{"id":122606,"date":"2026-03-16T10:24:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T14:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=122606"},"modified":"2026-03-16T10:24:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T14:24:41","slug":"scrutiny-tafelmusiks-bach-celebration-estimable-aural-feast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2026\/03\/16\/scrutiny-tafelmusiks-bach-celebration-estimable-aural-feast\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | Tafelmusik\u2019s Bach Celebration Was An Estimable Aural Feast"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tafelmusik
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (Photo: Dahlia Katz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tafelmusik: A Bach Celebration. Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra & Chamber Choir, with Myriam Leblanc, soprano and James Reese, tenor, Ivars Taurins, conductor. March 12 to 15, 2026, Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul\u2019s Centre.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

For those Torontonians \u2014 yours truly included \u2014 tired of the lingering winter, there\u2019s nothing quite like attending a good concert to lift the spirits. Well, opening night of Tafelmusik\u2019s A Bach Celebration was just the doctor ordered.<\/p>\n

After a sublime two hours, I walked out into the chilly night air with feather light steps.<\/p>\n

The Concert<\/h3>\n

The Trinity St. Paul Centre audience, while not sold out, was respectable-sized and very enthusiastic. (That said, we were told to save our applause to the end of each half.)<\/p>\n

The audience was treated to a felicitous mix of arias, duets, and choral numbers drawn from the 200+ Bach cantatas. The focus was on the less familiar pieces. I can\u2019t claim to be a Bach aficionado, yet the pieces all sounded familiar to me, wonderful and quintessentially Johann Sebastian Bach.<\/p>\n

A total of 17 selections, beginning with the lovely and lively opening five-minute chorale of Cantata 11, \u201cLobet Gott in seinen Reichen,\u201d featuring the marvellous Tafelmusik Chamber Choir and Orchestra.<\/p>\n

The bright and jubilant trumpet-dominated opening was thrilling, setting the mood for the rest to come. Ivars Taurins<\/strong> was the conductor \u2014 or more suitably called the director. He\u2019s someone I have always enjoyed watching. He wears his enthusiasm on his sleeves, or should I say in his body language. Unlike some who tend to be placid or almost inert, Maestro Taurins\u2019 vigorous and emphatic gestures underscore his passion for the music, and it is positively infectious.<\/p>\n

\"L-R:
L-R: Soprano Myriam Leblanc; Tenor James Reese; Conductor Ivars Taurins (Photos courtesy of the artists)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soloists<\/h3>\n

This concert featured two excellent guest soloists, both making welcomed returns to Tafelmusik: Canadian soprano Myriam Leblanc<\/strong> and American tenor James Reese<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

They both possess the ideal instrument for the Baroque genre: beauty of tone, purity of sound, surefire agility, firm technique with a well controlled vibrato, a must in this genre. Leblanc\u2019s silvery tone was wonderful in her aria \u201cDie Seele ruht in Jesu Handen\u201d from Cantata 127, aided in no small way by the gorgeous oboe playing.<\/p>\n

It was followed by the buoyant and vigorous choral writing from Cantata 19, \u201cEs erhub sich ein Streit,\u201d a hit to be sure. Despite its breakneck tempo, Taurins maintained perfect control.<\/p>\n

Tenor James Reese showed off his attractive lyric timbre complete with fine coloratura in the brisk tempo of \u201cDie schaumenden Wellen\u201d. The two soloists joined forces in \u201cWohl aber uns\u201d from Cantata 130, their voices blending beautifully.<\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n

Rather than citing more highlights \u2014 yes, there were plenty more! \u2014 let\u2019s just say that it was a scintillating performance in a repertoire that shows off Tafelmusik at its very best.<\/p>\n

With a 20+ minute intermission, the concert was almost exactly two hours, a bit on the short side in my book, especially when it\u2019s so enjoyable.<\/p>\n

I look forward to several upcoming Tafelmusik performances this season, including a most unusual outing, in Debussy\u2019s Pelleas et Melisande for Opera Atelier at Koerner Hall next month. Talk about playing a work that is completely outside its usual repertoire. I can\u2019t wait!<\/p>\n

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Opening night of Tafelmusik\u2019s A Bach Celebration was just the doctor ordered, especially for Torontonians tired of a long, lingering winter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":122608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[42533,74,11,19,46,52,63],"tags":[1651,42655,41478,5793],"yst_prominent_words":[12154,6610,6605,6609,10179,6618,6611,6604,6617],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Copy-of-REVIEW-2026-03-16T102138.063.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-vTw","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122606"}],"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=122606"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122611,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122606\/revisions\/122611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122606"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=122606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}