{"id":329,"date":"2011-12-15T07:22:21","date_gmt":"2011-12-15T12:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=329"},"modified":"2011-12-15T07:22:21","modified_gmt":"2011-12-15T12:22:21","slug":"mini-review-toronto-symphony-messiah-elegant-but-lacking-in-emotional-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2011\/12\/15\/mini-review-toronto-symphony-messiah-elegant-but-lacking-in-emotional-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Mini review: Toronto Symphony Messiah elegant but lacking in emotional power"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m reviewing the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Tafelmusik performances of Handel’s Messiah<\/em> in a single review, for Friday’s Toronto Star. But I cant help sharing a quick first impression of Wednesday night’s first performance by the TSO at Roy Thomson Hall.<\/p>\n

In a nutshell, the period-style, modern instrument interpretation by the TSO and Toronto Mendelssohn Choir is sleek, polished and elegant at the hands of conductor Nicholas Kraemer, who directs from the harpsichord.<\/p>\n

Two of the soloists — soprano Suzie LeBlanc and tenor Lawrence Williford — are exceptional. The choir was amazing.<\/p>\n

But I found that this particular performance valued beauty over emotional connection. I could admire it like a piece of carefully wrought abstract art, not engage with it on a visceral level.<\/p>\n

It’s a triumph of beauty over brawn.<\/p>\n

But is this what Messiah<\/em> is all about?<\/p>\n

More on that tomorrow.<\/p>\n

For all the details on the TSO’s performances, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m reviewing the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Tafelmusik performances of Handel’s Messiah in a single review, for Friday’s Toronto Star. But I cant help sharing a quick first impression of Wednesday night’s first performance by the TSO at Roy Thomson Hall. In a nutshell, the period-style, modern instrument interpretation by the TSO and Toronto Mendelssohn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[74,19,36,39,52,53,60,63,70],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-5j","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329"}],"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=329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}