Volume 17 Issue 9 - June 2012

Here are details for some other events taking place in June orearly July:!!June 3 at 5pm: Hallie Fischel, soprano, and John Edwards, luteand guitar, will also celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubileewith a concert featuring music from the time of Queen Elizabeth I, atSt. Olave’s Church, 36 Windermere Ave.!!June 7 at 12:15pm: Marina Tchepel, soprano, and PatriciaWright, piano, will give a recital at Metropolitan United Church, 56Queen St. E.; admission is free.!!June 8 at 7pm: the Swedish Women’s Educational Associationwill present Josefine Anderson, mezzo-soprano, and NigarDadascheva, piano, in a concert of music by Grieg, Stenhammar,Sibelius, Schumann, Schubert, Mendelssohn and others, at AgricolaLutheran Church, 25 Old York Mills Road.!!June 8 at 7:30pm: Guy Moreau and Pamela Hyatt will present“Cabaret a la Franglaise” at The Annex Live, 296 Brunswick Ave.!!June 12 at 12:10pm: the University of Toronto Community willpresent a program entitled “Music and Dance for Haiti.” Singersinclude Laura Hare, soprano, and Sam Broverman, baritone. Theconcert takes place in the Music Room at Hart House, 7 Hart HouseCircle.!!June 13 at 7:30pm: in a concert presented by the Danish andSwedish Consul Generals and the Icelandic Consul, the NordicSingers (Randi Gislason and Cecilia Lindwall, sopranos; MagnusGislason, tenor; Hans Lawaetz, baritone), who last performed inToronto in 2012, will sing Scandinavian music, Nielsen to ABBA, atthe Danish Lutheran Church, 72 Finch Ave. W. Most of the group aremembers of the Royal Danish Opera.!!June 14 at 12:10pm: Claudia Lemcke, soprano, and ChristopherDawes, piano, will perform at Christ Church Deer Park, 1570 YongeSt.; admission is free and donations are welcome.!!July 2 at 12:15pm: as part of the Musical Mondays series, KristineDandavino, mezzo-soprano, and William Schookhoff, piano, willperform a program which will range from Saint-Saëns to Gospel atthe Church of the Holy Trinity, 10 Trinity Sq.Beat by Beat | Choral SceneGadfly Season?BEN StEINPerhaps it is the beautiful weather outside, but I cannot get myhead around a way to thematically link this month’s concertstogether in my usual artful, elegant, insightful manner. Forgetit, I give up. Here instead are some column topics at various levelsof quarrel-picking provocativeness. I invite you to use them as yourown argument-starters with family, friends and colleagues. (Noamount of bribes or flattery will induce me to reveal which, if any, ofthe following statements I actually agree with, though readers arecertainly welcome to try.)– Very few choirs should ever attempt to sing Bach.– Choirs should rarely —actually, never —use a piano in rehearsalwhen singing a cappella music. Even when pianos are in tune,they’re not in tune. Pianos are to choirs as that big wooden horse wasto Troy.– Music died with Brahms. Pretty much everything composed inthe 20th century should be avoided.– On the other hand, most choral music written before 1700 iscompletely boring. Program it and watch attendance drop at bothconcerts and religious services.– Why bother programming Canadian music? There’s tons of superiorAmerican and British stuff out there.– Choral diction is a contradiction in terms. In this region you mayas well stick with German/French/Italian repertoire, because no oneunderstands what you’re singing anyhow. Seriously, what’s the pointof drilling consonants on something like “She’s like the swallow thatflies so high” when all the audience is going to hear is “cheese bites,Postscript: As I was about to send this off to the publisher, I read thesad news of the death of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. It was my goodfortune that I heard him twice in concert in the early 60s: once withElisabeth Schwarzkopf, once in a program that consisted of the completeMörike Lieder by Hugo Wolf. He has left a very extensive legacy ofrecordings. I particularly prize his 1955 performance of Schumann’sopus 39 Liederkreis and his 1971 performance of Schubert’s DieWinterreise, both with the incomparable Gerald Moore.Hans de Groot taught English Literature at the University of Torontofrom 1965 until the spring of 2012, and has been a concert-goerand active listener since the early 1950s; he also sings and playsrecorder. He can be contacted at artofsong@thewholenote.com.www.sorrows.ca416-231-6016Pastor:Rev. Fr. Nino Cavoto3055 Bloor Street West, justwest of Royal York RoadFree Lunchtime OrganConcert SeriesWednesdays 12:15 – 1:00Music and Artistic DirectorGordon D. MansellEnjoy free lunchtime concerts everyWednesday throughout the summer.Be inspired by a different artist each week.One of the most stunning Baroqueinstruments in the worldJune 1 – July 7, 2012thewholenote.com 23