Volume 24 Issue 7 - April 2019

JENNIFER TAYLOR
Louis Langrée
orchestra bells, chimes, bass drums, tam-tams, two harps, organ and
strings, plus soprano and mezzo-soprano soloists and a mixed chorus;
an offstage band comprising four trumpets, bass drum with cymbals
attached and additional triangle; another off-stage band consisting of
four horns and additional timpani.
The TSO presents Mahler’s Symphony No.2 “Resurrection” on
April 17, 18 and 20 at 8pm in Roy Thomson Hall. With Joëlle Harvey,
soprano; Marie-Nicole Lemieux, contralto; Amadeus Choir; Elmer
Iseler Singers; renowned Spanish conductor Juanjo Mena takes
the baton.
Louis Langrée has been music director of the Mostly Mozart Festival
at Lincoln Center in New York since 2002 and of the Cincinnati
Symphony Orchestra since 2013. On April 10, 12 and 13, he will lead
the TSO in another pillar of the classical music canon, Beethoven’s
Symphony No.3 “Eroica.” Originally dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte
(the composer later defaced his original dedication to the French
emperor, calling him a tyrant), the Eroica marked the beginning of
Beethoven’s Middle Period and was a major musical step forward in
his symphonic writing. The first movement’s grandeur is followed by
the unnerving, influential funeral march and the uncanny scherzo
which set the stage for the finale’s theme and variations that pushed
the expressive envelope of 1803. Uncompromising and challenging
to this day, the Eroica marked a bold step into the 19th century for a
work that has never lost its power to connect emotionally.
Opening the program is another keystone of the repertoire,
Debussy’s hugely popular Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (1894)
that stretched the traditional system of keys and tonalities to their
late 19th-century limits. Rounding out the evening’s first half is
Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No.1 (1916), considered one of the
first modern violin concertos and a musical heir to Debussy’s work.
Christian Tetzlaff, whose consummate musicianship and versatility
have long been a source of great pleasure, is the violin soloist.
Students Rule
As spring blossoms fill our senses, it’s time to partake
in the fruits of another year’s worth of musical
training. Nine Sparrows Arts Foundation presents
“Rising Stars” of the U of T Faculty of Music on April 2
and of the Glenn Gould School on April 30 and
May 7. Admission is free for these 12:10pm recitals
at Yorkminster Park Baptist Church in midtown
Toronto. The Royal Conservatory presents the Glenn
Gould School Chamber Music Competition Finals in
Koerner Hall at 7pm on April 3. Tickets are required
(but free) and can be reserved a week in advance. At
noon on April 9, the COC presents “Rachmaninoff-
Go-Round,” a free concert featuring GGS piano
students playing selections from Six Moments musicaux,
Op.16 in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre
of the Four Seasons Centre. In the same location,
on April 10 at noon, the COC presents a free concert
featuring the winner of the GGS Chamber Music
Competition. On the same day at 7:30pm in Mazzoleni Hall, RCM
presents the final Rebanks Family Fellowship concert of the season
(free; ticket required). The future is ours to see.
CLASSICAL AND BEYOND QUICK PICKS
!!
APR 7, 2PM: The Gallery Players of Niagara present the Gryphon Trio at 25 years
young! Fresh from winning their latest JUNO, the venerable trio’s program includes
works by Haydn, Brahms and Wijeratne. FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, St.
Catharines.
!!
APR 7, 3PM: RCM presents the justly celebrated American pianist Richard Goode
in an all-Beethoven recital topped off by the master’s final sonata, the celestial Op.111.
Goode will also give two masterclasses in Mazzoleni Hall, to which the public is
welcome, on April 5 at 2pm and April 6 at 2:30pm.
!!
APR 7, 7:30PM: Gallery 345 presents pianist/scholar/writer Jarred Dunn in a recital
comprised of a selection of Chopin pieces along with Beethoven’s penultimate sonata,
Op.110. Featured on the 2018 CBC Top 30 Under 30 list, Dunn has been highly praised
by piano stalwarts Seymour Bernstein and David Dubal.
!!
APR 14, 2PM: Chamber Music Hamilton presents the luminous Calidore String
Quartet in a superbly constructed program of Haydn’s String Quartet in F Major Op.77,
No.2, Beethoven’s String Quartet Op.131 and two pieces by Pulitzer Prize-winner
Caroline Shaw (whose Taxidermy was one of the revelations of the recent 21C Music
Festival performance by Sõ Percussion).
!!
APR 14, 3:15PM: Mooredale Concerts presents the New Orford String Quartet
whose impeccable musicianship will be on display in an all-Beethoven program
featuring a quartet from each of the composer’s early (Op.18, No.4), middle (Op.74)
and late (Op.131) periods.
!!
APR 18, 8PM: Music Toronto presents the Ariel Quartet (winner of the prestigious
Cleveland Quartet Award in 2014) in a program they call “Neue Bahnen (New Paths).”
The title comes from Schumann’s famous article from 1853 heralding a new era with
the arrival of the then-unknown Brahms. The program highlights the special relationship
Schumann and Brahms shared, and looks back to Beethoven and forward
to Webern.
April 28, 2019 2pm
Church of the Redeemer
162 Bloor St W, Toronto
Adults $35 | Students $15
Tickets available online at
mozartproject.ca
Sonata for Unaccompanied Cello, D Bowser
Concerto for Two Violins in D minor BWV 1043, J S Bach
Jonathan Crow, concertmaster, Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Andrew Wan, concertmaster, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal
Requiem, W A Mozart
Kendra Dyck, soprano
Jennifer Routhier, mezzo soprano
River Guard, tenor
Michael Robert-Broder, bass-baritone
David Bowser, conductor
Toronto Mozart Players
Pax Christi Chamber Choir
24 | April 2019 thewholenote.com