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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

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