{"id":46579,"date":"2017-08-04T01:50:06","date_gmt":"2017-08-04T05:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=46579"},"modified":"2017-08-04T08:19:56","modified_gmt":"2017-08-04T12:19:56","slug":"scrutiny-anton-kuertis-pianistic-homecoming-at-toronto-summer-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2017\/08\/04\/scrutiny-anton-kuertis-pianistic-homecoming-at-toronto-summer-music\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY |\u00a0Anton Kuerti\u2019s Pianistic Homecoming At Toronto Summer Music"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Anton
Anton Kuerti with his partner Catherine Berthiaume (Photo: Jennifer Liu)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Tribute to Anton Kuerti. Jane Coop, piano; Laura Pudwell, mezzo-soprano; Barry Shiffman, violin; Douglas McNabney, viola; Joseph Johnson, cello. Toronto Summer Music Festival, Walter Hall. August 3.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a feel-good evening for the classical piano community, Toronto Summer Music’s sold-out tribute concert to Anton Kuerti attested to the lasting legacy of the pianist, who had been stricken with a stroke nearly four years ago<\/a><\/span>. The audience numbered piano professors, concert pianists, and other performing artists from all corners of the Greater Toronto Area, with some coming from as far away as Montreal and British Columbia\u2014and for those not in attendance, CBC was on-site to record the concert for future radio broadcast.<\/p>\n

As forecasted<\/a><\/span>, Kuerti was among the audience. Maintaining a calm, poised demeanor throughout the evening, suffice to say his presence was the binding force for the evening\u2019s musical line.<\/p>\n

The concert saw pianist Jane Coop joined by an additional performer with each passing piece, all of which hold professional, sentimental associations with Kuerti\u2019s career. In the evening\u2019s musical pastiche, Coop began with a solo performance of Beethoven\u2019s Seven Bagatelles Op. 33, followed by the Mozart Violin Sonata in E minor, K. 304 with Barry Shiffman, then the two Ges\u00e4nge Op. 91<\/em> by Brahms in the company of Laura Pudwell and Douglas McNabney. The Schumann Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat Major closed the evening, as Shiffman, McNabney, plus Toronto Symphony Orchestra principal cellist Joseph Johnson joined forces with Coop. With his head-bobbing mirroring that of his Montreal Symphony Orchestra counterpart Brian Manker, Johnson\u2019s playing injected a refreshing dose of fun to an event meant to celebrate a living musical giant.<\/p>\n

The mood post-concert was one of collective celebration and reflection, amongst the audience as much as among the evening\u2019s musicians. Douglas McNabney was happy to see where Toronto Summer Music stands since ceding its artistic directorship to Jonathan Crow<\/span><\/a>: \u201cSeeing a full house like this just gladdens my heart. I\u2019m so thrilled with what Jonathan has done\u2014I passed on the torch to a younger guy with all the energy it takes to keep it going!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A full house at Toronto Summer Music’s “A Tribute to Anton Kuerti” with Barry Shiffman, Jane Coop, Douglas McNabney, and Joseph Johnson (not pictured: Laura Pudwell) (Photo: Jennifer Liu)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Barry Shiffman is innately familiar with Kuerti\u2019s playing, to the point of having heard the pianist perform every piece on the programme. \u201cAnton is a towering figure, not just in my life but in the life of Canadian music. He also is a very close personal friend. [\u2026] In fact, even specific choices I did of fingering, extensive glissandi, the portamenti,\u2026 were because of things Anton had asked me to do when we performed this last. It was just so lovely to have him there, [it was] incredibly moving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joseph Johnson\u2019s reflections conveyed a humanity that shone through his playing. \u201cI remember meeting [Kuerti] when I first got here nine years ago. Just to be able to do something like this, even though it\u2019s a little tiny thing compared to all he\u2019s done, is pretty amazing. I\u2019m just deeply, deeply honoured; not only to play with Jane, but to have him in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

How to summarise a tribute performance in five ideas? Look no further than to Jane Coop: \u201cHuge, huge memories. Big privilege. Warm feelings. Nervous. But really happy to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the course of the evening, Kuerti received endless well-wishers, and the pianist even exchanged words with a select few. Many remarked upon his healthy appearance and outfit, topped off with a cream-colour scarf with chevron accents. \u201cThat\u2019s his new trademark,\u201d pointed out his partner Catherine Berthiaume who, mirroring her role in Kuerti\u2019s recovery, could be found for much of the evening under the piano great\u2019s outstretched arm.<\/p>\n

For more CLASSICAL MUSIC NEWS, visit\u00a0HERE<\/u><\/a><\/span>.<\/h3>\n

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

Amid a pastiche of pieces and musicians from his performance career, Anton Kuerti was indeed the central theme to his tribute performance. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":46580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6439,10,76,19,47,52,59,63],"tags":[317,3357],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/08\/IMG_0162.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-c7h","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46579"}],"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\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46579"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46585,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46579\/revisions\/46585"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46579"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=46579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}