Volume 12 - Issue 9 - June 2007

EARLY Musicby Frank NakashimaOpera Atelier's April/May productionof Gluck's Orpheus &Eurydice at Toronto's Elgin Theatrefeatured the extraordinary youngathletic Colin Ainsworth. As oneof few lyric tenors capable of sustainingthe high tessitura requiredfor this leading role, he movesgracefully, handily receptive to extensiverhythmic baroque posturingand movement which accentuatesor punctuates the singing. PeggyKriha Dye, as Euridice, alsobrought many fine vocally dramaticmoments to the stage. OA productionsare highly choreographedand visually stunning. At onepoint, as many as 16 well-matcheddancers filled the stage. Surprisingpoint work, daring lifts, and athleticleaps acknowledged and perhapsanticipated some progressivedancing at that time. The lighting,dim at times, revealed just enoughof the flowing stylish costumes,and had a "crescendo" of its own,leading to the brightly-lit finale.On May 20, Kathleen Kajioka, averitable fireball of talent, put togetheran ensemble consisting ofherself and violinist ChristopherVerrette, cellist Rebecca Morton,and lutenist Lucas Harris to performsome of the extraordinarilybeautiful repertoire of 17'h centuryItaly, in the program Words ofMercury, Songs of Apollo. Thisreprise from a Music Garden settinglast year, minus the sounds ofjets flying overhead, and ferry boatswith their partying passengers,found a welcoming and thankfulaudience that Sunday afternoon.Their fleet fingers in dialogue, variations,and diminutions, also foundharmonic surprises in Turini' s Sonataa tre, and classic form inCorelli's Chaconne.magnificent in Europe. In fact, theywere so highly prized by LouisXIV that he wrote his own tourguide to help visitors enjoy them!Double your pleasure, double your •fun, with two violins, actuallyDeux Violons Sans Basse, playedby Sheila Smyth and Valerie Sylvesteras they explore repertoirefor two unaccompanied violinsTafelmusik Chamber Choirspanning music from the Renaissanceto the late Baroque. The roque Summer Institute getsmusic ranges from 15th and 16th under way in June, so does thecentury German bicinia, through fabulous opportunity to cash in onearly English fantasias and danc- some of the excellent free enteres,Italian sonatas, programme tainment such as Tafelmusik Bamusicsuch as Monteclair' s Con- roque Orchestra & Chamber Choircerts and also Telemann's spectac- with soprano Ann Monoyios andular and quirky Gulliver Suite of tenor Rufus Millier (June 2); thethe 18th century (June 10) - pre- Faculty Chamber Concert (June 7);sented by the Toronto Early Mu- the TBSI Orchestra & Choir, disicCentre.rected by Jeanne Lamon and !varsTaurins (June 11); and the GrandFollowing the Bata Shoe Museum Finale Concert - The combinedcurator's lecture on the aesthetical- forces of the TBSI Orchestra,ly-pleasing and opulent fashions of Tafelmusik Orchestra, TBSI Choirthe Rococo, Sense and Sensuality: and Tafelmusik Chamber Choir inThe Charm of Rococo (June 22) a baroque extravaganza (June 14).will be music from that period byThe Musicians In Ordinary (HallieFishel, soprano, John Edwards,lute, and special guest cellist LauraJones), played on the archluteand the baroque guitar. A cantataby Vivaldi , a cello sonata by Boccheriniand airs by Merchi will recreatethe elegant ambience of theHigh Baroque and Rococo periodsas these musicians put this musicinto context. While the royal courtsembraced opulent extravagant fashions,music also began to acquirea corresponding decorative ornamentation.The Museum's exhibi-tion "The Charm of Rococo" willcause visitors to imagine themselvesstepping out to a similarconcert in the exquisite footwearof the times.This month, L'lntemporel Ba-roque Ensemble, comprised of The Windermere String Quartet,Mylene Guay (baroque flute) , Lau- again on period instruments (Ronara Jones (viola da gamba) and Dav- Goldensher, violin; Genevieveid Sandall (harpsichord), will be Gilardeau, violin; Anthony Rapgivinga walking tour of Louis oport, viola; and Laura Jones, cel­XIV's gardens at Versailles in their lo), bring the great classics to youconcert program une Promenade (June 24), performing Haydn' sdans Les Jardins du Roi (June 2), Quartet in C Op.9 No. I; Mozart'sperforming music by musicians "Hoffmeister" Quartet in D K.499;employed at the Chateau de Ver- and Mendelssohn's Quartet in Esailles at that time , namely , flat Op.12.Couperin, Marais, Leclair, Hotteterreand d' Anglebert. These gar- Some of the best things in life aredens were considered to be the most free . When the Tafelmusik Ba-A new choir, the Oakville ChamberChoir, makes its debut June2, under the direction of StephanePotvin, in a program of early music- Bach, Lober den Herrn ; Homilius,Wir liegen var dir mit unsermGebet; Monteverdi, Messa a4; Schiltz, Sicut Moses; Porpora,Magnificat. Sounds like a greatstart!Also baritone Peter Drobac, accompaniedby Borys Med icky,harpsichord; Mary-KatherineFinch, cello; Gillian Howard, oboe,will be giving a vocal recital, AlasPoore Men, of works by Bach,Legrenzi, Hume, Kyr Stefan theSerb (June 22), a most unusualassortment of early music.Frank T. Nakashima(franknak@interlog.com) is thePresident of the Toronto EarlyMusic Centre, a non-profit charitableorganization which promotesthe appreciation of historically-informedperformances ofearly music.Bi 11 • .., N:S / f 1,,;;, ( 'J!/, (If§/k ,f!JJ~O/}er 35_yMrs qf q11ali(J 1restorations'/ (11·0;1!0.'1 I :'.'.d11.,.i1·1· I 'ii!lr(!!,i' / !/111111 .\ /m11·mo111J Sales J Service J Tuning J RestorationJ Rentals J Moving J StorageShowrootn N ow ()pen !" Come Pla y and l ~ njo y"J UN E 1 - J UL Y 7 2007WWW. THEWHOLENOTE.COM