{"id":16677,"date":"2013-12-16T08:41:56","date_gmt":"2013-12-16T13:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=16677"},"modified":"2013-12-16T10:48:00","modified_gmt":"2013-12-16T15:48:00","slug":"toronto-classical-and-opera-picks-for-december-16-to-22-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2013\/12\/16\/toronto-classical-and-opera-picks-for-december-16-to-22-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto classical and opera picks for December 16 to 22, 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_16682\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16682\" style=\"width: 720px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thestar.com\/life\/2010\/12\/19\/photos_handels_singalong_messiah.html\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16682\" alt=\"Ivars Taurins leading the singalong Messiah at Massey Hall is an annual tradition (Andrew Wallace\/Toronto Star photo)\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/12\/taurins.jpg\" width=\"720\" height=\"497\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/12\/taurins.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/12\/taurins-300x207.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16682\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ivars Taurins leading Tafelmusik&#8217;s Singalong <em>Messiah<\/em> at Massey Hall is a beloved annual tradition (Andrew Wallace\/Toronto Star photo).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The last set of weekly critic&#8217;s picks of 2013 includes the expected annual battle of the big <em>Messiahs<\/em> &#8212; Toronto Symphony vs Tafelmusik &#8212; as well as an unexpected operatic treat:<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>MONDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Euphonia at Lula Lounge, 1585 Dundas St W. 8 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Toronto&#8217;s hip, new chamber orchestra and conductor Simon Capet celebrate the season at their loungey home base with a variety pack of music, carols and revelry &#8212; followed by a salsa band. You&#8217;ll find the details <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lula.ca\/events\/2013\/dec\/euphonia-holiday.html\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TUESDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Organist David Briggs at St James Cathedral, 1 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Anglican cathedral&#8217;s concert-organist artist-in-residence presents a programme of Advent-themed music ranging from J.S. Bach to Marcel Dupr\u00e9 as well as a freewill offering from one of the world&#8217;s great organ improvisers. You&#8217;ll find the details <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stjamescathedral.on.ca\/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=FZdFQbcAKYY%3d&amp;tabid=61\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Ariadne auf Naxos<\/em> in concert at Calvin Presbyterian Church, 26 Delisle Ave, 7:30 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There&#8217;s no staging and only a piano for accompaniment, but there are some excellent singers assembling for this concert presentation of Richard Strauss&#8217;s well-loved opera, including tenor Roger Honeywell as the resident divo. It may be worth checking out <a href=\"http:\/\/allevents.in\/toronto\/ariadne-auf-naxos-in-concert\/229825133847564\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>THURSDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/12\/addis.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16685\" alt=\"addis\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/12\/addis.jpg\" width=\"555\" height=\"291\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/12\/addis.jpg 555w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/12\/addis-300x157.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 555px) 100vw, 555px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Baritone Phillip Addis for Music Toronto at the Jane Mallett Theatre, 8 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We saw him just a couple of months ago in the Canadian Opera Company&#8217;s production of <em>La Boh\u00e8me<\/em>. Now Phillip Addis presents a solo recital with pianist Emily Hamper. The programme includes art songs by Hugo Wolff, Francis Poulenc and Benjamin Britten. Because this is one of Music Toronto&#8217;s Discovery concerts, tickets are ridiculously cheap. Details <a href=\"http:\/\/music-toronto.com\/discovery\/phillip_addis.htm\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FRIDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Little Matchgirl Passion<\/em> at the Music Gallery, 8 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>American composer David Lang turned the story of Hans Christian Andersen&#8217;s tragic <em>Little Match Girl<\/em> into a fascinating cantata for four voices and percussion that won a Pulitzer Price in 2008. It&#8217;s a chanty, stark affair with incredible emotional power perfect for the intimate, Victorian Gothic confines of the Music Gallery. I&#8217;ll have more on this later this week. You can check out the details <a href=\"http:\/\/www.musicgallery.org\/eachevent.php?event_id=111#.Uq79B5GZNSI\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SATURDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Organist David Briggs at St James Cathedral, 4 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>One of the great masterpieces of modern organ music, <em>La Nativit\u00e9 du Seigneur<\/em> by Olivier Messiaen, gets a complete performance from the most capable of hands, interspersed with seasonal readings. Admission is by freewill offering.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a sample, as Ian Ball plays &#8220;Dieu parmi nous&#8221; at the organ of Gloucester Cathedral:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dsOc1-bR5jc?rel=0\" height=\"113\" width=\"150\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>MESSIAH WATCH<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tuesday:<\/strong> The Toronto Symphony launches its seasonal <em>Messiah<\/em> concerts with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Besides this year&#8217;s highly operatic soloists, another wild card is the Toronto d\u00e9but of British conductor Christopher Warren-Green. Performances continue to Sunday (except Thursday). Details <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tso.ca\/Concerts-And-Tickets\/Events\/2013-2014-Season\/Handels-Messiah.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Wednesday:<\/strong> It&#8217;s the first night of Tafelmusik&#8217;s sold-out run of Messiah performances at Koerner Hall with conductor Ivars Taurins. There may still be tickets available for Sunday afternoon&#8217;s Singalong <em>Messiah<\/em> at Massey Hall, a beloved annual tradition. Check for details <a href=\"http:\/\/roythomson.com\/eventdetail\/singalong\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Saturday:<\/strong> Aradia Ensemble and conductor Kevin Mallon present their annual, intimate <em>Dublin Messiah<\/em> at the Glenn Gould Studio at 8 p.m. Details <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aradia.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SEASONAL CONCERTS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This week marks the start of the last, big, tinselly gasp of holiday concerts in the GTA. You&#8217;ll find an impressive list at WholeNote, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewholenote.com\/index.php\/listings\/concertsgta\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>John Terauds<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The last set of weekly critic&#8217;s picks of 2013 includes the expected annual battle of the big Messiahs &#8212; Toronto Symphony vs Tafelmusik &#8212; as well as an unexpected operatic treat:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,74,11,76,19,3895,36,38,43,44,45,46,56,60,63,70],"tags":[6451,358,6455,920,997,4299,2202,6467,2643,6474],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/12\/taurins.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-4kZ","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16677"}],"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=16677"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16701,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16677\/revisions\/16701"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16677"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=16677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}