{"id":46161,"date":"2017-06-25T11:10:45","date_gmt":"2017-06-25T15:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=46161"},"modified":"2017-06-25T11:10:45","modified_gmt":"2017-06-25T15:10:45","slug":"scrutiny-a-fiery-finish-to-the-toronto-symphony-orchestra-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2017\/06\/25\/scrutiny-a-fiery-finish-to-the-toronto-symphony-orchestra-season\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY |\u00a0A Fiery Finish to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra Season"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra performs Carmina Burana with guest soloists<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra concludes its 2016\u201317 season with Carl Orff\u2019s Carmina Burana<\/em>. It has been a tendency of the TSO to program a choral\/vocal spectacle or two towards the end of each season. I recall a fantastic Verdi Requiem<\/em> a couple of seasons ago. This month, we\u2019ve already had terrific performances of Belshazzar\u2019s Feast<\/em> and Seven Deadly Sins<\/em>. But here, the TSO saved its best for last in this series of four performances.<\/p>\n

Composed in 1936, the Orff gained immense popularity in the \u201860s and \u201870s. It became one of the most-performed large-scale choral pieces, with many commercial recordings vying for our attention. Given it\u2019s less ubiquitous these days, it\u2019s nice to be re-acquainted with its magic. Orff chose 24 poems from Latin text dating from the 11th<\/sup> or 12th<\/sup> centuries, unearthed from a Benedictine monastery in Upper Bavaria. The text deals with the vagaries of nature and the fickleness of human life, with all its pleasures and pain \u2013 all expressed in a rather uncomplicated way, and always with energy and passion.<\/p>\n

Indeed, energy and passion were what defined the performance on Friday\u00a0night. Peter Oundjian threw himself into the monumental work, conducting with a deft baton. Most importantly, there was a real sense of joy, something lovely to see. With appropriately brisk tempi, he raised the musical temperature to a scorching level: exciting, yes; raw, never! \u00a0From the very striking opening of \u201cO Fortuna,\u201d one is completely drawn into the drama. The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir sang with impressive power, energy and incisiveness. I was particularly struck by how youthful the women sounded, almost like a treble choir \u2013 and I mean that in a good way!\u00a0 The Toronto Children\u2019s Chorus provided the proper sound of innocence, so important in this piece.<\/p>\n

The trio of soloists was as good as it gets. The tenor has only one aria, \u201cCignus ustus cantat\u201d in which a swan laments his fate as a roast on the dinner table. It\u2019s a real challenge given its high tessitura \u2013 most (but not all) sing it in falsetto. Here we have the ideal interpreter in countertenor Daniel Taylor, who certainly made a meal of the aria, pun intended! \u00a0He injected the necessary humour into the piece, really the only way to do it. The baritone has a lot more work, with music that taxes both extremes of his range. Phillip Addis \u2013 a noted Pelleas \u2013 has the upper extension in his lyric baritone to do it full justice, singing an outstanding \u201cDies, nox, et omnia.\u201d<\/p>\n

But top vocal honours of the evening deservedly belonged to soprano Aline Kutan, who astounded the audience with the soaring beauty and purity of her sound. Her \u201cDulcissime\u201d could hardly be bettered. It opens on a high note, held rock steady, resplendent and without any hint of harshness, later ascending up to a high D. \u201cIn trutina\u201d is written much lower in the soprano\u2019s range. While Kutan doesn\u2019t have quite the power in her middle voice, she offered a caressing warmth that was altogether winning.<\/p>\n

\"Nicola
Nicola Benedetti performs with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and conductor Peter Oundjian (Photo: Jag Gundu)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019d be remiss if I forget to mention the fine playing of the glamorous Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti, who contributed a brilliant virtuosic display in the Szymanowski Violin Concerto<\/em> in the brief first half. Her playing was technically brilliant, but always at the service of the music and its inherent lyricism. Hers was the playing of not so much a brilliant technician, but that of a mature and refined artist.<\/p>\n

Downtown is jammed with many events and hellish traffic, but it was well worth the\u00a0effort to get to Roy Thomson Hall.<\/p>\n

For more REVIEWS, click HERE<\/u><\/a><\/span>.<\/h3>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A superb cast of soloists makes a meal out of Carmina Burana as the TSO sends off its 2017\u201318 season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":46164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6439,11,76,19,3693,52,60,63],"tags":[2400,2624,6504,3360,3403],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/06\/Oundjian-Addis-Taylor-Kutan-TMC-TCC-@Jag-Gundu.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-c0x","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46161"}],"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=46161"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46177,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46161\/revisions\/46177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46161"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=46161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}