{"id":8909,"date":"2013-01-14T09:27:59","date_gmt":"2013-01-14T14:27:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=8909"},"modified":"2013-01-14T09:27:59","modified_gmt":"2013-01-14T14:27:59","slug":"critics-picks-toronto-concerts-and-opera-for-january-14-to-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2013\/01\/14\/critics-picks-toronto-concerts-and-opera-for-january-14-to-20\/","title":{"rendered":"Critic\u2019s picks: Toronto concerts and opera for January 14 to 20"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_8912\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8912\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8912\" alt=\"Pianist Lucille Chung plays a mystery recital in Richmond Hill on Tuesday.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/lucille.jpg\" width=\"750\" height=\"562\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/lucille.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/lucille-300x224.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8912\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pianist Lucille Chung plays a mystery recital in Richmond Hill on Tuesday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>TUESDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pianist Lucille Chung at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts, 8 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/lucillechung.com\" target=\"_blank\">Lucille Chung<\/a>, who originally hails from Montreal, is a very fine pianist who hasn&#8217;t played here in a long time. It&#8217;s been 10 years since she blew me away at a live recital, and I&#8217;d love to hear what she&#8217;s up to artistically these days. But how can I be tempted to travel all the way up to Richmond Hill&#8217;s new arts centre if I don&#8217;t know what she is going to perform? If you&#8217;re feeling adventurous, you may be rewarded with an evening of fine music in a relatively intimate setting. Details (or lack thereof) <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rhcentre.ca\/buy-ticket.php?action=571686\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>UPDATE:<\/strong> Chung&#8217;s agent, Andrew Kwan, has provided details of the programme, which looks fantastic:<br \/>\nMozart \u2013 Sonata in Bb Major K. 570<br \/>\nScriabin \u2013 Five Selected Preludes<br \/>\nLiszt \u2013 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13 in A Minor<br \/>\nSchumann \u2013 Fantasiest\u00fccke Op. 12<br \/>\nLiszt \u2013 Concert Paraphrase on Verdi\u2019s Rigoletto<\/p>\n<p><strong>WEDNESDAY &amp; THURSDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Conclusion to Toronto Symphony Orchestra&#8217;s Mozart@257 festival, 8 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Toronto Symphony has phenomenal principals in viola Teng Li and concertmaster Jonathan Crow, who can show off their greatness in the <em>Sinfonia concertante<\/em> K320d\/K364. The orchestra&#8217;s excellent woodwinds can demonstrate their poise and balance in a <em>Serenade<\/em>, K384a, and the whole ensemble will get music director Peter Oundjian&#8217;s clear-headed leadership in <em>Symphony No. 40<\/em>, K550. This should be Mozart at his best. Details <a href=\"http:\/\/tso.ca\/Concerts-And-Tickets\/Events\/2012-2013-Season\/Mozart-Symphony-40.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>THURSDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8914\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8914\" style=\"width: 585px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8914\" alt=\"Mehdi Ghazi at Rideau Hall in 2010 (Dany Veillette photo)\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/mehdi.jpg\" width=\"585\" height=\"390\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/mehdi.jpg 585w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/mehdi-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 585px) 100vw, 585px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8914\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mehdi Ghazi at Rideau Hall in 2010 (Dany Veillette photo).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>Pianist Mehdi Ghazi at the Richnard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, noon. Free.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This young Algerian, who has made Montreal his new home, has been impressing many people with his sensitive, expressive playing. He presents a classic recital in miniature for the Canadian Opera Company&#8217;s free lunchtime recital series. It begins with Bach (with a bit of help from Ferrucio Busoni), includes a Beethoven sonata (&#8220;Quasi una fantasia&#8221;) and Gy\u00f6rgy Ligeti&#8217;s &#8220;Arc-en-ciel&#8221; <em>Etude<\/em> and concludes with two great pieces by Franz Liszt. Details <a href=\"http:\/\/the-coc.s3.amazonaws.com\/pdfs\/concert130117.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>THURSDAY TO SUNDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra with R.H. Thomson at Trinity-St Paul&#8217;s Centre, 8 p.m. (3:30 p.m. on Sunday) &#8212; repeats Jan. 22 at George weston Recital Hall.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Actor R.H. Thomson loves classical music and is a longtime fan of Tafelmusik. He has blended his passions as well as his vocation into a themed programme of words and music. He becomes Mr Richard Neale, retired oboist of the Orchestra of Her Majesty&#8217;s Theatre, Haymarket, a perch from which he &#8212; and we &#8212; can survey the state of concert music in 1740s London. You can read extensive programme notes and background information &#8212; as well as check out ticket availability &#8212; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tafelmusik.org\/concert-calendar\/concert\/baroque-london\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SATURDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pianist Lara Downes at Gallery 345, 8 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Last year, Californian <a href=\"http:\/\/www.laradownes.com\/web\/home.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">Lara Downes<\/a> wowed us with <em>13 Ways of Looking at the Goldberg<\/em>. Now she&#8217;s returning with a pile of music united by a theme of exile. I&#8217;ll have more on this great-looking programme later in the week. In the meantime, check out the details <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gallery345.com\/performances.php\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8918\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8918\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8918\" alt=\"Freiburg's Ensemble SurPlus comes to the Music Gallery on Friday.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/surplus.jpeg\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/surplus.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/surplus-300x225.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8918\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Freiburg&#8217;s Ensemble SurPlus comes to the Music Gallery on Saturday evening.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ensemble-surplus.de\" target=\"_blank\">Ensemble SurPlus<\/a> performs for New Music Concerts at the Music Gallery, 8 p.m. (Introductory talk at 7:15 p.m.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Fans of heavy-duty new music can check out the current state of central European affairs with this dynamic, now well-travelled Freiburg-based ensemble that has been devoted to non-mainstream repertoire for just over 20 years. If clear melodies bore you and rhythmic clarity leaves you feeling wan, check out the details <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newmusicconcerts.com\/page9\/page9.html\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SUNDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Opera Student Composer Collective of University of Toronto Faculty of Music presents <em>Antigone<\/em> at the MacMillan Theatre, 2:30 p.m. Free.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Nothing will beat the fuss and amusement U of T&#8217;s student composers caused last year with <em>Rob Ford, the Opera<\/em>. So rather than try for a comic repeat, this year&#8217;s new student opera reaches back to the roots of serious Western theatre, in Sophocles&#8217; <em>Antigone<\/em>. Resident grown-up director Michael Patrick Albano has written the libretto, which has been set to music by four student composers and will be sung by six opera students. Erik Thor, a fledgling master at doing a lot with very little, has staged it. Sandra Horst will keep everything together from the conductor&#8217;s podium. Details <a href=\"http:\/\/www.music.utoronto.ca\/events\/calendar\/nmf0120.htm?ViewMode=View&amp;DateTime=634942890000000000&amp;PageMode=View\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>John Terauds<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TUESDAY Pianist Lucille Chung at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts, 8 p.m. Lucille Chung, who originally hails from Montreal, is a very fine pianist who hasn&#8217;t played here in a long time. It&#8217;s been 10 years since she blew me away at a live recital, and I&#8217;d love to hear what she&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,74,76,19,36,38,39,43,46,47,56,60,62,63,1,67,68,70,71],"tags":[6451,6455,920,1699,6467,6474],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/01\/lucille.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-2jH","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8909"}],"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=8909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8909"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=8909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}