{"id":16086,"date":"2013-11-19T21:36:39","date_gmt":"2013-11-20T02:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=16086"},"modified":"2013-11-19T23:15:10","modified_gmt":"2013-11-20T04:15:10","slug":"concert-review-toronto-mendelssohn-choir-and-guests-make-magic-of-benjamin-britten-cantatas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2013\/11\/19\/concert-review-toronto-mendelssohn-choir-and-guests-make-magic-of-benjamin-britten-cantatas\/","title":{"rendered":"Concert review: Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and guests make magic of Benjamin Britten cantatas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Narrator<\/a>
Narrator Diego Matamoros, soloists Lesley Bouza and Colin Ainsworth, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and orchestra with conductor Noel Edison rehearse Benjamin Britten’s The Company of Heaven<\/em> aat Yorkminster Park Baptist Church (John Terauds iPhone photo).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here\u2019s a suggestion: If you go to one choral concert other than Messiah<\/i> this season, make it the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir\u2019s brilliant tribute to Benjamin Britten on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n

Tuesday night\u2019s dress rehearsal at Yorkminster Park Baptist Church revealed not only a compelling, deeply affecting programme, but wonderful performances from the Mendelssohn Choir, the Toronto Children\u2019s Chorus, orchestra, pianists, organist and, last but far from least, soloists tenor Colin Ainsworth and soprano Leslie Bouza.<\/p>\n

Mendelssohn Choir music director Noel Edison chose two cantatas to showcase the composer\u2019s genius for writing potent music drama for all ages and abilities: The Company of Heaven<\/i>, created for BBC Radio in 1937, and Saint Nicolas<\/i>, commissioned for the centennial of Lancing College but premiered at Aldeburgh in 1948.<\/p>\n

Because both cantatas are written in English, it\u2019s much easier to connect with their Christian content than when listening to Latin — which can be a plus or a minus, depending on your own views on religion.<\/p>\n

But taken in a broader, pan-spiritual context, both works squarely address the struggles between good and evil and of finding the strength to carry on in the face of adversity which are universal to the human condition.<\/p>\n

While The Company of Heaven<\/i> is ostensibly about St Michael the Archangel and our relationship with the spirits of the hereafter, and Saint Nicolas <\/i>is about an early Christian martyr (bastardized through the twists of passing centuries and cultural migration into Santa Claus), the message, like in so much of the sacred music of J.S. Bach, is deeply personal.<\/p>\n

And Britten, although writing in a modern idiom, was just as adept as Bach at evoking deep emotion in abstract music.<\/p>\n

Ainsworth\u2019s solos are a particular highlight in this programme. His years of stage experience have given him the tools to make the most out of every phrase and accent. His voice is in glorious form, filling the cavernous Yorkminster Park church with ease.<\/p>\n

Lesley Bouza\u2019s warm, rich voice has become more beautiful every time I hear her sing.<\/p>\n

The choirs \u2013 both adult and children\u2019s \u2013 are strong, confident and beautifully polished. The small orchestra, paired with the church\u2019s big pipe organ with Michael Bloss at the console, is flexible and balanced.<\/p>\n

Saint Nicolas<\/i> is the more winsome of the two cantatas, while the choppier, more episodic Company of Heaven<\/i> is the more varied showcase of Britten\u2019s early writing.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Soulpepper Theatre actor Diego Matamoros narrating expertly into the church\u2019s not-quite-current audio system, we can even get a feel of what that first radio broadcast must have sounded like nearly three generations ago.<\/p>\n

Despite the best efforts of all the artists putting forward their musical offerings in honour of the 100th<\/sup> anniversary of Britten\u2019s birth on Friday, and despite the composer even spending time in Toronto, his music remains a reluctant draw for many of this city\u2019s art music fans.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s a reason why Britten has such devoted fans among musicians and listeners around the world, and this concert is a particularly fine way to experience why this is so.<\/p>\n

The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir is offering two tickets for the price of one for Wednesday night\u2019s concert. But these seats would still be a bargain at twice the price.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll find all the concert details here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

John Terauds<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s a suggestion: If you go to one choral concert other than Messiah this season, make it the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir\u2019s brilliant tribute to Benjamin Britten on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,4,11,76,19,36,44,47,52,53,56,60,63,1,70],"tags":[6451,497,4178,857,2192,4180,6471,4179,6474],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/11\/tmc-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-4bs","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16086"}],"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=16086"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16095,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16086\/revisions\/16095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16086"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=16086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}