Volume 23 Issue 3 - November 2017
In this issue: conversations (of one kind or another) galore! Daniela Nardi on taking the reins at "best-kept secret" venue, 918 Bathurst; composer Jeff Ryan on his "Afghanistan" Requiem for a Generation" partnership with war poet, Susan Steele; lutenist Ben Stein on seventeenth century jazz; collaborative pianist Philip Chiu on going solo; Barbara Hannigan on her upcoming Viennese "Second School" recital at Koerner; Tina Pearson on Pauline Oliveros; and as always a whole lot more!
In this issue: conversations (of one kind or another) galore! Daniela Nardi on taking the reins at "best-kept secret" venue, 918 Bathurst; composer Jeff Ryan on his "Afghanistan" Requiem for a Generation" partnership with war poet, Susan Steele; lutenist Ben Stein on seventeenth century jazz; collaborative pianist Philip Chiu on going solo; Barbara Hannigan on her upcoming Viennese "Second School" recital at Koerner; Tina Pearson on Pauline Oliveros; and as always a whole lot more!
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In addition to his concert appearances, Bezuidenhout<br />
(who also plays the harpsichord and modern piano) will<br />
lead a masterclass on <strong>November</strong> 11 at Jeanne Lamon Hall,<br />
which is free and open to the public.<br />
Ensemble Masques<br />
Ensemble Masques<br />
Originally formed in Montreal, the international Baroque<br />
chamber group Ensemble Masques makes their Toronto<br />
debut on <strong>November</strong> 18 at St. Thomas’s Anglican Church.<br />
A classical supergroup featuring players from Collegium<br />
Vocale Gent, Tafelmusik and the English Concert, among<br />
others, this team of experts will perform a concert of music<br />
by Telemann. (Readers west of Toronto will be interested<br />
to know that Ensemble Masques will be performing the<br />
same program on <strong>November</strong> 16 in the Music Room of the<br />
Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society.)<br />
Georg Philipp Telemann was enormously prolific, writing well over<br />
a thousand works, and was one of the most celebrated composers of<br />
his time before falling into relative obscurity. According to Ensemble<br />
Masques’ recent press release, their concert looks to “wipe clean<br />
generations of misunderstanding that kept Telemann in the shadows.<br />
Where Bach looked heavenward, Telemann’s genius was for life here<br />
on Earth. A brilliant observer of the world around him, his music<br />
translates all facets of human experience into works that are full of<br />
humour, wit and infinite invention.”<br />
For modern audiences familiar with the contrapuntal density of<br />
Bach and the rhythmic vitality of Handel, Telemann’s music might<br />
seem rather simple and transparent. But do not be fooled. Hiding<br />
within Telemann’s massive oeuvre are works of remarkable beauty,<br />
and Ensemble Masques is undoubtedly well-equipped to put these<br />
pieces on public display. In advance of their Toronto appearance,<br />
explore their latest recording of Telemann’s Theatrical Overture-<br />
Suites on the Alpha label.<br />
QUICK PICKS<br />
In addition to these international headliners, there are a number of<br />
other talents, both local and foreign, playing Toronto this month. Here<br />
are a few.<br />
Nov 4 and 5: Cor Unum Ensemble - “Music from the Early<br />
Italian Baroque.”<br />
Cor Unum Ensemble is one of Toronto’s newest groups, an orchestra<br />
and chorus comprised primarily of students and graduates from the<br />
University of Toronto’s Early Music program. This talented, homegrown<br />
group of players presented Bach’s St. John Passion last year and<br />
their take on music by Monteverdi, Gabrieli, Frescobaldi and other<br />
Italian composers from the early Baroque should be on point as well.<br />
Nov 10: “At the Heart of Bach - Christian Lane plays CCDP.”<br />
Winner of the 2011 Canadian International Organ Competition,<br />
American organist Christian Lane plays an all-Bach program on Christ<br />
Church Deer Park’s 1982 Karl Wilhelm tracker organ. This instrument,<br />
a perfect match for Bach’s inimitable organ music, should be like<br />
putty in Lane’s hands.<br />
Nov 19: “Musicians on the Edge: Jazz Standards of the<br />
Seventeenth Century.”<br />
Rezonance Baroque Ensemble presents a concert of 17th-century<br />
tunes with a focus on ensemble improvisation. With a continuo<br />
section of Ben Stein, whose doctoral work focuses on the ancient art<br />
of partimento and the development of improvisation, Erika Nielsen<br />
and David Podgorski, the bass lines in this concert should be tight<br />
and groovy.<br />
Dec 1: Upper Canada Choristers – “Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit.”<br />
Christmas comes early this year, particularly for Charpentier fans,<br />
as Upper Canada College’s choristers perform Charpentier’s Messe de<br />
Minuit pour Noël and Kodály’s Christmas Dance of the Shepherds.<br />
Charpentier’s mass is a time-tested masterpiece that will bring in the<br />
Christmas season with style.<br />
While it might seem rather early to mention Christmas, another<br />
month of seasonal favourites will be upon us before we know it! To<br />
keep up to date on all the Messiahs, oratorios, concertos and other<br />
Baroque things happening in the city, check out next month’s column.<br />
Until then, drop me a line at earlymusic@thewholenote.com.<br />
Matthew Whitfield is a Toronto-based harpsichordist and organist.<br />
P A X<br />
•<br />
C H R<br />
I S T<br />
•<br />
C H O R A L E<br />
I<br />
David Bowser<br />
Artistic Director<br />
Saturday, December 2, <strong>2017</strong><br />
4 p.m.<br />
The Children’s<br />
Messiah<br />
Church of the Redeemer<br />
Pay what you can at the door<br />
Join our annual community concert,<br />
Handel’s Messiah adapted especially<br />
for little ones and their families.<br />
A joyous way to welcome the season.<br />
thewholenote.com <strong>November</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 27