Volume 21 Issue 1 - September 2015

seemed re-engaged if not re-energized. It was a generous gift to an
appreciative audience who greeted the conclusion of each of the three
pieces with a standing ovation.
(All of which makes me look forward to Lisiecki’s December 6
recital in Koerner Hall when his program will include Chopin’s 24
Preludes, Mendelssohn’s Variations sérieuses and Mozart’s marvellous
Piano Sonata, K331 among other works.)
Paul Lewis. Still on the subject of Stratford Summer Music, on
the last Thursday afternoon of July in a warm St. Andrew’s Church
(hand-held fans were provided) British pianist Paul Lewis spoke to his
congregation, as it were, those of us privileged to hear this supreme
interpreter of Beethoven and Schubert, describing how he saw the
pieces he was about to play – what he called “true peaks of the piano
repertoire” – Beethoven’s last three piano sonatas.
The concert turned out to be the highlight of my summer. You can
read more about it in my blog on thewholenote.com. (Lewis will also
be giving a recital, of Brahms, Schubert and Liszt, in Koerner Hall
March 20, 2016. I already have a ticket.)
Botos and Bartók. Meanwhile, the tenth anniversary season of
Toronto Summer Music reached a significant climax August 6 with
separate concerts late in the afternoon and into the evening. Robi
Botos and Béla Bartók, two Hungarian-born émigrés to the New
World, were appropriate poster boys for the well-conceived and multilayered
2015 TSM festival.
With its extensive schedule built around a foundation of TSM
Academy fellows and mentors, the concerts, masterclasses, lectures,
films and open rehearsals flowed organically, buttressed by a number
of additional concerts featuring special guests such as soprano Measha
Brueggergosman, pianists Garrick Ohlsson, Ingrid Fliter and Danilo
Pérez and the Danish String Quartet. They provided ample evidence
for artistic director’s Douglas McNabney’s contention at the opening
concert that TSM provides “a significant contribution to the cultural
life of this city in the summer.” Not to mention a significant contribution
to the life of the Academy fellows.
MSOMasterworks
MSOHoliday *
MSOEpic
thewholenote.com Sept 1 - Oct 7, 2015 | 17