{"id":119330,"date":"2025-11-10T10:04:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T15:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=119330"},"modified":"2025-11-10T10:04:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T15:04:15","slug":"scrutiny-toronto-mendelssohn-choir-opens-season-deeply-moving-brahms-requiem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/11\/10\/scrutiny-toronto-mendelssohn-choir-opens-season-deeply-moving-brahms-requiem\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | Toronto Mendelssohn Choir Opens Season With Deeply Moving Brahms Requiem"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jean-S\u00e9bastien
Jean-S\u00e9bastien Vall\u00e9e conducts the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and members of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra in Brahms\u2019 German Requiem (Photo: Jae Yang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir; Russell Braun, baritone; Charlotte Siegal, soprano; Musicians of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony; Jean-S\u00e9bastien Vall\u00e9e, conductor. Koerner Hall, November 7, 2025.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It has been a long four years, almost to the day.<\/p>\n

I am referring to the interval since the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir last performed Brahms\u2019 German Requiem, on November 2, 2021. It took place in the huge Yorkminster Park Baptist Church in midtown Toronto. It was during COVID times, with understandably a very small audience and mandatory social distancing. Given that humanity was afflicted by the scourge of the Pandemic then, Brahms\u2019 intensely spiritual work about death, faith, comfort and hope had a special resonance.<\/p>\n

Now four years later, TMC is once again presenting Ein Deutsches Requiem, this time not in the venerable old church but at Koerner Hall. It was completely sold-out, and the knowledgeable audience was super-attentive.<\/p>\n

If I may permit myself a bit of personal reflection on oratorios \u2014 in my younger days, I was more drawn to the Verdi Requiem with its operatic, fire-and-brimstone sensibilities. But with age, I have come to appreciate the Brahms masterpiece, a more inward and spiritual work. It focuses not so much on death, wrath and punishment, but on the living, and with it comfort, faith and hope.<\/p>\n

\"Jean-S\u00e9bastien
Jean-S\u00e9bastien Vall\u00e9e conducts the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and members of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra in Brahms\u2019 German Requiem (Photo: Jae Yang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Prelude<\/h3>\n

The concert opened with the premiere of ECHO, a TMC-commissioned work by its Composer-in-Residence Stephanie Martin. Often when new music is juxtaposed with something old such as the Brahms\u2019 Requiem (1865), it can be a bit jarring. I needn\u2019t have worried. Stylistically ECHO complements the Brahms work beautifully. The warm and mellow TMC sound, which I liken to a balm for the soul, is perfect for this new work. I look forward to hearing it again.<\/p>\n

Brahms\u2019 Requiem<\/h3>\n

This short piece set the tone for what\u2019s to come. Conductor Jean-S\u00e9bastien Vall\u00e9e spoke at length about the Requiem, how it was the work of a young Brahms, who was only in his early 30s when he composed this. Perhaps some audience members might find that an introduction of such a well-known work should not be necessary \u2014 I was astounded when I overheard a hushed voice muttering, \u201cdo your homework people\u2026\u201d Well, if an introduction can benefit even one person in the audience, allowing for a deeper understanding, I am for it.<\/p>\n

The seven-movement work lasts less than 80 minutes, but it packs an emotional wallop. It opens with the divine \u201cSelig sind, die da Leid tragen.\u201d Every time I hear it, I am immediately transported by its ethereal sound, and this time was no exception. The second movement, which happens to be my favourite, is \u201cDenn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras,\u201d a very powerful moment. The fortissimo moments, plus the striking use of percussions, is enough to put the fear of God in every heart, and I am only half joking!<\/p>\n

The third and sixth movements feature the baritone soloist, and it was great to hear the Canadian veteran, Russell Braun in this work once again. Now at 60 and still going strong after a 33-year career, Braun\u2019s lyric timbre has gained in dramatic gravitas while retaining its warmth and beauty of tone. His attention to textual nuance is exemplary and there\u2019s a heartfelt sincerity in his delivery. Perhaps on this occasion, there was a bit more effort required to reach the higher notes, but that\u2019s part of the vocal journey of a long career, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

The relatively short but beautiful fifth movement was not in the original version of the work \u2014 Brahms added it later. It features a lyric soprano, and on this occasion, we had Canadian soprano Charlotte Siegel. I have heard her on many occasions during her time as a member of the COC Ensemble Studio. Her instrument is impressively big and rich, with plenty of dramatic potential. But to my ears, it\u2019s not the typical voice one encounters in \u201cIhr hab nun Traurigkeit,\u201d which is often sung by a lighter, floatier soprano. Siegel\u2019s mezza voce was lovely, but her forte didn\u2019t have the ideally floating timbre and tonal focus on this occasion.<\/p>\n

\"Jean-S\u00e9bastien
Jean-S\u00e9bastien Vall\u00e9e conducts the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and members of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra in Brahms\u2019 German Requiem (Photo: Jae Yang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n

The orchestra was made up of musicians from the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and they played wonderfully under conductor Jean-S\u00e9bastien Vall\u00e9e. Instead of a full-size orchestra, TMC uses a reduced orchestra of under 30 musicians, in a version adapted by Joachim Linckelmann back in 2010, the same version as four years ago in the Yorkminster performance.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the star of this work is the choir, and as expected, the full-sized TMC made it totally memorable. From ethereally quiet moments to strikingly dramatic climaxes, the TMC met all the challenges of this work masterfully.<\/p>\n

Hearing the TMC in this work once again whet my appetite for more. Festival of Carols? Messiah? Bring it on!<\/p>\n

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Ultimately, the star of this work is the choir, and as expected, the full-sized Toronto Mendelssohn Choir made it totally memorable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":119333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[41660,11,76,19,875,38,52,63],"tags":[39755,5991,3349],"yst_prominent_words":[11125,6914],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Copy-of-REVIEW-2025-11-10T095659.417.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-v2G","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119330"}],"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=119330"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119337,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119330\/revisions\/119337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119330"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=119330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}