{"id":27782,"date":"2015-04-25T08:29:32","date_gmt":"2015-04-25T12:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=27782"},"modified":"2015-04-25T11:10:31","modified_gmt":"2015-04-25T15:10:31","slug":"scrutiny-aisslinn-nosky-and-tafelmusik-present-a-cheeky-baroque-misbehaving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2015\/04\/25\/scrutiny-aisslinn-nosky-and-tafelmusik-present-a-cheeky-baroque-misbehaving\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | Aisslinn Nosky and Tafelmusik Present a Cheeky “Baroque Misbehaving”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Aisslinn
Aisslinn Nosky Photo: Cylla von Tiedemann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra with\u00a0Aisslinn Nosky at\u00a0Jeanne Lamon Hall. Thursday, April 23.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Perhaps there\u2019s no such thing as an entirely typical Tafelmusik<\/a> concert \u2013 but Thursday night\u2019s program at Trinity-St. Paul\u2019s Church, titled \u201cBaroque Misbehaving,\u201d was especially unusual, for a couple of reasons.<\/p>\n

First, it threw a spotlight on Aisslinn Nosky<\/a>, who can usually be found playing in Tafelmusik\u2019s violin section. For this program, she was front and centre as both a concertmaster and soloist.<\/p>\n

Second, mixed in among various Baroque bon-bons was a world premiere by the Montreal-based composer Michael Oesterle \u2013 a piece called Snow White<\/em>. In her opening remarks, Nosky noted that \u201cIt\u2019s not every day we get to play a piece written in the 21st century.\u201d<\/p>\n

And perhaps there was more to the concert than met the eye. Tafelmusik is currently an ensemble at a crossroads \u2013 and as Jeanne Lamon waves a long goodbye, after serving for more than three decades as the band\u2019s (almost) only artistic director ever, it was hard not to suspect that \u201cBaroque Misbehaving\u201d was also Nosky\u2019s audition for the top job.<\/p>\n

Nosky wasted no time establishing her clear leadership skills in Henry Purcell\u2019s Suite from Abdelazar<\/em>. Brisk tempos, emphatically dotted rhythms, and strikingly accented offbeats made for a lively performance.<\/p>\n

In Johann Rosenm\u00fcller\u2019s intimate Sonata 2 a due<\/em>, Nosky and Christopher Verette (the other violinist in the \u201ca due\u201d configuration) were nicely balanced. As well, the performance offered greater insight into the kind of violinist Nosky is. Like a true Tafelmusiker, she wields a nimble bow, likes to lean into phrases, and pushes and pulls on the beat just a hair, for expressive purposes. If she were to become Tafelmusik\u2019s next artistic director, it doesn\u2019t seem likely that she\u2019d strive to change the orchestra\u2019s distinctive sound much.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t especially fond of Marc-Antoine Charpentier\u2019s Suite from Circ\u00e9<\/em>. To my ears, the relentless tutti<\/em> orchestration of this six-movement suite sounded \u201cchunky\u201d and grew rather dull. I suspect this problem could have been helpfully addressed with some imaginative leadership from Nosky, but this didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

However, Giusesppe Torelli\u2019s Concerto Grosso in E Minor Op. 8 No. 9<\/em> was a different story. Here Nosky shone as both a soloist and leader. Although some double-stops were clearly a challenge for her, she found many ways to infuse this piece with variety and energy. As well, her virtuosic passage-work in the last movement was very impressive.<\/p>\n

Oesterle\u2019s Snow White<\/em> was another showpiece for Nosky, written so that she was playing constantly. Stylistically, the piece was a remarkable synthesis of ideas: Vivaldi meets Philip Glass with some Aaron Copland and Celtic fiddling thrown in. It was also a tricky piece for a conductorless ensemble, with sudden changes in tempo, texture and mood.<\/p>\n

Yet despite its challenges and disparate influences, Snow White<\/em> was well put together, and there was never a dull moment.<\/p>\n

For the finale, the full complement of players was brought to the stage (on this occasion, this was strings, harpsichord, bassoon and a pair of oboes) for Georg Philipp Telemann\u2019s Orchestral Suite in C Major<\/em>. This meaty, satisfying piece featured the woodwinds as soloists \u2013 and they rose to the occasion with strong and spirited performance.<\/p>\n

Is Nosky in the running for the job of artistic director? Perhaps. But if she is, she\u2019ll be up against HIP musicians (probably, but not necessarily, other violinists) from across Canada and around the world.<\/p>\n

Still, there\u2019s something appealing about the idea of a home-team contender who stands a good chance against national or international competitors. That home-team contender could be Nosky.<\/p>\n

Concert repeats\u00a0Saturday, Sunday (3:30) at\u00a0Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, Jeanne Lamon Hall,<\/span> and Tuesday (George Weston Recital Hall). Details here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perhaps there\u2019s no such thing as an entirely typical Tafelmusik concert \u2013 but Thursday night\u2019s program at Trinity-St. Paul\u2019s Church, titled \u201cBaroque Misbehaving,\u201d was especially unusual, for a couple of reasons…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":27784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[118,74,19,52],"tags":[196,3223],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/04\/AisslinnNoskyheadshot_by_Cylla_von_Tiedemann7716.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-7e6","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27782"}],"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\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27782"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27793,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27782\/revisions\/27793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27782"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=27782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}