Volume 24 Issue 6 - March 2019

KAPPA KIKKAS
Castilian String Quartet
assembled a shortlist of five quartets which were then observed in
at least two concerts during the course of a year, always without the
musicians’ knowledge.
According to the award announcement, “The aspects that were
evaluated included their professional approach, repertoire, programming,
the artistic quality of the
concerts, their musical profile,
and also the imagination and
innovation displayed by the musicians.
Their artistic career to date
and recordings, where applicable,
were also evaluated.”
The award is an initiative of
Wolfgang Habermayer, owner
of Merito Financial Solutions,
and Valentin Erben, founding
cellist of the Alban Berg Quartet.
“The critical factor for us is how
the young musicians behave in
‘everyday life’ on the concert
stage,” said award co-founder
Erben. “The human warmth and
aura radiated by these four young
people played a key role. They are
never just putting on a show – the
music is always close to their heart.
You can feel their intense passion for playing in a quartet.”
The Castalian String Quartet performs in the Richard Bradshaw
Amphitheatre of the Four Seasons Centre in a COC free noon-hour
concert on April 4. The program includes Haydn’s String Quartet
Op.76, No.2 “Fifths” (a reflection of the Castalians’ passion for the
inventor of the string quartet), and Britten’s String Quartet No.2,
written just after WWII to mark the 250th anniversary of Henry
Purcell’s death.
Mariam Batsashvili
Women’s Musical Club of Toronto
Now in her mid-20s, Georgian pianist Mariam Batsashvili is another
promising young artist. She began studying the piano at four; by
seven, “completely in love with the instrument,” she knew she wanted
to be a pianist for the rest of her life. She gained international recognition
at the tenth Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht in 2014,
where she won First Prize as well as the Junior Jury Award and the
Press Prize. This success led to performances with leading symphony
orchestras, and to an extensive program of recitals in more than
30 countries. She was nominated by the European Concert Hall
Organisation (ECHO) as Rising Star for the 2016/17 season. A BBC
Radio 3 New Generation Artist, she is performing at major festivals
and concert venues across the UK as part of that award.
Her comprehensive April 4 recital in the Music in the
Afternoon series of the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto
begins with Busoni’s soaring arrangement of Bach’s iconic
Chaconne from Partita No. 2 for violin, BWV 1004, taps
into Schubert’s fountain of lyricism, the Impromptu
Op.142, No.1 D935, moves on to Mozart’s haunting
Rondo in A Minor, K511 and Liszt’s virtuosic Hungarian
Rhapsody No.12; then concludes with Beethoven’s notoriously
difficult Sonata No.29 in B-flat Major, Op.106
“Hammerklavier.” In Walter Hall; just a few weeks after a
performance in London’s Wigmore Hall.
Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society
Janina Fialkowska’s March 11 recital for the Kitchener-
Waterloo Chamber Music Society, marking her 37th year
of performing for KWCMS, features an ambitious, wellpacked
program that begins with Mozart’s beloved Sonata
in A Major, K310. An impromptu by Germaine Tailleferre;
a nocturne by Fauré; an intermezzo by Poulenc; two pieces
by Debussy; and Ravel’s Sonatine – a selection of music
by French composers, reminiscent of a French program by
Fialkowska’s teacher, Arthur Rubinstein – lead into three mazurkas, a
nocturne (Op.55, No.2), scherzo (No.3) and ballade (No.4) by Chopin
(the composer with whom she is most identified) performed in
Fialkowska’s inimitable style.
Later in the month, clarinetist James Campbell joins the Penderecki
String Quartet for Brahms’ splendid Clarinet
Quintet. Dvořák’s Quartet No.10 in E-flat
Major, Op.51, “Slavonic” is the other major
work on the March 20 program.
Timothy Steeves steps away from his usual
role as pianist with Duo Concertante for a
recital of four adventurous Haydn sonatas
on April 1, his second all-Haydn recital for
the KWCMS.
Music Toronto
Danny Driver’s March 5 recital was the
subject of my conversation in our February
issue with the Hyperion Records artist, who
“may be the best pianist you’ve never heard.”
Works by CPE Bach, Schumann, Saariaho,
Ravel and Madtner will be performed by this
uncompromising artist who demands a lot
of himself: “When I feel I have come close [to
achieving what I set out to achieve artistically],
it’s an intensely rewarding experience.”
The following week on March 14, the
Lafayette String Quartet – artists-in-residence at the University of
Victoria since 1991 – who have spent more than 30 years together with
no changes in personnel – partners with the Saguenay (formed in
1989 as the Alcan) String Quartet to perform three string octets. Join
them in this rare opportunity to hear Niels Gade’s String Octet in F
Major, Op.17, Russian-Canadian Airat Ichmouratov’s String Octet in
G Minor, Op.56, “The Letter” and Mendelssohn’s deservedly famous
Octet in E-flat Major, Op.20.
The Saguenay String Quartet) and the Lafayette have played together
many times, a reflection of their special musical bond and creative
friendship.
CLASSICAL AND BEYOND QUICK PICKS
!!
MAR 8, 8PM AND 9, 2:30 & 8PM: Critically acclaimed violinist Nikki Chooi is the
soloist in Vivaldi’s indispensable The Four Seasons with the Kitchener-Waterloo
Symphony. Nicolas Ellis, who was recently named artistic partner to Yannick Nézet-
Séguin and the Orchestre Métropolitain for the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons, leads
the KWS in Beethoven’s essential Symphony No.6 “Pastoral.”
!!
MAR 9, 7:30 AND 10, 3PM: Gemma New leads the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
in Shostakovich’s kinetic Symphony No.5; Kelly Zimba, flute, and Heidi Van Hoesen
Gorton, harp, take charge of Mozart’s Concerto for Flute and Harp K299/297c, the
first work Mozart ever wrote for that combination of soloists.
24 | March 2019 thewholenote.com