{"id":12159,"date":"2013-05-06T06:39:45","date_gmt":"2013-05-06T11:39:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=12159"},"modified":"2013-05-06T06:39:45","modified_gmt":"2013-05-06T11:39:45","slug":"critics-picks-toronto-concerts-and-opera-may-6-to-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2013\/05\/06\/critics-picks-toronto-concerts-and-opera-may-6-to-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Critic&#8217;s picks: Toronto concerts and opera May 6 to 12"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_12161\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12161\" style=\"width: 555px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/05\/Mercer-Shannon-05.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12161\" alt=\"Shannon Mercer sings Britten wwith the Aldeburgh Connection on Tuesday.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/05\/Mercer-Shannon-05.jpg\" width=\"555\" height=\"832\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/05\/Mercer-Shannon-05.jpg 555w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/05\/Mercer-Shannon-05-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 555px) 100vw, 555px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12161\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shannon Mercer sings Britten with the Aldeburgh Connection on Tuesday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>MONDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>New Music 101 at the Elizabeth Beeton Auditorium, Toronto Reference Library, 7 p.m. Free admission.<\/li>\n<p><!--more-->\n<\/ul>\n<p>This year&#8217;s fourth and final concert-chat exploring new music in Toronto features two of the city&#8217;s younger groups: the Toy Piano Composers and JunctQ\u00edn Keyboard Collective, both of which have been putting together some very interesting concerts and collaborations. It&#8217;s a great opportunity to put a face to a sound &#8212; and vice versa. Details <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/events\/149644191864454\/\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Organist Mark Herman at Casa Loma, 8 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The eighth annual local festival of all things pipe organ-related &#8212; Organix 13 &#8212; kicks off on a lighthearted note with one of the great young virtuosos: American Mark Herman. He&#8217;ll blow the dust out of the Mighty Wurlitzer at Casa Loma with his own transcriptions of theatre organ music.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a sample of what he does:<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dVEuQIZnDOQ?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p><strong>TUESDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Members of the COC Orchestra at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, noon. Free admission.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Because the city doesn&#8217;t have a permanent wind orchestra, we almost never get to hear gems like Richard Strauss&#8217;s Op. 4 <em>Suite<\/em> and Op. 7 <em>Serenade<\/em>. Thirteen of the COC Orchestra&#8217;s wind players are stepping forward to give us one of those rare opportunities in this free hour-long concert. Details <a href=\"http:\/\/www.coc.ca\/PerformancesAndTickets\/FreeConcertSeries\/May.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Aldeburgh Connection at the Glenn Gould Studio, 8 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The second of the three concerts in the Aldeburgh Connection&#8217;s grand-finale Britten Festival of Song features soprano Shannon Mercer and mezzo Susan Platts singing music Britten wrote for female voices. Aldeburgh Connection co-artistic directors Stephen Ralls and Bruce Ubukata accompany at the piano as well as providing spoken narrative. Details <a href=\"http:\/\/aldeburghconnection.org\/concerts\/britten-festival-of-song\/\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WEDNESDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Opening performance of <em>Dialogues des carm\u00e9lites<\/em> at the Four Seasons Centre, 7:30 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Director Robert Carsen&#8217;s 2007 production for Lyric Opera of Chicago of Francis Poulenc&#8217;s 1957 masterpiece features a dream cast that includes Toronto sopranos Isabel Bayrakdarian and Adrianne Pieczonka and mezzo Judith Forst. COC Music Director Johannes Debus conducts. This could be <em>the<\/em> great mainstage operatic experience of the season in Toronto. Details <a href=\"http:\/\/www.coc.ca\/PerformancesAndTickets\/1213Season\/DialoguesDesCarmelites.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Organist Jane Parker Smith at Metropolitan United Church, 7:30 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The great British concert organist Jane Parker Smith mines gems out of the rich lode of 19th century repertoire for symphonic organ &#8212; to be played on an instrument tailor-made for it. Details <a href=\"http:\/\/www.organixconcerts.ca\/program.php?id=18\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WEDNESDAY &amp; THURSDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12162\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12162\" style=\"width: 720px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.porges.net\/FamilyTreesBiographies\/dan.porges_portfolios\/dan.porges.portfolio1_AH.html\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12162\" alt=\"Ingrid Fliter (Dan Porges photo).\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/05\/fliter.jpg\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/05\/fliter.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/05\/fliter-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12162\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ingrid Fliter (Dan Porges photo).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>Pianist Ingrid Fliter with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall, 8 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The wonderful Argentinean pianist returns to Toronto to play Beethoven&#8217;s <em>Piano Concerto No. 4<\/em> with German guest Christoph K\u00f6nig, one of Europe&#8217;s highly respected younger conductors. Also on the bill is the <em>Symphony No. 1<\/em> by Johannes Brahms and the Prelude to the 1893 opera <em>Hansel and Gretel<\/em> by Engelbert Humperdinck. Details <a href=\"http:\/\/tso.ca\/Concerts-And-Tickets\/Events\/2012-2013-Season\/Beethoven-and-Brahms.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>THURSDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pianist Mauro Bertoli at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, noon. Free admission.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Since relocating from his native Italy to teach at Carleton University in Ottawa, talented young Italian pianist Mauro Bartoli has been visiting Toronto about once a year. This visit features an all-Romantic programme. Details here. (He returns next Monday for a recital with Toronto Symphony cellist Winona Zelenka at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gallery345.com\/performances.php\" target=\"_blank\">Gallery 345<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Opening night of Michael O&#8217;Brien and John Millard&#8217;s adaptation of <em>The Barber of Seville<\/em> at the Young Centre, 8 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Theatre Columbus&#8217;s original production of this re-imagining of Rossini&#8217;s screwball opera was a Toronto sensation back in 1996, earning all sorts of Dora nominations and awards. Now it&#8217;s back at Soulpepper, with Dan Chameroy as Figaro. Leah Cherniak &#8212; the original director &#8212; returns, but the design team is new. Performances run until June 8. Details <a href=\"http:\/\/www.soulpepper.ca\/performances\/13_season\/the_barber_of_seville.aspx#overview\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRIDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Eybler Quartet with actor R.H. Thomson at Heliconian Hall, 8 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This period-instrument quartet made up of four of Toronto&#8217;s finest &#8212; violinists Aisslinn Nosky and Julia Wedman, violist Patrick Jordan and cellist Margaret Gay &#8212; take us to a Viennese salon in June, 1784, where a young Irish tenor by the name of Michael Kelly is witnessing four greats at work in front of his eyes and ears: Joseph Haydn, the young Wolfgang Mozart, Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf and Johann Baptist Wanhal. I&#8217;ll have more on this later in the week. Details <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eyblerquartet.com\/images\/An%20Evening%20with%20Michael%20Kelly%20May%202013_FIN_Revised.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRIDAY, SATURDAY &amp; SUNDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>L<em>essons of Love: A Double Bill of Passion<\/em>, by Toronto Masque Theatre at the Al Green Theatre, 8 p.m. (3 p.m. on Sun.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Continuing his desire to recreate the glories of Baroque-era masque alongside new variations on the artform, artistic director Larry Beckwith has commissioned composer Alice Ping Yee Ho and writer Marjorie Chan to create a new, hour-long opera to be performed alongside John Blow&#8217;s ever-loved 1683 masque, <em>Venus and Adonis<\/em>. I&#8217;ll have more on this later in the week. Details <a href=\"http:\/\/www.torontomasquetheatre.com\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SATURDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Classical guitarist Michael Kolk at Westminster Presbyterian Church (154 Floyd Ave.), 3 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Vancouver native Michael Kolk, who lives in Toronto now, has a remarkable way with classical guitar, which he is going to show off in a programme of pieces ranging from Scarlatti to Arvo P\u00e4rt at this cozy little church tucked away on a side street in Pape Village (Pape north of Mortimer Ave.). You can find out more <a href=\"http:\/\/www.michaelkolkguitar.com\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This is Kolk at a Vancouver Classical Guitar Soceity concert in Vancouver last fall, with a Bach <em>Prelude<\/em> originally intended for lute:<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5aeQrHkSxHg?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p><strong>END-OF-SEASON CONCERTS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As Victoria Day begins to loom on the horizon, choirs, orchestras and ensembles of all sorts, not to mention music students&#8217; graduating recitals, offer a long long list of concert options that I couldn&#8217;t even begin to choose from.<\/p>\n<p>Most of these efforts survive on all sorts of community connections, and can be wonderful places to meet like-minded people. The music is often of high quality, and tickets cost a fraction of what they would at the city&#8217;s major venues.<\/p>\n<p>The best source for comprehensive information about all the live performances happening in Toronto and the wider metropolitan area is <em>Whole Note<\/em> magazine, available for free in print and online. Check out the details <a href=\"http:\/\/thewholenote.com\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>John Terauds<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MONDAY New Music 101 at the Elizabeth Beeton Auditorium, Toronto Reference Library, 7 p.m. Free admission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[74,10,76,19,21,22,25,36,38,43,44,46,47,57,60,62,63,1,70,71],"tags":[211,460,497,626,825,1024,1226,1617,2219,2524,2530,3073,3359],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/03\/allan_clayton_credit_jack_liebeck1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-3a7","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12159"}],"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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12159"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=12159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}