hall, July 31, 2025.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

For fans of the Toronto Summer Music Festival, it\u2019s always a little sad when we get to the last days of the month-long event. But all good things must come to an end, and I can\u2019t think of a happier way to bring it to a close than having an evening of Viennese waltzes, gorgeous operettas and assorted bon-bons.<\/p>\n

It was indeed a festive evening. The TSM organizers even sent out emails to ticket holders, suggesting that they might just consider dressing up for the occasion.<\/p>\n

Wow, let\u2019s pretend Koerner Hall is the Musikverein and let\u2019s go for a bit of glitz and glamour, shall we? Thank goodness that the summer heat wave had abated in time and it wasn\u2019t too stifling to be in formal wear!<\/p>\n

\"Yura
Yura Lee, violin; Jonathan Mak, piano at Toronto Summer Music 2025 (Photo: Lucky Tang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

First Half<\/h3>\n

The first half opened in genteel fashion, with that extremely familiar Mozart gem, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, beautifully played by the chamber ensemble led by violinist Jonathan Crow<\/strong>. It set the mood for the next piece, Alt Wiener Tanzweisen, composed by the great violin virtuoso, Fritz Kreisler. It was a virtuosic work, designed to show off the dazzling technique of the two soloists. Yura Lee<\/strong> (violin) and Jonathan Mak<\/strong> (piano) were up to the task perfectly.<\/p>\n

The two of them followed the Kreisler with waltz music from one of my very favourite operas, Richard Strauss\u2019s Der Rosenkavalier, in an arrangement by Czech violin virtuoso Va\u0161a P\u0159ihoda. This was the first time that I heard this music played by just two instruments, and frankly it was a bit of a shock. I won\u2019t lie and say I didn\u2019t miss a full-size Strauss orchestra, but it was great credit to Lee and Mak for making it so lovely to the ear.<\/p>\n

The first half concluded with the famous Mozart concert aria \u201cCh\u2019io mi scordi di te?\u201d sung with gleaming tone by Canadian mezzo Simone McIntosh<\/strong>. A COC Ensemble graduate, McIntosh is enjoying a fine career internationally. I\u2019ve always thought that with her talent and musicality, she\u2019d go places. On her schedule is Adalgisa in Norma in Hamburg later this season \u2013 not too shabby, eh?<\/p>\n

Second Half<\/h3>\n

The second half opened with the lively and rousing Radetzky March, played with great energy and elan by the full Festival Orchestra. Host Jennifer Mak<\/strong> helped put the audience in the mood by leading them in rhythmic clapping. Then it was Simone McIntosh again, offering arias from four famous operettas, Die Cs\u00e1rd\u00e1f\u00fcrstin, Giuditta, Die Lustige Witwe, and Zigeunerliebe.<\/p>\n

These operettas hardly ever get fully staged on this side of the pond, and it\u2019s a shame. I had the good fortune of having seen them in Germany over the years. McIntosh delivered the arias with refulgent tone, her big gleaming high mezzo with its brilliant top never sounded better. Added to that her irrepressible stage persona, and you have a winning formula.<\/p>\n

Her \u201cMeine Lippen, sie K\u00fcssen so hei\u00df\u201d was outstanding, the way she was dancing around onstage reminded me so much of Anna Netrebko, except that McIntosh didn\u2019t take her shoes off. Touching was her Vilja Lied, a diva vehicle if ever there\u2019s one, so sometimes it can come across as a bit affected, but not in her case! She sang it so wistfully, throwing in an interpolated high B natural for good measure \u2013 it\u2019s one for the memory bank.<\/p>\n

\"Simone
Simone McIntosh, mezzo-soprano with Jonathan Mak, piano (centre); TSM Festival Orchestra with Artistic Director & violinist Jonathan Crow (Photo: Lucky Tang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n

The last two items were reserved to show off the excellent Festival Orchestra \u2014 \u201cKaiser-Walzer,\u201d and ending with \u201cWein, Weib und Gesang,\u201d or \u201cWine, Woman and Song,\u201d a rather sexist title but musically lovely just the same. The waltz melodies from these last two pieces gave me itchy feet \u2014 too bad we weren\u2019t in a ballroom.<\/p>\n

There you have it, a wonderful musical conclusion to the 20th Anniversary Toronto Summer Musical Festival mainstage concert series. May there be another 20 years and more.<\/p>\n

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I can\u2019t think of a happier way to bring Toronto Summer Music to a close than having an evening of Viennese waltzes, gorgeous operettas and assorted bon-bons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":116493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[41660,10,76,19,41496,43,59,63],"tags":[42155,4439,42156,6497,3356,41925],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Copy-of-REVIEW-2025-08-05T065830.724.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-uiS","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116490"}],"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\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116490"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116502,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116490\/revisions\/116502"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116490"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=116490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}