Volume 13 - Issue 10 - July/August 2008

foR OPENERS •••GREAT CHAMBER MUSIC DOWNTOWNBe thankful for small mercies, dear readers. Such as, forexample , the fact that the music we cover mostly measures itsseasons from September to June. So you get spared the lists of "bestof, worst of, most surprising, least heralded" that swamp papers andperiodicals at the end of the calendar year. After all, who needsreflection in July when the sun on the water can do it for you?Not to disillusion you if you love that kind of thing, but you do realize,don't you, that they're just a sneaky way for writers to file twostories at once, two weeks before Christmas, so they can get the hellout of town to avoid having to read all the "best, worst, most" stuffthat swamps papers and periodicals at the end of the calendar year.And even if we wanted to, it's hard to know when we could, thesedays, because even the good old September-to-June classical scenebarely stops to catch breath before galloping off into the summeronset.That being said, this year we've succumbed and decided to have a bitof a go at the "best of' seasonal cusp comment thing. Thank you toour seven beat columnists for getting into the spirit of things -allowing the editorial staff to turn the tables and have the writersanswer the questions instead of asking them . Same five questions toeach, mostly but not entirely looking back. Fun for us (and them, itseems.) We hope for you as well.Come to think of it, no one asked me for my responses. So here goes,anyway.In answer to the first question? - a tie: Yannick Nezet-Seguin, agood four inches off the podium, sailing into the final movement ofthe Brahms Fourth (energico e passionato as it says in the score -except there wasn't one in sight) and the TSO hanging on for dearlife, revelling in the ride; and Anton Kuerti on the stage at WalterHall (again with nary a note in sight) walking back and forth betweenkeyboard and front of stage, walking the audience back and forththrough the Diabelli Variations (and then, seated at the keys takingthe piece all the way to heights that before I'd only half heard in it).Second question? - probably the boatload of cash siphoned off bygovt. to the new festival on the block; the grand design being, itseems, to convince the world that the only time Toronto is worthvisiting culturally is during the first couple of weeks in June. Um,am I missing something?Third - I'd have spent more space than this remembering the kick inthe stomach hearing that the COC 2007-2008 season would startwithout Richard Bradshaw at the helm - just when it seemed that"music director" and "conductor" were set to become the biggerpart of his COC legacy. (And perhaps reflecting a bit on the fact thattoday's announcement by the COC of a successor, fills only one ofthe three pairs of shoes that Bradshaw wore.) Could have beenworse, though. They might have appointed a stage director to the job.Question four? Soweto String Quartet will get me almost all the wayto Elora's Gambrel Barn for a late July jaunt to listen to a jazz singerI like.And as for question five - can't possibly top the columnists' flights offancy on that one. (Although doubtless a few readers will want totry.) If you think you can, send your suggestions to editorial@thewholenote.com and I'll pass them on to the artists in question,pretending they were my own ideas, of course.A final note: this is WholeNote number 140. Countdown tosesquicentennial gravitas just one hell-raising summer away. FreeCDs to the first five readers to tell me who was on cover number100.David Perlman, editor2008-09 SEASONSUBSCRIPTION SERIESQUARTETS $269,$293Th. Oct. 16Th. Oct. 30Th. Nov. 6Th. Dec. 4Th. Jan. 22Th. Mar. 5Th. Apr. 2Th. Apr. 30Brentano QuartetKeller QuartetGryphon TrioMiami QuartetTokyo QuartetPrazak Quartetwith Roger Tapping, violaSt. Lawrence Quartetwith Barry Shiffman, violaand Marina Hoover, celloTokyo QuartetPIANO $170,$185Tu. Oct. 21Tu. Nov. 11Tu. Dec. 9Tu. Jan. 27Tu. Apr. 7Alexandre TharaudMarc-Andre HamelinEve EgoyanBarry DouglasMarkus GrohDISCOVERYyoung artists $50Th. Jan. 15Th. Feb. 5Th. Mar. 12Darrett Zusko, pianistCecilia QuartetDavid Pomeroy, tenorCONTEMPORARY CLASSICS $63,$69Th. Oct. 30Tu. Dec. 9Th. Jan. 15Keller QuartetEve Egoyan, pianistDarrett Zusko, pianistBUY THE SEASON -16 CONCERTS $427, $466QUARTETS+ PIAN0-12 CONCERTS $408, $447QUARTETS+ DISCOVERY-11 CONCERTS $298, $322PIANO + DISCOVERY - 8 CONCERTS $205, $220The lower price is the last 4 rows of the theatre.torontdartsb oun c il~""'"' sleng1n~odyot 1neC,1yolTo,on10~­IDllONWswww.music-toronto.comPlease call 416-366-7723~ Canada Council Conseil des Arts~ lorthe Arts du Canada~ ONTARIO ARTS COUNCIL)'-\, CONSEILDESARTS ~L'ONTARIOatJane Mallett TheatreSt. LAWREI\JCE CENTRE rn~ ARTS416-366-7723 • 1-800-708-6754order online at www .stlc.comJ ULY 1 - SEPT 7 2008 WWW. TH EWHOLENOTE.COM 7