Volume 19 Issue 4 - December 2013

More documents

Info

and I’m a little less into that sort of thing now. I’ve found joy insimpler repertoire.“And there’s a lot of the standard repertoire that I still haven’t done.For next year, I’ve programmed Schubert’s Sonata in A Major D.959and his Impromptus — and I’ll be playing the Impromptus for the firsttime. But I’ll also revisit Nikolai Medtner’s Night Wind Sonata, which Ithink is an unsung masterpiece. It would benefit any young composerto study it very closely.”Hamelin’s international career has maintained its lofty status. He’scurrently artist-in-residence at London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall(where he made a memorable live recording slmost 20 years ago). Herecently gave the first of five recitals there; the program’s first half wasidentical to the one he will be performing in Toronto January 21 andrepeating in Lindsay the next evening. London blogger Frances Wilsonsummed it up: “The program traced a darkly lit narrative from thebrooding opening bars of Hamelin’s atmospheric Barcarolle, throughthe sprawling musical landscapes of Medtner’s Night Wind pianosonata.” Here, he’ll be playing the last four Schubert Impromptus afterintermission.Hamelin is a pianist whose mastery of the mechanical aspectsof music making has always been in support of his artistic vision, ameans of fulfilling the music’s emotional content. Mark the date.LaPlante and Lortie: LaPlante’s recital at the Narvesons’ Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Series, in Waterloo January 18, harks backto that autumn week in 2007. Included in a program of the kind ofvirtuosic romantic music for which the pianist is known — Chopin,Liszt and a Busoni arrangement of the Bach Toccata, Adagio andFugue in C — is the Mozart Sonata in E-flat K282 he played six yearsago. Coincidentally he’s also performing the Jacques Hétu VariationsHamelin played during that same anniversary celebration.Lortie will be leading the TSO from the keyboard in a performanceJanuary 22 and 23 of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.22, K482 with itshaunting middle “Andante” and elegant cantabile slow menuet thathijacks its “Allegro” third movement. “The important thing about asoloist being able to conduct,” Lortie says on his website, “is that he isa master of time in all senses.” He believes that it’s the time involvedin rehearsal (“which ideally is as much time as needed”) that is essential.Since he believes that the Mozart concertos are true chambermusic and that every player brings his own input to the playing ofthem, “you must have time to discuss phrasings with people.” Peoplewho play a Mozart trio or quartet will take hours to discuss theirapproach; he wants to bring those same values to the concertos.Bezuidenhout: On the subject of Mozart, fortepiano specialistKristian Bezuidenhout conducts the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestrafrom the keyboard December 5 to 8 in Mozart’s Concertos Nos. 9 &11, K271 and K413. Like Hamelin’s, Bezuidenhout’s boyhood homehad a massive record collection and by the age of 9 or 10 he wasintimately familiar with Mozart’s music. He discovered his fascinationwith historic keyboards as student at the Eastman School ofMusic. “The scale of the piano went just far enough that one couldrecapture the sense of sturm and drang and tempestuousness that ispresent in Mozart’s music,” he observes in a video available on theTafelmusik website.Finally, a third pianist-conductor, Ignat Solzhenitsyn (son of theiconic Soviet writer and dissident), will, like Lortie, bring his talentsto Roy Thomson Hall as part of the TSO “Mozart @258 Festival.” OnJanuary 11 he will perform the Concerto No.18, K456 with its secondmovement “Andante” exhibiting a pathos rare for the composer.QUICK PICKS!!Two in Waterloo: Highly touted American pianist Andrew VonOeyen’s December 2 concert ranges from Bach’s Partita No.1 toRavel’s La Valse; the gifted French pianist Jean-Philippe Collard’seye-opening program January 15 consists of Debussy’s Preludes,Book I and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Both at thePerimeter Institute.!!Koerner Hall Debut: Russian-born pianist Kirill Gerstein whodivides his time between America and Germany is that rare classicalpianist with a jazz degree from the Berklee College of Music. HisDecember 8 program includes two Ligeti Etudes, two Virtuoso Etudesby Earl Wild from songs by Gershwin and Pictures at an Exhibition.!!COC Piano Virtuoso Series: RCM Rebanks Fellowship-winnerStefan Chaplikov takes on Beethoven’s massive masterpiece,the Hammerklavier Sonata December 10; fellow RCM RebanksFellowship-winner (and one of the few Arabs performing Westernclassical music), Algerian-born Mehdi Ghazi looks to reveal thepassion in works by Rachmaninov, de Falla, Prokofiev and MessiaenJanuary 7; young American Christopher Goodpasture plays Fantasiesby Schumann and Hétu and Etudes by Chopin and DebussyJanuary 16. All concerts are free and at noon in the Richard BradshawAuditorium.)Paul Ennis is The WholeNote’s managing editor.20 | December 1, 2013 – February 7, 2014 thewholenote.com
Beat by Beat | In the ClubsPlenty to Sing AboutAcclaimed actress andsinger Jenni Burke is happyto be leading “SaturdaySwing-Along” brunches at JazzBistro, taking place December 7,14, and 21 at 12:30pm. Burke’scharming voice and warm stagepresence, along with special guestsand sing-alongs will offer folksfrom one to ninety-two a chance toget into the spirit of the season.“I love this time of the year whenI remember to take a moment toremember what it’s all about,”says Burke. “For all the materialhoopla associated with the holidayseason, its meaning doesn’t lie inthe perfect gift, the obligations, therunning around, all the glitter and bows, but in the birth of somethinglovely and new inside our hearts ... we are reminded at this timeof year that we can be more than we are.That we can and should be the force oflove in this world. A time to count ourblessings and be grateful and experiencethe joy of giving.” Jazz Bistro will beaccepting food donations at the door insupport of Daily Bread Food Bank andCBC’s Sounds of the Season; those whoDenielle Bassels.Diana Panton.ORI DAGANJenni Burke.bring a non-perishable donation will beadmitted free of charge.Anyone looking for a bargain onNew Year’s Eve should hurry up andmake reservations at Gate 403. Cover isonly $10 for the evening, with entertainmentprovided by the Denielle BasselsJazz Band. A recent graduate of HumberCollege, Bassels is a brilliant talentwith more than just a gorgeous voice.Reminiscent of the late Amy Winehouse,the singer-songwriter’s music is allat once classic, contemporary andappealing. Gate 403 is an unpretentious venue, and one of the onlyclubs in Toronto that features live jazz and blues seven days a week.It’s certainly deserving of your continued support, and there is hardlyever a cover charge. That being said, most of the money the musicianstake home for their hard work comes from the Pay-What-You-Canjar, so be sure to contribute, especially if you enjoy their performance.Generous tips make for excellent karma!A few months back I had the honour of playing a gig with Canadianjazz legend Don Thompson. Afterwards we chatted about some ofour favourite singers. He asked me whether or not I had heard DianaPanton, a vocalist he has been working with for years, with whom herecently toured Asia.“Oh, they just love her over there ... people revere her singing overthere,” he said. “They come to meet her after the show and they arein tears. She is so honest and beautiful and they really get it.” Askedwhether she would be playing here anytime soon, he said no, Ibetter just listen to her records, and so I checked out some of herwork. Panton’s sensuous voice and her pared-down approach translatebeautifully on recording, often sounding like she is whisperingin your ear. Thankfully, some gigs have been booked since then, andwe can all see and hear the Diana Panton Trio live on a few occasionsin the near future. With the exquisite backing of Don Thompsonthewholenote.com December 1, 2013 – February 7, 2014 | 21
Page 1 and 2: PRICELESS!Vol 19 No 4CONCERT LISTIN
Page 4 and 5: 2013HOLIDAYCELEBRATE THE SEASON WIT
Page 6 and 7: PRICELESS!As regular readers know,
Page 8 and 9: flow of those surroundings.”Altho
Page 10 and 11: Previous page: Danuta and Witold Lu
Page 12 and 13: Beat by Beat | On Opera & Music The
Page 14 and 15: production of Rigoletto. She had ju
Page 16 and 17: Beat by Beat | Art of SongAddis and
Page 18 and 19: Beat by Beat | Classsical & BeyondK
Page 22 and 23: and Reg Schwager, Diana Panton will
Page 24 and 25: Beat by Beat | BandstandDiversity i
Page 26 and 27: Beat by Beat | Early MusicEarly Ear
Page 28 and 29: Beat by Beat | Choral ScenePleasure
Page 30 and 31: Soundstreams will also sponsor an i
Page 32 and 33: interdisciplinary performance. It w
Page 34 and 35: with the music department at York U
Page 36 and 37: The WholeNote listings are arranged
Page 38 and 39: 145 Queen St. W. 416-363-8231. Free
Page 40 and 41: free(under 12). Includes refresheme
Page 42 and 43: O’ Meara, Accompanist; St. Michae
Page 44 and 45: ● ● 7:00: Starvox Entertainment
Page 46 and 47: Christmas Oratorio; settings by var
Page 48 and 49: ● ● 7:00: Grand River Chorus. S
Page 50 and 51: ● ● 4:00: Church of the Ascensi
Page 52 and 53: $25(sr); $15 (st/un(der)employed).
Page 54 and 55: MozartCoronation MassLouis LortieJA
Page 56 and 57: INTIMATELYBACHJAN 29-FEB 2TRINITY-S
Page 58 and 59: others. Yorkminster Park Baptist Ch
Page 60 and 61: ● ● 8:00: Renaissance Singers.
Page 62 and 63: Dec 12 5pm Felix Wong Jazz Trio; 9p
Page 64 and 65: ●●Jan 27 12:10: University of T
Page 66 and 67: Classified Advertising | classad@th
Page 68 and 69: SEEING ORANGE continued from previo
Page 70 and 71:
in the 12th and 13th centuries duri
Page 72 and 73:
Jake Heggie - Moby-DickMorris; Cost
Page 74 and 75:
Two Russian violin concertoswritten
Page 76 and 77:
“Elegia por A.J.C.;” from its o
Page 78 and 79:
LAWRENCE CHERNEY: Inter-Nationalist
Page 80:
SEASON PRESENTING SPONSORTHE POWER1
show all

Volume 19 Issue 4 - December 2013

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?