Volume 23 Issue 6 - March 2018

Beat by Beat | Choral Scene
Sacred Music Aplenty!
BRIAN CHANG
The opening Kyrie of the Bach Mass in B Minor is one of the
hardest starts of any major work for a choir; with no starting
pitch, the precisely placed hard “K” prior to any other sound,
and careful phrasing that starts right away – the opening has much
to say about how the rest of the performance will play out. Bold and
full should be the effect. Bach’s masterpiece is not a light undertaking
for any choir. This April, it’s safe to assume that
Tafelmusik will take up this estimable work with
its usual intense professionalism, deep artistry and
impeccable technique.
“This is the seventh time Tafelmusik has
[programmed] the Mass, with some 25 performances
behind us,” shares Charlotte Nediger, Tafelmusik
harpsichordist and organist. Instrumentalists and
choristers alike relish revisits to Bach’s work, finding
“new details and more depth in the score every
time.” Nediger continues: “The Bach Mass in B Minor
is a very challenging piece on every level, for all
performers on stage …[It] demands an extremely high
level of skill, virtuosity and artistry of every single
singer, and the combined result is astonishing.”
Ivars Taurins takes the reins with early music soloists.
Dorothee Mields, a German early music specialist,
takes on the soprano. Laura Pudwell, Canadian, is the
mezzo-soprano. English tenor Charles Daniels joins
Canadian Tyler Duncan to round off the soloists. The
essential horn solo in the Quoniam will be performed
by Scott Wevers.
On the performance, Nediger concludes: “To say
that it is inspiring is an understatement – it is also
humbling, in the best sense. Tafelmusik is an ensemble in which
everyone brings absolutely everything they can to every performance,
and I think you sense that in the audience.” Nediger herself has
an enviable position to take it all in, placed at the heart of the stage
in front of the orchestra. With the surrounding forces of Tafelmusik
Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir, she is uniquely positioned to
enjoy the music as she works her way through the intense score.
Tafelmusik performs Bach’s Mass in B Minor April 5 to 7, 8pm,
April 8, 3:30pm at Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St Paul’s Centre
and April 10, 8pm at George Weston Recital Hall, Toronto Centre
for the Arts.
As discussed elsewhere in this issue, on March 30 at 7:30pm at
Metropolitan United Church, the Metropolitan Festival Choir and
Orchestra also perform the Mass in B Minor for Good Friday, with a
top-notch set of soloists: Ellen McAteer and Gisele Kulak, soprano;
Christina Stelmacovich, mezzo-soprano; Charles Davidson, tenor; and
Daniel Lichti, baritone. Metropolitan United Church.
Hilary Apfelstadt and the University of Toronto at Lincoln Center
Hilary Apfelstadt, (soon to be retiring) director of choral activities at
the University of Toronto, last visited Lincoln Center, New York City,
to perform as part of the Distinguished Concerts International New
York City (DCINY) concert series for an International Women’s Day
concert in March 2014. This month she returns for DCINY’s March 17
concert, conducting the combined forces of singers and orchestra in
the major choral work on the program, Luigi Cherubini’s Requiem.
Among the 200 singers from across the US and Canada, including
the Luther College Choir from Regina, will be singers from Toronto’s
Kingsway-Lambton United Church
Chancel Choir and a few dozen
singers from the four major choirs
of the University of Toronto Faculty
of Music. The Cherubini shares the
ticket with a set of smaller choral
works conducted by Martha Shaw,
and the premiere of a concerto for
flute, harp and orchestra by DCINY
composer-in-residence Dinos
Constantinides, led by DCINY principal
conductor Jonathan Griffith.
Of the Cherubini, Apfelstadt says:
“It’s a lovely work, a little unusual,
in that it has no soloists. The choir
is singing almost nonstop. It was
performed at Beethoven’s funeral
because he admired it so much,
but was originally created for the
memorial of King Louis XVI of
France.” This work follows the
Hilary Apfelstadt
standard requiem format, but with
Romantic and Classical elements
reflecting the transition period
beginning in 19th-century European music. The opening two movements
are performed without violins. The deeper sound and broad
crescendos provide a dramatic edge without the higher pitches.
Apfelstadt also notes that the instrumentation lacks flutes, further
contributing to a profound bass and heaviness in the music.
Early Romantic ideals are apparent in the bombastic Dies Irae, with
the unusual programming of a gong. The same movement also shows
a more classical ideal, with fugal runs and strings typical of Mozart
and other classical contemporaries. The choir provides the dramatic
energy of the piece, consistently singing in chorale throughout. The
fugal runs of the Offertorium are particularly exciting.
Apfelstadt is mindful of the intense time commitments and existing
rehearsals music students must juggle. “From a pragmatic point of
view, when you’re teaching at school, you’re always trying to find
8:30am Early Easter Service
(Light breakfast after this service)
10:30am
Easter Sunday Communion Service
Alleluia – R. Thompson
Christ the Lord is Risen Again – E. Daley
This Joyful Eastertide – C. Wood
St. Andrew’s Gallery Choir / Cathedral Brass Quartet
standrewstoronto.org | (416) 593-5600
St. Andrew’s Toronto
St. Andrew
30 | March 2018 thewholenote.com