11In october 1995, in the second ever issue of this magazine (then known as Pulse), we ran as a cover image, not a photograph but a kind of abecedarius — a stylized alphabetical list consisting for the most part of presenters, performers or composers featured in the issue’s concert listings. The Penderecki Quartet came to our rescue for both P and Q. For Z we resorted to jazZ (where were you that month, Winona?), which was a bit lame. And A was as problematic as Z, but for the opposite reason — too many candidates rather than too few.

Read more: The Aldeburgh Connection at 30

8_in_rehearsalUntil the last few years, musical theatre buffs in Toronto and the GTA had to rely on commercial theatres to satisfy their tastes, looking to companies like Mirvish Productions to keep them up-to-date with Broadway and West End hits. Today, things have changed to the point where musical theatre regularly appears in the city’s not-for-profit (NFP) theatres in forms new and old. And performers who cut their teeth in shows produced by Mirvish, Dancap and (the now-defunct) Livent Corp. are achieving marquee status with new and different audiences.

Read more: Adamantly Off-Centre - Obeah Opera and Dani Girl

Very recently I attended bebop-singing pioneer Sheila Jordan`s 83rd birthday celebration in New York City. There was a great turnout of well-wishers present, including loved ones, friends and pupils. Seconds into the third song of the first set, a rude patron became engaged in conversation and if that wasn’t bad enough, he began snickering audibly, repeatedly, obnoxiously, as if it the Blue Note was a Yuk Yuk’s. ”Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!” I thought silently to myself, but the insensitive man was unaware of the filthy looks he was receiving from numerous angles. Thankfully, an angered music appreciator approached the clueless culprit and aggressively shushed him, as if putting out a kitchen fire with baking soda. (Heroes like this particular shusher prove that we’ve all got to get over our shyness when it comes to shushing. Sheesh!)

QUIET NIGHTS

63_jazzintheclubs_mezzettaIn Toronto’s jazz spots, as well, it is usually up to audience members, rather than the venue staff to monitor those who choose to be inconsiderate. Even the most prominent music venues in our club listings do not have a strict quiet policy, in fear of losing business: the likely argument being that those who need to be shushed are often those who order enough to make the live music economically viable.

Since the early 1990s, Mezzetta has been an admirable exception: the Mediterranean restaurant at St. Clair and Christie has been presenting a weekly live jazz and world music series on Wednesday evenings, with a strict quiet policy in effect. St. Clair West has guitarist Brian Katz to thank for initiating this series. An active musician and educator in various genres including classical, jazz, folk, klezmer and free music, Katz reflects on music at Mezzetta:

“Approximately twenty years ago I noticed what appeared to be a charming Mediterranean style new restaurant in my neighbourhood and after visiting just once it struck me as an excellent place — acoustically and vibe-wise — to have a live music series. When I approached the then owner, Yossi Omessi, about the possibility of launching a weekly music series there he, surprise, surprise, seemed incredibly enthusiastic. It only got better: When I suggested that there not be talking while the music was being performed he replied, “of course!” Jane Bunnett and myself opened up the series shortly after to a packed house, and I remained the booker for the venue for twelve years, contacting musicians, writing the blurbs … and eventually running out of adjectives to describe the world class musicians who continue to grace Mezzetta’s stage.”

For the musicians and the audience, how does Mezzetta compare to other music venues?

“In terms of relating Mezzetta to the majority of small, intimate venues in Toronto, the difference is that the crowd comes with the intention to listen to the music (and enjoy a lovely dinner beforehand if they wish), and the musicians walk in knowing that they will be listened to; jazz players especially are often not used to getting such listening attention, and what is strikingly different is that those musicians who are most often accustomed to playing in noisy venues have to actually adjust to the fact that we are presenting an intimate concert, and I believe that brings their playing to a higher level — with the audience being the lucky recipients!  During the first few months of operation, I actually remember one very well-known jazz musician speaking with me just minutes before he went on the stage, insisting that he was sure that people were going to talk during his performance. Goes to show you the “normal” expectation amongst jazz players when it comes to being listened to. I assured him that people came to listen, without talking, and he was pleasantly shocked…I was truly happy to do this for many years, to support the jazz and world music communities, and even happier to see that in time the series could sustain itself without me doing the booking. Safa Nematy, the owner for many years now, does that these days.”

I asked Nemati, how strict the restaurant is about this policy, and why it is important: “At Mezzetta we take our no-talking policy very seriously,” says Nemati. “At the start of the show we remind our audience of this policy and ask them to keep their voices to a minimum volume. I believe that by creating a listening atmosphere, musicians and audience find a perfect setting to perform and enjoy music … the intimate ambience at Mezzetta enhances the experience that could only be found in much bigger concerts.”

The January schedule is not available as of press time, but there will be three concerts in December: baritone saxophonist David Mott in duet with bassist Rob Clutton on the 7th; vocalist Maureen Kennedy with guitarist Reg Schwager on the 14th; and the Roland Hunter trio on will play holiday music on the 21st.

HOLIDAY BLEND

64_jazzintheclubs_hamptonave1Speaking of holiday music, I have two concerts to recommend, both by vocal groups so polished, they sparkle. The first one is a CD release and listening party by Cadence; the group’s new holiday recording Cool Yule will be celebrated on Sunday December 4 at 7:30pm at the Trane Studio. Dubbing themselves as “four men, four microphones, no instruments,” Cadence’s formula is charm, skill, humour and heart aplenty.

Another a cappella quartet appearance of note will take place at the Green Door Cabaret, a new venue which I wrote extensively about in the October issue. On December 9 at 8pm, don’t miss a rare appearance by the Hampton Avenue 4, a distilled version of award-winning vocal group Hampton Avenue, with vocals by Suba Sankaran, Dylan Bell, Tom Lillington and director Debbie Fleming. Expect beautiful arrangements, exceptional musicianship and infectious joy from a group that performs all too rarely these days. Hampton Avenue’s acclaimed CD All I Want for Christmas (1996) will be available for sale. Tickets are likely to sell out for this concert, so be sure to get yours in advance by visiting www.greendoorcabaret.com or by calling 416-915-6747. See you there!

Ori Dagan is a Toronto-based jazz vocalist, voice actor and entertainment journalist. He can be contacted at jazz@thewholenote.com

33_jazz_notes_markmiller2-1Mark miller is probably the finest author of jazz books that this country has ever produced. There. Having stated my case right off the top, I am pleased to say that there is a new addition to his now substantial body of work. It is called Way Down That Lonesome Road, the story of Lonnie Johnson in Toronto, where he lived for the last five years of his life from 1965 to 1970.

There might well be a lot of readers who would ask “Who was Lonnie Johnson?”

Well, he was born into a musical family in New Orleans, in 1899, and was destined to be a pioneer jazz guitarist, credited with being the first to play single string solos on that instrument. In his early career he was pretty well regarded as a blues player although he wasn’t happy to be pigeon-holed as such. But he went on to make recordings in 1927 with Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five as a guest on I’m Not Rough, Savoy Blues and Hotter Than That, and in 1928 with Duke Ellington on Hot and Bothered, Move Over, and The Mooche.

The book covers in some detail the early career of Johnson, but the meat of this work deals with the years spent in Toronto and no one is better qualified than Mark Miller to tell that story.

But in the grand scale of things, Lonnie Johnson is overlooked, like so many other musicians. And therein is a clue as to what makes Mark Miller, the author, click.

He is drawn to the stories of musicians who made significant contributions, but have been neglected because they weren’t “stars.”

Who else would have so diligently researched and written an informative and entertaining book on the life and music of Valaida Snow or an equally rewarding look at the life of Herbie Nichols — again, hardly household names. He likes to look for the overlooked.

It came as no surprise when I learned that Miller was researching a book on Lonnie Johnson’s final years when he called Toronto home. It is a fascinating read set at a time before Yorkville became fashionable and traditional blues and jazz were relatively popular. To those readers who were around in the days of “flower power” and hippies, the book is a nostalgic trip down memory lane and a detailed study of Johnson’s life in a town where he felt welcome.

Another important side of Miller’s life was his time as a reviewer and critic. He was the sometimes controversial jazz columnist for Toronto’s Globe And Mail newspaper from 1978 to 2005. His reviews showed the same insightful and well-crafted standard of writing which is now so clearly evident in his books.

His views were at times open to question with some of his readers, but nobody could ever deny the quality of his writing.

Some of those same readers were of the opinion that Miller had a definite preference for the more contemporary and “avant-garde” players and are surprised, for example, that he would devote the time and energy to a book on the aforementioned Valaida Snow or Lonnie Johnson. A look at the contents of A Certain Respect For Tradition, a volume of his selected writings, will in fact show a knowledge and appreciation of a broad spectrum of the music. Mr. Miller does indeed have a refreshingly open mind to his chosen craft.

He eventually elected to give up writing his pieces for the newspaper. By way of explanation he had this to say: “The business of jazz, the media in general and the Globe in particular have all moved in new directions. Their various interests, and mine, simply diverged.”

Perhaps he saw the writing on the wall, given that nowadays the mainstream media have by and large abandoned coverage of jazz. In the last few years more than half of all arts journalists were either dropped or moved to other positions. On the other hand there are arts blogs now competing for attention online by the hundreds of thousands. But the lack of arts coverage in conventional newspapers speaks volumes about where we are culturally right now.

When asked to name some of his favourite musicians the list ranged from contemporary bassist Renaud Garcia-Fons to Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers via Django Reinhardt, Thelonious Monk and Gil Evans – it was a Gil Evans recording that first opened his ears and mind to jazz – showing a healthy open-minded approach which is reflected in the subject matter of the ten books he has had published.

Looking at the evolving nature of the music, Miller sees a future in which jazz will be seen as a small period of time in the overall development of improvised music in which melody, rhythm and a melding of musical influences from other cultures played an essential part and after which the texture of jazz changed radically, evolving and reinventing itself while still retaining its creative force.

If there is a tougher way of making a living in jazz by playing, then it surely is surviving as a writer about jazz. It is also a lonely occupation with no instant feedback from an audience, no applause for a well written chapter or a well-placed turn of phrase.

The loneliness isn’t necessarily a hardship. Some writers enjoy the solitary working life and I suspect that Miller fits the description. But that sits quite comfortably with his personal life in which he admits to enjoying tv, sports and the company of friends.

He might also have included his interest in photography, but since his next project is likely to be a book of his own photographs, perhaps that now goes into the “work in progress” category, eventually to become book number 11 in the ongoing tale of this Miller.

As always, happy listening and, I might add, enjoy some reading. (In fact, you might want to start with a short excerpt from the preface to Mark Miller’s Way Down That Lonesome Road.below.)

Jim Galloway is a saxophonist, band leader and former artistic director of Toronto Downtown Jazz. He can be contacted at jazznotes@thewholenote.com.

Here is an excerpt (from the internet) from the preface to Mark Miller’s Way Down That Lonesome Road: Lonnie Johnson in Toronto, 1965–1970. It gives a taste of Johnson, and just as importantly of what makes Mark Miller tick.

I want all you people to listen to my song

I want all you people to listen to my song

Remember me after all the days I’m gone

Mr. Johnson’s Blues, 1925

So sang Lonnie Johnson on the very first recording that he made under his own name, 86 years ago in St. Louis, mindful even then of his own mortality. If he has indeed been remembered after all the days, and now decades, since his death, 41 years ago in Toronto, it has been largely for his early and essential contribution to the histories of both blues and jazz.

… These, at least, are among the memories of some of the many people whose paths he crossed in Toronto between 1965 and 1970, the final years of his life — the years that serve as the time frame of this book. As much, however, as Way Down That Lonesome Road is a biographical study of Lonnie Johnson in this period, it is also a social and cultural history of the scene that he encountered in Toronto. As such, it takes its lead from my book Cool Blues, which found in the visits of the legendary alto saxophonist Charlie Parker to Montreal and Toronto in 1953 an opportunity to bring the modern jazz communities in each of those cities back to life. And like Cool Blues, Way Down That Lonesome Road (which takes its title from a song that Johnson recorded in 1928) is populated by a cast of secondary characters — musicians, critics, friends and fans — who have stories of their own to tell.

… The story of his years in Toronto combines both — the happiest of times and the hardest, a Dickensian sort of paradox, albeit in a tale of just one city. This is that tale; here is that city.

— Published October 19, 2011 by The Mercury Press/teksteditions © Mark Miller 2011

As if the looming Christmas Concert season wasn’t enough to deal with, this is a combined December/January issue, so I have twice as much activity as usual to contemplate. Even so, before looking at the weeks that lie ahead, there have been a few musical events in my life over the past few weeks that warrant more than passing notice, so indulge me, dear reader.

newmarket-parade_img_1890_1The first of these was the collaboration of the Hannaford Street Silver Band and the Amadeus Choir in a performance of The Armed Man: a Mass for Peace by the contemporary Welsh composer Karl Jenkins. Having heard this work before in its original form for chorus and orchestra, I was anxious to hear how it might fare with a transcription for brass band. This arrangement exceeded any expectations I might have had; I enjoyed it much more than the original. For this work, the band and chorus seemed made for each other. From the fiendishly difficult parts for every section of the band to the haunting solo passages for the flugelhorn and euphonium the instrumentalists and vocalists were as one. If I had any concern, it would be that there was far more to this work than I could absorb in a single performance. I hope that this arrangement will be recorded so that I may hear it again.

The other noteworthy musical event was totally unexpected. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto and former participant in various alumni functions over the years, I was invited to the launch of a massive fund raising campaign for the university. I had expected a few inspirational speeches followed by a distribution of pledge cards, but the university’s Convocation Hall was filled to capacity, and every aspect of the evening was as overwhelming as the fund raising goal for the next year of $2 billion (yes that’s a “b”) dollars. But it was the music that I found most inspiring. While we were being seated, we were treated to a vocal octet of students from the faculty of music. Then the spotlight shifted to the two upper galleries on either side of the organ where two brass choirs, under the direction of the Faculty of Music’s Gillian MacKay, performed an amazing work by graduate music student Aaron Tsang. While it was referred to in the programme as the Opening Fanfare, with four french horns, five trombones, four tubas and trumpets too numerous to count, it was much more than that, and warrants more performances in the future. After the various addresses, we were treated to a massive video presentation with a musical score by another Faculty of Music student Kevin Lau and after all being awarded Doctorates in Boundless Opportunity left Convocation Hall for the reception in a massive marquee tent, in the corners of which there were four small stages where there were alternating performances of a small jazz group, vocalists singing operatic arias and a brass quintet among others. With our honorary degrees in hand, we all left with the assurance that the future of music in this part of the world is certainly going to be in good hands.

Now on to December. What’s in store in the band world? Needless to say, Christmas music and other seasonal works dominate all programmes. Most bands have guests, with various types of choirs dominating the scene. Here’s a condensed list, from those bands whose listings we received, featuring choirs. Needless to say you will have to consult the concert listings for details:

City of Brampton Concert Band has the Mayfield Singers at the Rose Theatre (Dec 10); Etobicoke Community Band presents “You’d Better Watch Out: Holiday Favourites,” with the Toronto Police Services Men’s Chorus (Dec 16); Milton Concert Band performs for the very first time in the newly constructed Milton Centre for the Arts with St. Paul’s United Church Choir (Dec 10); Pickering Community Concert Band offers “Celebrate with the Sounds of Christmas” with the William Dunbar School Choir as guest (Dec 11); Wellington Winds will have “A Christmas with the Wind and Young Voices,” with the Inter-Mennonite Children’s Choir (Dec 18); Whitby Brass Band offers “A Christmas Celebration,” with classics, Salvation Army and pop arrangements, and guests, the O’Neill Chamber Choir (Dec 9). On the professional side, Hannaford Street Silver Band presents “Yuletide Celebration” with Ariana Chris, mezzo, and the Canadian Children’s Opera Company Youth and Principal chorus (Dec 13).

With guests other than choirs, Chinguacousy Concert Band presents “Brampton Christmas Pops” featuring the Chinguacousy Swing Orchestra (Dec 11); East York Concert Band’sChristmas Festival” will be a holiday sing-along (Dec 12); Markham Concert Band will haveA Seasonal Celebration” featuring Christmas and Chanukah songs with guest Lisa Kallasmaa-Bavis on vocals (Dec 4). Of the bands with December concerts that we heard from, only two did not include guests in their programs. Scarborough Concert Band will be presenting a “Community Concert Series” at three locations over the holiday season (Dec 7, x and y). And Wilfrid Laurier University Wind Orchestra has a single performance (Dec 3). For details of time and place of these events, consult the listings sections.

Of all of the bands that we were made aware of, one stood out as having no public Christmas concerts. That does not mean that the Newmarket Citizens’ Band will not be busy. On the contrary, a visit to their website told a very different story. Unlike all of the other community bands, this band marches and plays in parades. In the six week period between November 6 and December 20, this band was booked to play in no fewer than 11 parades, including six Santa Claus parades in surrounding communities. They also had scheduled five concerts at retirement residences and long term care facilities. This is a band that takes community service seriously. All of their activity will be topped off with an annual banquet to present various awards to members.

Recently, I was asked to write some programme notes for a concert discussing the evolution of Christmas music from the earliest day to the present. That project is still in its infancy. However, there is certainly no question that the programme of a modern band concert would bear little resemblance to that of a concert a century ago. Of the repertoire being performed by the bands of today, there seems to be a common theme: diversify. No longer do they stick to the traditional Christmas carols and such shopping mall favourites as Sleigh Ride or Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Increasingly we are seeing a wide spectrum of medleys of seasonal and/or Christmas melodies along with such humorous spoofs as Good Swing Wenceslas or How the Grinch Stole Christmas. And many bands are now including some excellent arrangements of Chanukah music.

As in other years, the period from Christmas to mid-January appears to be one for rest and reflection, with little thought of public performance. For the rest of January, traditionally community ensembles will now have filed away all of the seasonal music and have begun sampling a broad spectrum of music to challenge band members and hopefully please audiences in the coming months. So far we have not heard of any plans for band concerts in January except for the Hannaford Street Silver Band’s presentation of “A Latin Celebration” with guests the Boston Brass on January 22. Can’t think of a better start.

Definition Department

This month’s lesser known musical term is Gelatinissimo: to play with a bouncing style that sticks to a well defined mould.

We invite submissions from readers.

Jack MacQuarrie plays several brass instruments and has performed in many community ensembles. He can be contacted at bandstand@thewholenote.com.

What is “World Music” and who are its performers? For years I have been alternately intrigued by the question or flatly dismissed it as irrelevant to the music I loved and made myself. Now that I’ve served as your faithful world music columnist for some months, however, I thought I’d use this end of year soapbox to finally tackle this slippery musical subject. Please brace yourself for a further series of annoying questions arising from my simple initial one. The woods get much thicker before we can clearly see the trees, let alone the clearing beyond.

Is world music a commercial marketing category, coined by record label executives in 1980s London, equipped with its own sales charts, radio category, journalistic terminology and record awards? Or a term coined in the early 1960s by the late ethnomusicologist Robert E. Brown at Wesleyan University, Connecticut for his groundbreaking world music studio and academic programs there, which became a model for universities, colleges and conservatories around the world?

Is it “local music from out there,” or “someone else’s local music” as some have proposed? Is it about “our” vs. “their” music, or about the way musicians variously recombine the music you were born into with the music you chose, moved into? Or is it a musical football match playing out a disagreement between perceived authenticity (i.e. indigenous music) and hybridized musical categories, especially those seemingly “diluted” by pop culture?

In the face of such a bewildering range of questions, just what can we agree on? One thing, perhaps, is that the definitions of world music are multiple, dynamic and overlapping. Another is that over the last 30 years world music has clearly gone through a process of gradually increasing “sub-genrefication,” not unlike other kinds of music (heavy metal is a good example). By sub-genrefication I mean an extension of the genre’s original definition of a perceived unmediated “roots music” to include a mounting list of newly created hybrid sub-genres. Part of this process is no doubt the result of pressures on genre boundaries in the overall climate of a globalising pop culture. There are commercial pressures at play here too. According to a 2002 Unesco report by the latter half of the 1990s the value of global record sales hit a historic peak. Significantly slipping sales ever since have meant the record and publishing company financial support for world music, has declined. On the one hand this has led, overall, for world music as well as for many other music categories, to a precipitous decline in overall album sales. Paradoxically it may also be directly linked to the vigour of the modest but vital local live world music performance scenes dotted around the planet, and to the touring companies who (hope they will) pack our largest halls, often wrapped up in elaborately costumed and staged extravaganzas.

There are examples of both on display in my column this issue. Happily for all of us, musicians of all stripes continue to make both established and newly minted hybrid kinds of music that someone may choose to dub world music — or not.

I hope I haven’t lost you in my overview of some 50 years of world music, because, as you can see from what follows, our GTA concert scene over the next two months reflects and underscores many of the issues I have mentioned.

Parvaz Homay and his Mastan Ensemble present “Love, Wisdom and Human” [sic] at Roy Thomson Hall on December 2. Described as a newly created concert “opera” by Iranian musician Parvaz Homay, this production (in Farsi) is presently touring Canada and the US. Judging from this group’s multiple albums and international tour dates they seem to enjoy a sold fan base among the Iranian diaspora. At its Toronto stop, the Mastan Ensemble, a traditional Persian instrumental group, is reinforced by a Western orchestra directed by Toronto conductor Kerry Stratton. A brief trailer video on his website reveals Homay as a singer with a folksy voice. On the other hand, soprano Darya Dadvar sings in a distinctly operatic manner. The dramatic baritone, Soli, rounds out the concert cast.

On December 6, the world music Christmas calendar begins in earnest with the Nathaniel Dett Chorale’s concert titled “An Indigo Christmas: Navidad Nuestra” at Koerner Hall. The artistic director, Brainerd Blyden-Taylor has programmed a vibrant mix of Afro-Latin and Andean rhythms and harmonies. The Latin music quartet, Maderaz, and the celebrated dance collective COBA will add to the choir’s celebration of Afro-centric dance, music and folkloric traditions invoking the spirit of Christmas. The concert features two choral gems by Argentinean composer Ariel Ramírez (1921–2010). His Misa Criolla (1964), now a staple of the choral repertoire, is spiritually charged and at the same time deeply rooted in multiple music/dance forms from across South America including the chacarera, carnavalito and estilo pampeano, as well as Andean influences and instruments. Here, COBA choreographer BaKari E Lindsay, COBA brings it to life through staged dance representations of the dance rhythms intrinsic to Ramírez’s score. Ramírez’s signature Yuletide Navidad Nuestra, which serves as the concert’s centrepiece, is a suite of Argentinean carols marked by characteristic Hispanic American music. The evening is rounded out by Haitian-born Sydney Guillaume’s Dominus Vobiscum interweaving Gregorian melodies with Creole texts and rhythms; a trio of African-American spirituals by Minnesota composer Robert L. Morris; an a cappella interpretation of Go Tell It On The Mountain arranged by Bruce Saylor; and Craig Courtney’s impassioned arrangement of Mary Had A Baby.

Music Gallery’s concert on December 16 also has a Christmas theme, but one that reaffirms the commitment to experimentation in the Music Gallery’s “New World Series.” Titled “Asalto Navideño Reimagined: A Latin Christmas Concert,” the concert has three layers: a remix of a classic salsa Christmas album, a seasonal celebration and a resolute statement of pan-Latino culture. Originally a statement about New York Hispanic life, Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe’s popular salsa Christmas album Asalto Navideño, now 40 years old, is ripe for reinvention. Its lyrics speak of the joy of Christmas, but they also explore themes of home and diaspora and even propose new festive traditions. Today’s Latin sounds continue to mix music from across the Americas, increasingly with the intervention of electronics. Therefore it’s natural that four “producers” have been commissioned to remix the album’s now-iconic material: Toronto’s DJ Linterna & Ulladat, DJ Javier Estrada from Monterrey, MX, and Sonora Longoria from Austin, TX. All are known for their individual combinations of music genres, groove and experimentation. Their electronic contributions will be mixed with live instruments including Steve Ward on trombone and vocals. Vocalist Lido Pimienta, who splits her time between Toronto, London, Ontario, and Colombia, is a key voice in the evening; her striking hybrid performance style combining unaffected vocals and electronics.

Moving into the New Year, on January 10, 2012 at noon, the Little Pear Garden Collective presents a different sort of festive entertainment, performing classical and contemporary dance works with Chinese music at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. The collective, directed by Emily Cheung, is Toronto’s Jingju or Peking opera company. That this concert is part of the “Dance Series: Chinese Traditions Then and Now” is yet another reminder that world music performances also sometimes include dance.

29_shenyun1Keeping with the Chinese music and dance theme, on January 12 to 15, Falun Dafa presents “Shen Yu Performing Arts” at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts. This massive NYC based company certainly aims high. It was established in 2006 with no less a mission than “reviving 5,000 years of divinely inspired Chinese culture.” Its mission statement makes an eloquent ideological case, “After more than 60 years of Communist Chinese rule …Chinese traditional culture has been all but completely demolished. However, the deeper spiritual core of the ancient culture, with its values of benevolence, honor, propriety, wisdom, and sincerity, as well as a reverence for the gods and the heavens, cannot be destroyed. In order to restore … Chinese traditional culture, a group of overseas Chinese artists established Shen Yun in New York.”

At the core of Shen Yun’s performances appears to be a vast staged pageant, with tableaux enacted by dozens of performers clothed in impressive, brilliantly coloured, custom-made costumes and supported by an original musical score performed by a Western orchestra, classical Chinese and regional ethnic dance styles, instruments such as erhu and pipa, and characteristic vocalists. The show’s narrative is transparent. It moves audiences from the Himalayas to tropical lake-filled regions, “from the legends of the culture’s creation over 5,000 years ago through to the story of Falun Dafa in China today.” With over 100 artists “Shen Yu Performing Arts” might be one of the primary proponents of the “go big because you can’t go home” school of world music (and dance) performance.

May you all have wonderful Holidays, a stellar 2012 and be able to go home if you want to.

Andrew Timar is a Toronto musician and music writer.  He can be contacted at worldmusic@thewholenote.com.

In toronto’s opera scene, the last month of the old year and the first of the new provide a mix of old and new themselves. There is the Toronto premiere of a work that is standard repertoire in many central European countries, an unconventional production of a warhorse and an unconventional production of a seldom seen work.

Back by popular demand: Against the Grain Theatre remounts its acclaimed production of Puccini’s La Bohème not in a theatre but in a pub, the Tranzac Club at 292 Brunswick Ave. to be precise, December 1 to 3. The opera is directed, adapted and translated into English by AtG co-founder Joel Ivany, a frequent assistant director of productions for the Canadian Opera Company.

Inspired by the success of the musical Rent, in which the late Jonathan Larson updated the story of Puccini’s opera to the artistic community of 1990s New York, Ivany and company thought, “Why not set the opera itself in the bohemian atmosphere of contemporary Toronto?” The Tranzac Club, a favourite of indie musicians, home to several arts groups and central meeting place during the Toronto Fringe Festival, seemed like the perfect location. There’s no proscenium to separate the audience from the performers; in fact, the soloists are scattered among the patrons during the performance. AtG follows in the success of pub opera performances in the UK. In 2011, OperaUpClose won the Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production over productions from the Royal Opera House and the English National Opera.

On his blog, Ivany heaps praise on the cast he has assembled: “We’ve got a fabulous cast lined up. Miriam Khalil, as Mimi, is a young soprano who recently made her debut at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the UK. Our Rodolfo, Ryan Harper, is a former member of the Atelier Lyrique program at Opéra de Montréal and our Marcello, Justin Welsh, is a former member of the Ensemble Studio at the Canadian Opera Company. Our cast is rounded out by cabaret singer Lindsay Sutherland Boal as Musetta, current COC Ensemble member Neil Craighead as Colline, baritone Keith Lam as Schaunard and Gregory Finney as Benoît/Alcindoro.”

Christopher Mokrzewski, the pianist and music director, has been on the music staff for both the COC and Opera Atelier, for the latter as coach and répétiteur for La Clemenza di Tito. This season he will be giving a solo recital of Liszt and Messiaen as well as serving as accompanist for both classical and jazz vocal recitals.

For tickets and more information about Against the Grain, visit www.againstthegraintheatre.com.

26_againstthegrain-boheme_operaSeldom seen: The programming slot after Christmas to just beyond Epiphany has been filled for more than two decades by productions from Toronto Operetta Theatre. This year from December 28, 2011, to January 8, 2012, TOT presents its first-ever production of The Gypsy Princess (Die Csárdásfürstin) by Imre Kálmán (1882–1953). While the TOT has presented Kálmán’s Countess Maritza (1924) twice and even the rarity Gypsy Violins (1912) once, it has never staged the Csárdásfürstin (1915), which brought Kálmán his greatest success. According to the data gathered by Operabase, in the last three years there were 39 productions of Csárdásfürstin, 12 of them new, in 29 cites, in 11 countries including not just Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Hungary — that one might expect — but also Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Macedonia, Norway, Poland and Slovakia.

The plot about an aristocratic family’s distress that their young heir is in love with a cabaret singer plays out much like a story by P.G. Wodehouse. The TOT production will feature Lara Ciekiewicz as the glamorous Sylvia Varescu, Elizabeth Beeler as Countess Stasi, Keith Klassen as Prince Edwin in love with Sylvia and Ian Simpson as Count Boni in love with Stasi. Derek Bate will conduct the TOT Orchestra and Guillermo Silva-Marin will direct. The production premieres under the honourary patronage of Hungarian ambassador His Excellency László Pordány. For tickets visit www.stlc.com.

27_hercules_hydra_-paintingHandel’s Hercules: From January 19 to 22, 2012, Tafelmusik will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Tafelmusik Baroque Choir with a “staged concert” version of Georg Frideric Handel’s Hercules. The piece will be staged by none other than Marshall Pynkoski, stage director for Opera Atelier. When I asked Pynkoski back in September what a “staged concert” would be, he answered that a lot would depend on what was and was not possible in Koerner Hall. What we could be sure of is that the soloists would be off book and interact as characters and that the Opera Atelier corps de ballet would be involved in the dances.

27_hercules_allysonmchardyThe question of Hercules’ genre has existed since the work premiered in 1745. Handel called it a “Musical Drama” and indeed its English-language libretto by Thomas Broughton is based on Sophocles’ tragedy The Women of Trachis. The work was first performed in a theatre, not a church, but as an oratorio without any stage action. Modern critics have since suggested that this confusion of genre led to its later neglect. Handel had the same experience with Semele (1744) which was also first presented as an oratorio, but since oratorios were supposed to take biblical stories as their subject matter, it was also rejected by the public and suffered similar obscurity until the 20th century. Now Semele has been fully embraced as an opera and will conclude the COC’s 2011–12 season.

The plot concerns the circumstances of Hercules’ death. When Hercules returns to his wife Dejanira after his 12 labours, he brings the captive Iole in tow. This arouses Dejanira’s jealousy and she seeks to retain Hercules’ love through a tunic imbued with the blood of Hercules’ enemy, the centaur Nessus, which supposedly can render the wearer faithful to the giver. In fact, the garment is Nessus’ revenge on his opponent since it causes unendurable pain that leads Hercules to ask his son to set him upon a funeral pyre.

For Tafelmusik, Sumner Thompson will sing the role of Hercules, Allyson McHardy will be Dejanira, with Nathalie Paulin as Iole, Colin Blazer as Hercules’ son Hyllus and Mireille Lebel as the herald Lichas. Jeanne Lamon will conduct. For tickets and more information, visit www.tafelmusik.org.

Christopher Hoile is a Toronto-based writer on opera and theatre.  He can be contacted at opera@thewholenote.com.

22_seussical_musictheatreDECEMBER: With minutes to spare, I pick up my ticket for Seussical at Young People’s Theatre (YPT) on Front St. and dash to my seat. The matinée audience of primary school students squeals and squirms with excitement, their eyes darting intermittently to the red and white striped hat that sits in the middle of the stage. I read a programme note in which Allen MacInnis, director and choreographer of the production (who also happens to be the artistic director of YPT), expresses his own excitement at remounting the show which was eminently successful in 2006 when he first directed it for the same theatre. Questions about why he is redoing it so soon are immediately answered: “I wanted to revisit the musical adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s stories because it is a perfect fit for a season of plays that are thematically linked by the power of change.”

How coincidental, I think: my late arrival at YPT resulted from a traffic snarl on King St. E. where the Occupy Toronto protest had swollen across the borders of St. James Park in response to a City eviction notice. More than seasonal change is in the air, a fact evident in much of the musical theatre on view during the next two months, in and beyond the GTA.

Settling into my chair to watch Seussical, a shortened version of the show by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty that premiered on Broadway in 2000, I didn’t have to wait long to recognize its relevance to the idea of change that permeates our current social climate. “A person’s a person, no matter how small,” Horton the Elephant introduces in the rallying cry in his very first song, Horton Hears a Who!, also the title of one of the stories by Theodor Geisel (Doctor Seuss) that the musical incorporates into its book. Although Horton is unable to see a Who, he can hear one, namely Jo-jo, a resident of the tiny world of Whoville who cries for help from her perch atop a speck of dust precariously caught on a clover leaf. Unable to convince anyone in the Jungle of Nool, where he lives, that Jo-jo exists, Horton becomes a subject of ridicule, suffering humiliating indignities that increase after Mayzie LaBird leaves him to guard an egg that she subsequently abandons. Captured by a team of mischievous monkeys, Horton is put on display in a circus where, despite his outcast status, he continues to protect Mayzie’s egg and strives to rescue Jo-jo and the citizens of Whoville in whatever way he can.

For director MacInnis, Seussical is “a good fit” for YPT for a number of reasons. “I’m obsessed with the ways in which kids come into their own power,” he explains in an interview, “how they learn to give and take it.” Power, he suggests, is as much a sensation as a force: one senses it internally and externally, and not just in relation to physical prowess. Horton has power because he believes in himself — in what he alone can hear. Because he senses the capacity of his belief to change things, no matter how small, his power strengthens and begins to affect others. MacInnis likens Horton’s belief to imagination, which is one of the reasons he includes a musical in every YPT season. “Musicals make the audience work — they give them room to fill in the gaps and make connections, to use their imagination in ways that naturalism doesn’t allow.” This makes them ideal for young people, especially those who let their imaginations run wild.

Seussical is a terrific show, and not just for kids. The physical skills of the cast, as much as their musical talents, maintain its snappy pace and help to elevate its simple staging to a sophisticated style that is as clever as Ahrens and Flaherty’s eclectic score which covers a range from rap to rhythm ‘n’ blues and even includes a lullaby. George Masswhol brings a melancholy resolve to his performance of Horton (along with a voice like an angel) that grounds the production with sincerity and compassion to which the rest of the cast play with confidence. His real-life partner, Sharron Matthews, essays a mesmerizing Mayzie, especially when she vamps her way through How Lucky You Are. Running until December 30, Seussical offers family fare that is as timely as it is tuneful. There’s no better gift for the holidays than this wise and winning tale.

24_caroline-option_1_musictheatreJANUARY: When I undertook to interview Mitchell Marcus, artistic producer of Acting Up Stage Company (AUSC), about Caroline, or Change, the American musical that receives its Canadian premiere on January 21 at the Berkeley Street Theatre (downstairs), I didn’t consider that Seussical might make a useful comparison. After all, what possible connection could exist between a musical compilation of Dr. Seuss’s fantastical parables and a character-driven study of an African-American maid working for a Jewish family in Louisiana in 1963? The answer is obvious to me now: change.

With a book and lyrics by playwright Tony Kushner (Angels in America), Caroline, or Change arrives in Toronto with a string of awards but limited commercial success. This alone provides a parallel, of sorts, to Seussical which, in its original Broadway incarnation, failed to win popular success or critical approbation. In retrospect, both shows suffered from unrealistic expectations and bloated production values. Only after Seussical was down-sized to a 90-minute version (which subsequently was further condensed to the 70-minute show on view at YPT), did it appeal to critics and audiences alike. While Caroline, or Change won critical success on Broadway in 2004, and in London in 2006, it failed to generate enough interest to garner subsequent productions of note, or to tour—the prime requisite for musical theatre longevity. For Marcus, this marks it as “an underdog musical,” and qualifies it as a perfect choice for production by AUSC.

Marcus defines an underdog musical as one “that was so successful in a not-for-profit run that it usually has some momentum beyond its original production, even though it’s not gone on to become a big commercial hit …” Invariably, such shows — he cites The Light in the Piazza (book by Craig Lucas, music and lyrics by Adam Guettel) as an example — “redefine our expectations of musical theatre,” a central goal of AUSC which, Marcus explains, “seeks to produce thought-provoking, contemporary, intelligent musical theatre pieces, and to bridge the commercial side of musical theatre — the large entertainment spectacle musical — with the theatre scene in Toronto which I associate with provocative plays in intimate spaces, with great cast members.”

Even a cryptic description of Caroline, or Change indicates how the piece fits AUSC’s mandate. Completely sung-through, the book chronicles the relationship between Caroline Thibodeaux, a black maid and single mother, and Noah Gellman, the eight-year-old son of her Jewish employer. After the death of his mother from cancer, Noah increasingly relies on Caroline for guidance, especially when his new stepmother, Rose, convinces the maid to teach Noah a lesson about leaving change in his trouser pockets by asking her to keep the money she finds. Loathe to take money from a child, Caroline needs it for her own children, so she co-operates. Soon, Noah, deliberately, is leaving her change, fantasizing that Caroline’s family acknowledges and appreciates his beneficence. The situation grows complicated when a $20 bill goes missing …

“From a book perspective, it’s more a long piece of poetry than a forward-moving drama,” Marcus suggests. “The audience has to be willing to accept the poetic journey that Kushner takes it on, which does move forward, but not as quickly as most people expect. This is a musical about feelings. This is a musical about people … being …”

The change in form that the producer identifies finds a corollary in the music composed by Jeanine Tesori, best known for her scores for Thoroughly Modern Millie and Shrek, the Musical, which, Marcus is quick to point out, differ considerably from Caroline.

Although fully sung-through, Caroline doesn’t have a single song you can isolate. It’s really like récit in opera, with all these different musical forms thrown together. Spirituals, blues, classical music, Motown, Jewish klezmer, folk music: the style shifts whenever a new character enters. The musical palette sounds like a radio in 1963, with someone changing the station every few minutes …”

The book further emphasizes change by setting Caroline’s situation against a sweeping historical backdrop that includes the assassination of President Kennedy, conflicts over the Vietnam war and the struggles of the Civil Rights movement. “It’s interesting to see a musical that focuses on the way an individual reacts when the community is changing around her. Artistically, the show pushes boundaries; socially, it offers so many opportunities for discussion …”

To produce Caroline, or Change, AUSC is partnering with Obsidian Theatre, whose mandate stresses its dedication “to the exploration, development, and production of the Black voice.” Partnering, by increasing production budgets, allows companies to mount larger, more ambitious productions (such as Parade, which AUSC co-produced with Studio 180 last year). It also enables them to cast performers they otherwise couldn’t afford. Caroline stars Arlene Duncan, a regular on CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie, as well as seasoned professionals like Deborah Hay who played Eliza Dolittle in My Fair Lady at the Shaw Festival last summer. But the move is more than just practical, as Marcus points out. “By building relationships with other independent theatre companies, we can pool our audiences,” a move essential for the evolution of musical theatre and the development of Toronto audiences. “We are being entrusted to push the boundaries of this genre and, at the same time, to develop new audiences for it, to open their minds to the possibilities of the musical form.”

Pushing boundaries, opening minds. As I hurry home from my interview with Marcus in the cool autumn air, I recall MacInnis’ comments about imagination and power, which lead me to wonder about musical theatre as an instrument of change. Seussical begins when the red and white striped hat in the middle of the stage begins to slide across the floor, all by itself — or so it seems to the audience. For the children at YPT, the moment equalled sheer magic. Unaware of the “smoke and mirrors” of stage-craft, they watched in amazement as an inanimate object moved on its own — or so they thought. What will the Toronto audience think of Caroline, or Change, a piece that conflates life’s tumultuous changes with the change in a person’s pocket?

At the end of Kushner’s script, Caroline returns to her employer’s basement to wash the laundry, resigned to her lot in life even as she curses God. Change, it would seem, is beyond her.

What would Horton say to her, I wonder? “A person’s a person, no matter how … what?”

Robert Wallace is a Toronto-based, retired university professor who writes about theatre and performance. He can be contacted at musictheatre@thewholenote.com.

Theatrical Treats for Your
Musical Sweet Tooth

Theatrical Treats for Your Musical Sweet Tooth

Music theatre is as prevalent as candy canes at this time of year, in and beyond the GTA. If traditional treats satisfy your sweet tooth, check out A Christmas Carol – the Musical at Brampton’s Rose Theatre that runs from December 15 to 18. This popular version of Dickens’ haunting of Ebenezer Scrooge benefits from a melodic score by Alan Mencken that strikes all the right notes. If the dates don’t fit, Runnymede United Church presents a dramatic reading of the poem on which it’s based on December 4, with holiday music performed by Ben Heppner, accompanied by a string trio and two choirs. Soulpepper Theatre offers a longer run of the yuletide treat, but without the musical icing, in Michael Shamata’s stage adaptation that opens on December 6 in the Distillery District, with Joe Ziegler heading an all-star cast.

White Christmas, a musical based on the 1954 film starring Bing Crosby with music by Irving Berlin, has grown in popularity since it premiered in San Francisco in 2004. Toronto’s Civic Light Opera presents the melody-fest from November 30 to December 17 at the Fairview Library Theatre, in a production designed and directed by Joe Cascone. The Berlin show’s iconic songs are unlikely to grace Angelwalk Theatre’s Off Broadway On Stage, a musical journey of a different sort that opens for one week on December 7 at the Studio Theatre in the Toronto Centre for the Arts. Conceived by Brian Goldenberg, with musical direction by Anthony Bastianon, the show includes songs from The Fantasticks, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living In Paris and Altar Boyz, productions that succeeded in small venues without marquee stars.

For less traditional treats, look no further than Like an Old Tale: An East Scarborough Retelling of The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare. The score of this Jumblies Theatre production, composed by Juliet Palmer, showcases the remarkable soprano of Neema Bickersteth, who plays Hermione; it also incorporates traditional Tamil singing by Sarada K. Eswar, and First Nations singing by Rosary Spence. Presented at 793 Pharmacy Ave., the production runs from December 8 to 18. Another retelling of a traditional tale finds a wonderful setting in Toronto’s Evergreen Brick Works when Theatre Columbus presents The Story, a new version of the nativity by Martha Ross, featuring rotating corps of local choirs and drummers under the direction of John Millard. The show opens December 13 and runs to the end of the month.

To usher in the new year, Toronto Operetta Theatre offers an unusual delight: The Gypsy Princess, a comic opera by Hungarian composer Imre Kálmán starring soprano, Lara Ciekiewicz, opens at the Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, on December 28 for ten performances. Other notable January fare, while less seasonal, is tasty nevertheless. Cabaret, Kander and Ebb’s popular musical based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood, receives a student production at Hart House Theatre that is sure to attract a crowd. Under the direction of Adam Brazier, it opens on January 13 for two weeks. Further afield (geographically, at least), the Kingston Symphony presents musical theatre works by Andrew Lloyd Webber and others in an evening titled “Music of the Night” at the Grand Theatre on January 20. Michelle Todd, soprano, and Michael Hope, baritone, are featured.

Finally, on February 2nd and 3rd, Soundstreams presents The Sealed Angel, a musical drama by Russian composer, Rodion Shchedrin, that integrates the Amadeus Choir and the Elmer Iseler Singers with the ProArteDanza dance company in a liturgically-themed, multi-disciplinary work. With musical direction by Lydia Adams and choreography by Lars Scheibner, this ambitious production plays for two nights at the Royal Conservatory’s Koerner Hall. Festive treats, it seems, are not limited to the holidays.

— Robert Wallace

Tallis Choir

The year is 1725, the night is Christmas Eve. In the colonial city of Quebec it is crisp and clear; snow upon snow has fallen and tonight lies in vast expanses, sparkling under the stars. Life is not easy — in no small measure because of the extreme cold — ah, but inside the church this night there is warmth and a sense of wonder at the holiness of this yearly ritual. And there is wonderful music: a marvellous Messe de Minuit pour Noël by the late French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier is being performed. Brought over from France, it’s filled with delightful melodies of French carols. Its sections are surrounded and interspersed with other Christmas music too, noëls and motets by composers both from the French court of King Louis XIV and from the New World; a carol in an aboriginal language; also lovely organ music from a book recently brought over from France by the new organist of Notre-Dame parish. For the sophisticated congregation of Quebec, it truly is a glorious feast of music.

Every year, the Tallis Choir presents a concert programme, built around an imagined but possible historical event such as the above, with music that was performed in the period. They do this with obvious joy in the extensive research involved in the preparation, by people such as choir member Douglas Cowling and director Peter Mahon. On December 10 at St. Patrick’s Church, you can hear this season’s offering as the Tallis Choir, the Talisker Players, organist Philip Fournier and director Peter Mahon recreate a high mass for Christmas Eve as it might have been celebrated in colonial Quebec city, “Midnight Mass for New France, 1725.”

Messiahs

18_early_messiah_herrhandelThere’s no dearth of annual Messiahs in the offing, each one special in its own way. Here’s a sampling of some which offer a particularly unique approach:

Georgetown Bach Chorale takes an historical approach in terms of location and musical presentation. Director Ronald Greidanus waxes enthusiastic about the venues: “The buildings are as incredible as the music, Acton’s Old Town Hall being very similar to the theatre Handel would have performed his Dublin premiere in; the second location (east of Georgetown) even more breathtaking — an isolated wooden Catholic church situated in the middle of a field, lit by candles, decorated by incredible byzantinian icons. Listeners will be bemused by a beautiful chorale sound (complete with 22-member choir, two harpsichords, baroque chamber organ, baroque strings and brass) in an intimate church that seats only 180 — it truly is like going back in time, it’s like the best kept secret!” December 3 in Acton, December 4 in Brampton.

Pax Christi Chorale’s performance, under the direction of Stephanie Martin, acknowledges children. “The Children’s’ Messiah” is designed especially for youngsters, in a condensed version with narration and a casual, child-friendly setting. December 10 at Church of St. Mary Magdalene.

Aradia Ensemble’s “The Dublin Messiah” recreates the first performance of Handel’s famous work using the original version of the score, as presented in Dublin on April 13, 1742. And there’s a nod to the dress code of the day: as in the original performance, they request that, “The Ladies who honour this Performance with their Presence would be pleased to come without hoops (hoop framed skirts), as it will greatly increase the Charity by making room for more company.” December 17 at Glenn Gould Studio.

Tafelmusik’s “Sing-Along Messiah,” celebrating its 25th anniversary, is directed by none other than Handel himself (aka Ivars Taurins). Taurins received a Gemini Award nomination this year for the film version; his immersion in his character is based on painstaking research — from Handel’s ruddy complexion (he was fond of drink) to the type of starch (not powder!) Handel used in his wig. As their press release says: “Does the audience notice these subtle distinctions? Maybe not, but they completely buy into the illusion that Handel has come back after 270 years to conduct them in this three-hour annual ritual.” December 18 at Massey Hall.

A Host Of Others To See Out The Old And Welcome In The New:

• December 8: The Tallis Scholars appear at Royal Conservatory’s Koerner Hall, in a programme that features diverse composers’ settings of the Magnificat — glorious choral music from 15th century John Taverner all the way to late 20th century Arvo Pärt.

• December 9, 10, 11: Toronto Consort celebrates “A Spanish Christmas” — Christmas with a Latin flavour as it might have been experienced by the Spanish-speaking nations of the world on both sides of the Atlantic in renaissance and baroque-period times. This is a world the Consort revisits every two years; this year’s presentation includes solemn motets, lively villançicos, pieces in native languages and dialects, some in African rhythmic inflections. Music of “irrepressible spirit, flashing rhythms and soulful sonorities.”

• December 10: I Furiosi Baroque Ensemble presents “Hell Hath No Fury” …  like I Furiosi scorned! “Not your average Christmas concert” so be prepared to be surprised.

• December 16: Sine Nomine Ensemble for Medieval Music presents “Puer natus est nobis: A 14th-century Mass for Christmas Day,” a musical reconstruction of a nativity mass from Avignon. This year the ensemble celebrates 20 years of inventive programming, combining vocal and instrumental music from medieval courts and churches with readings, drama, and liturgical action, to provide insight into the fascinating artistic and intellectual culture of the Middle Ages.

20_early_hallie_fishel___john_edwards_-_the_musicians_in_ordinary_-_500__-_alexandra_guerson• January 1 and 2: Musicians In Ordinary’s annual New Year’s Day concerts offer an elegant alternative to the traditional New Year’s fare, with cantatas by Vivaldi and Alessandro Scarlatti, a trio sonata by Corelli and music for solo archlute by Zamboni. Soprano Hallie Fishel and lutenist John Edwards are joined by violinists Edwin Huizinga and Christopher Verrette, and others.

• January 15: Toronto Early Music Centre’s “Musically Speaking” series resumes at its new location of St. David’s Anglican Church, 49 Donlands Ave. Music by Guillemain, Leclair and Telemann is performed by Alison Melville, recorders/traverso; Elyssa Lefurgey-Smyth, violin; Justin Haynes, viola da gamba; and Sara-Anne Churchill, harpsichord.

• January 19 to 22: What a way to celebrate your 30th anniversary! Jeanne Lamon’s “gift” to herself is to direct Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir, along with spectacular guest soloists, in a semi-staged performance of Handel’s rarely performed music drama Hercules — a dramatic story “seething with the destructive power of sexual jealousy” inspired by a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles more than 2500 years ago.

• January 27: In Kingston, the Melos Choir and Chamber Orchestra presents “The Italian Connection: Gabrielli to Vivaldi,” welcoming guest guitarists Jeff Hanlon and Chad Yacobucci.

• January 27 and 28: Perhaps you’ve heard him singing with Tafelmusik: the passionate evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion, the tenor soloist in the B Minor Mass, or the tenor voice in Purcell’s opera King Arthur. Or with the Toronto Consort, in the Monteverdi Vespers or the opera Orfeo. If so, you’ll not have forgotten the remarkable agility of his voice, or the intensity of his commitment to the text. Now the Toronto Consort presents the English tenor Charles Daniels in recital, in “It was a lover and his lass,” a concert of exquisite lute songs from the English and French Renaissance. He’ll be accompanied by lutenist David Miller, in works by Morley, Danyels, Campian and Moulinié.

• January 28: The years 1788 to 89 were incredibly creative ones for Mozart; he was then at the height of his powers. Academy Concert Series performs three of his major chamber works written during that time, in “Mozart: A Year In Vienna.”

• February 4: Fellow columnist, lutenist Benjamin Stein, makes the point that “Improvisation was a natural part of Bach’s musical milieu, and this skill, neglected in much classical music training, is one that has reappeared as an essential aspect of training in early music.” In Music at Metropolitan’s “BachFest II: Jam Sessions with Bach,” performances of works by Bach and other German composers are combined with improvisations on baroque dance forms and hymn tunes. Taking part are four talented musicians: Benjamin Stein, theorbo/lute; Sara-Anne Churchill, keyboard; Daniel Rubinoff, saxophone; Elyssa Lefurgey-Smith, violin.

• February 4: In “Pergolesi’s Inspiring Stabat Mater,” Barrie Concerts brings internationally renowned musicians to their stage: soprano Dame Emma Kirkby, countertenor Daniel Taylor and the Theatre of Early Music will surely inspire with their performance. The series is sold by subscription only and is virtually sold out; lucky are those who already have their tickets.

Finally, a correction to last month’s column: it’s not often I mistake Schubert for Gounod. Granted, they both wrote Ave Marias, but only one of these is based on Bach’s Prelude No.1 from the Well Tempered Clavier Book I, and it definitely wasn’t the Schubert as I stated in the print version of last month’s issue. I guess The Well-tempered Sleeper finally awoke … Better late than never!

Simone Desilets is a long-time contributor to The WholeNote in several capacities who plays the viola da gamba. She can be contacted at earlymusic@thewholenote.com.

The modern holiday that we understand as Christmas is a construct that arises from many different sources: a combination of pre-Christian winter solstice iconography; appropriated and re-interpreted prophetic Hebrew texts; various writers’ telling and retelling of the life and deeds of the mysterious, charismatic public speaker and teacher Joshua Ben Joseph (later more familiarly known as Jesus Christ); and the sung and spoken sacred texts of hundreds of millions of Christians around the world.

choralthe_storycaravanfarmphoto-timmathesonComplicating the “modern” Christmas still further is the North American figure of Santa Claus, a benevolent gift-giver very loosely based on the third century Greek bishop Nicholas of Myra. Mercurial, harsh and irascible, the historical Saint Nick would have been a poor front-man for the vendors desperate to lure us to the shopping malls. He’d have been more likely to smite busy shoppers than to invite their children to sit upon his knee, wish list in hand.

It is not hard to imagine both Joshua and Nicholas together in some extra-worldly sphere, watching our frantic salterello of cards, gifts, parties and food with bemusement and despair in varied measure.

In the midst of this singular historical stew, music holds a special place in Christmas celebration. For many the pleasures of hearing and singing seasonal songs and carols is a welcome antidote to Christmas’ confused blend of commercialism, celebration, spirituality and dogma. The marvels and portents that accompany the birth of Christ reflect our joy, fear and incomprehension when confronted with one of the two most primal aspects of life–its beginning. Christmas music at its best combines joy with contemplation, the earth-bound with the marvellous.

The performative nature of Christmas concerts makes them simultaneous celebrations of, and comments on, the phenomenon of Christmas. Below are some concerts of note for the coming season.

On December 10, the Tallis Choir recreates a Christmas Eve mass as it would have been heard in Quebec in 1725. The concert includes Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit and carols by baroque composers from Quebec and France.

Between December 13 and 30, Theatre Columbus reinterprets the Nativity story, in an outdoor theatre presentation at the historic Evergreen Brick Works. The audience is advised to dress warmly. Theatre Columbus is a creative workshop of a theatre company, and this version of the Nativity story clearly falls refreshingly into the irreverent/revisionist category. A different choir will provide musical accompaniment for every performance.

The Magnificat, or the Song of Mary, is a text taken from the Gospel of Luke. It is an attempt to see the events of the Nativity from Mary’s point of view. Women who have experienced giving birth in difficult circumstances might have their own opinions about how well it succeeds. In any case, it has been set by many composers, and on December 8, English visitors, the Tallis Scholars, one of the world’s eminent chamber choirs, will be performing several of these diverse settings. Toronto Choral Society also looks to Europe, if somewhat further east, performing “An Eastern European Christmas” on December 14. As well as including Eastern European carols, the concert provides an opportunity to hear a Franz Liszt setting of the mass text, the Missa Choralis.

Two great writers, Dylan Thomas and Charles Dickens, wrote very differently enchanting commentaries on the nature of Christmas. Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas in Wales is rooted in the real and physical, the tangible sensory understanding of a special event seen through the primal senses of a child: All the Christmases roll down toward the two-tongued sea, like a cold and headlong moon bundling down the sky that was our street; and they stop at the rim of the ice-edged fish-freezing waves, and I plunge my hands in the snow and bring out whatever I can find

Dickens’ A Christmas Carol combined his central theme of the struggle between greed and charity with a vastly entertaining ghost story that has made the character of Ebenezer Scrooge almost as significant as Santa in the complex modern North American Christmas iconography.

Two choirs combine music with each of these literary works:

Annex Singers combine A Child’s Christmas in Wales with works by Sweelinck, Joubert, Walton and Lauridsen on December 10. Then on December 18, Guelph’s Dublin Street United Church includes the work in “A Victorian Christmas,” with the Trillium Brass as guests. For those whose appetite for Welsh-ness is not satisfied by Dylan Thomas alone, the Toronto Welsh Male Voice Choir performs “A Welsh Christmas” on December 7 and 11.

Generosity is the theme of A Christmas Carol, which appears in two upcoming benefit performances. On December 4 the Nathaniel Dett Chorale teams up with the Choir of St. Timothy’s Anglican Church to sing in support of the Senior’s Health Centre of the North York General Hospital. On the same night, the Runnymede United Church Choir performs their Dickens-themed concert, which includes an appearance by tenor Ben Heppner, in support of the The Stop Community Food Centre.

Special church pageants and carol services are also an integral part of this season. The Church of the Holy Trinity’s nativity pageant, a popular draw, runs between December 9 and 24. Eglinton St. George United Church’s December 11 carol service includes Benjamin Britten’s iconic Ceremony of Carols. Peruse the choral listings for other carol concerts — you will find inventive musical choices and choral groups that you might have previously missed.

In the multicultural GTA, some choirs acknowledge and explore the mid-winter festivals that take place in non-Christian cultures, such as Hindu Diwali, the African-American Kwanzaa and Chanukah, the Hebrew festival of lights and gifts.

On December 14 the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir’s free “Chanukah Concert Live” includes songs in Yiddish, Hebrew, Ladino and English. North York’s Alexander Singers and Players combine Christmas and Chanukah music at “A Festive Concert” on December 10.

Hart House Singers and Echo Women’s Choir present interesting programmes of world music on December 4 and 11 respectively. These types of concerts are a welcome antidote to the seasonal saturation of familiar songs and carols that, while beautiful, lose some of their appeal after the 1000th hearing.

And of course, no December choral column would be complete without a mention of what has become Christmas’ most emblematic choral work, Handel’s Messiah.

So there, I’ve mentioned it. Let’s move on now. It’s always interesting to investigate the varied programmes that choirs messiah choose during the Christmas season. Drawing on the vast repertoire Messiah of music from different times and locations Messiah allows choirs MESSIAH to create unusual MESSIAH MESSIAH.

Oh, all right. Can’t you Handelians take a joke? It’s a great composition. I love it! So quit spamming my website and hacking my documents. I promise to venerate Handel’s Messiah until the end of my days. And tell that strange alto from Kitchener she can take down her aria recording, Ben is Despised, from YouTube.

Part of the fun of hearing such a well-known work is experiencing the varied interpretations that different soloists, conductors and choirs come up with. Increasingly, musicians are bringing a creative disrespect to this piece, toying with orchestration, interpretation and even improvisatory aspects of it, to keep it fresh and interesting. Yet a simple, straightforward performance, well executed, allows the brilliance of its construction to shine through as well. My recommendation is to attend a Messiah performance by a choir unfamiliar to you. So many groups are performing this work — take the opportunity to acquaint yourself with a choir that you have not yet seen perform, and expand your knowledge of the GTA choral scene. We have even appended a handy “Messiah QuickPicks” to this column (see next page) to guide you in your search.

16-17_optional-extra_benheppne_colourrFinally, one final concert reminds us that even Christmas’ familiar calendar date is not an agreed-upon fact. On January 8 the Vesnivka Choir and Toronto Ukrainian Male Chamber Choir present “A Ukrainian Christmas Concert.” Eastern European Christmas culture can be wonderfully rich and mystical, and is a link to Christianity’s oldest roots. Could it be that this concert — presented at a time at which the rest of us are glumly contemplating our credit card statements — is the only one here that would have made any kind of cultural sense to the historical Saint Nicholas?

Christmas can be a very difficult time for people, as they attempt to reconcile the Apollonian ideal of the holiday with life’s often disappointing realities. But as I hope I’ve made clear above, a monolithic Christmas tradition does not in fact exist, and never did. Accordingly, we are free to define this holiday in a way that makes sense to each of us. Relieved of the obligation to enact an ideal version of Christmas, one can instead pick and choose, discard and redefine — as history itself has done — which elements combine together to create your own understanding of the season.

LOOKING AHEAD TO JANUARY: After the December revels comes the new year’s hangover. The only solution, of course, is musical “hair of the dog” — i.e. more sybaritic choral excess. The January and February concerts mentioned below can feed this entirely healthy addiction.

Between January 18 and 22, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra performs Mozart’s d minor Requiem, his final, unfinished work before his untimely death.

Brahms then takes over on February 4. Two concerts to choose from are a concert by the Larkin Singers that includes Brahms’ Liebeslieder Walzer, and Kitchener’s Grand Philharmonic Choir performing Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem and Arvo Pärt’s Credo and Cantus in Memoriam.

Finally, on February 2 and 3, Soundstreams presents the Amadeus Choir and Elmer Iseler Singers in an intriguing presentation of The Sealed Angel by Rodion Shchedrin. Shchedrin is a living piece of history, a Russian composer who lived through the Soviet era and who continues to work today. The staged performance includes the participation of ProArteDanza dance company.

He can be contacted at choralscene@thewholenote.com. Visit his website at http://benjaminstein.ca/.

13_counterpoint_1_captmondo_may30-09_cocj-703006If you’re looking for something in the realm of classical music in December — and I mean “classical” as in not baroque or renaissance music — you’re in luck … sort of. I say “sort of” because while there are indeed December offerings that don’t involve one adaptation or another of Handel’s baroque masterpiece, Messiah, or lovely renaissance-themed Christmas concerts, the pickings are slimmer than usual. However, the “luck” part lies in the fact that, at least for December, you will not be completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of “Classical & Beyond” (C&B) concerts from which to have to choose. (Let’s face it, that is usually the case with this beat, covering as it must everything from Haydn to Bartók, from solo recitals to orchestras.) So, amid the hustle and bustle of the season, hop on and enjoy the “less is more” C&B sleigh ride for December while you rest up for January!

TAKING STOCK: Any readers inclined to contest my thesis of December’s “less is more” vs. January’s “abundance,” should work their way through the listings as I did, taking stock. They will find 27 concerts in December that fall within C&B’s purview, 42 in January, and 11 in the first seven days of February. They will also doubtless find other interesting patterns emerging. They may notice as I did that of the 27 December concerts, seven offer Mozart, as do 12 in January and one in February. That translates into over 25% of December/January/first-week-of February C&B concerts that have some Mozart in their programmes. Not an insignificant number.

I also noticed six concerts specifically geared to the “younger set”; while not a huge number, the concerts are, nonetheless, pleasing and varied. And I spotted four concerts featuring a Viennese theme, two each in the GTA and beyond the GTA, with one very interesting connection surfacing: two concerts — one GTA, one beyond — actually have “Vienna” in the concert title and both are holding matinees on New Year’s Day. So, armed with all of the above info and analysis, let’s dive into the details.

DECEMBER’S DELIGHTS: Toronto’s Counterpoint Community Orchestra, the “first lesbian/gay/gay-positive orchestra in the world,” celebrates the opening of its 28th season in grand fashion, with a performance of Mozart’s Symphony No.41, the “Jupiter,” on December 3. Directed by Terry Kowalczuk, the CCO’s programme also includes works by Khachaturian, Shostakovich, Schubert, Sousa and von Suppé’s Light Cavalry Overture. St. Luke’s United Church on Sherbourne is the venue. (And if you’re itching for a second dose of the “Jupiter,” you’ll have your chance when the Toronto Symphony Orchestra performs it (twice) in January — details below.)

14_classical_jan_lisieckiOn December 4, both the Kawartha Youth Orchestra and Orchestra Toronto have matinee performances that are “youth/family friendly.” An even more striking coincidence: each is performing Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No.2, with 16-year old soloists! The KYO features Claire Motyer on violin; Clarisse Schneider does the honours with OT. (Schneider is the winner of OT’s first Concerto Competition: Marta Hidy prize). The KYO also performs works by Sibelius and — you guessed it — Mozart. You’ll find them at Market Hall Theatre in Peterborough at 3pm. Also starting at 3pm, OT’s concert, titled “The Musician Storyteller,” includes Berlioz’s March to the Scaffold and Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel overture, as well as works by Khachaturian and Villa-Lobos. All OT’s concerts are at the George Weston Recital Hall, Toronto Centre for the Arts.

Staying with youth-oriented fare for a moment, Mooredale Concerts, which operates a youth orchestras programme (in addition to its two other established series), presents three levels of orchestras comprising 100 players (ages 6 to 18) on December 11, 3pm, at Rosedale Heights School of the Arts. The Junior Orchestra, under William Rowson, performs Handel’s Gavotte in A, Pichl’s Pastorella and Menuett in G by (“Mr. 25%”) Mozart. Rowson also conducts the Senior Orchestra and it performs Elgar’s Serenade for Strings Op.20 and — yes, indeed — Mozart’s Divertimento in D Major K136. The Intermediate Orchestra will play Handel’s Concerto Grosso Op.6 No.4, Clare Carberry conducting.

Kudos to Mooredale Concerts for exposing so many youth to the riches of the orchestral repertoire. In its “Music and Truffles” series, an adjunct to its regular concert series, Mooredale shares the wealth of chamber music with young people, ages 5 to 15. At 1:15pm, on January 15, for example, you can take the munchkins in your life to hear music by Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky and Piazzolla; the “adult” concert starts at 3:15pm the same day, featuring the same repertoire played in full.

Returning to our “less is more” December theme, in a concert titled “Holiday Charms,” December 9 at Glenn Gould Studio, Sinfonia Toronto performs Mozart’s Violin Concerto No.1 under guest conductor Robert Bokor and violinist Sanghee Cheong. The programme also includes Wolf-Ferrari’s String Serenade, Corelli’s Concerto Grosso Op.6 No.8 “Christmas Concerto,” and Ricercare by Buhr. (ST offers more Mozart on January 20, in its concert titled “Black and White”: Clarinet Quintet K581, orchestral version, with James Campbell, clarinet; and Divertimento K137; this January concert also features the orchestral version of Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet, with Dmitriy Gordin, piano.)

Mozart is also on offer when the Junction Trio presents its “Celebrating the Season with Sound” concert on December 15, 7pm, at the North York Central Library auditorium. The trio also performs works by Bach and Handel. The concert is free, but we are asked to give them a call to register.

Continuing our fine-combing of the listings, it’s not often we get the chance to attend a “Doctoral Recital in Orchestral Conducting,” for free, no less. At 1:15pm at Walter Hall (University of Toronto Faculty of Music) Kerim S. Anwar will conduct Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune and works by Stravinsky and Schoenberg. Good luck Mr. soon-to-be-Dr. Anwar! And since we’re at the U of T, the Faculty of Music’s free, three-day “PianoFest” happens December 12, 14 and 16, at 7:30pm each night, featuring the advanced students of the piano department.

Just two more December concerts and then I’ll move on to January. Amici Chamber Ensemble presents “Critics Choice: What do they really want to hear?” on December 16 at 8pm. Sounds like fun, especially since they’ve invited critics John Vandriel, Colin Eatock and John Terauds as their guests, along with Yehonatan Berick and Min-Jeong Koh, violin and Barry Shiffman, viola. Hopefully, everyone attending will enjoy hearing the programme of works by Beethoven, Poulenc and Elgar. (What? No Mozart?)

Syrinx Sunday Salons presents a splendid afternoon of works by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Gershwin, Alexander Levkovich, Dmitri Levkovich and others. Pianist/composer Dmitri Levkovich and pianist Anzhelika Fuks will also perform a piece dear to my heart, Schubert’s Fantasie for Four Hands in F Minor Op.103 D940, a copy of which sits atop my piano, at the ready, should someone drop by who can handle the secondo part; I always play the primo. A young friend of mine in Vancouver and I have valiantly attempted to make our way through it many times, over many years; she is my primo secondo! I’m excited to hear these two young and dynamic players do it justice on December 11, 3pm, at Heliconian Hall!

JANUARY’S JEWELS: With over 40 concerts, there’s much from which to choose, making the decision of who and what to include (and exclude) that much more challenging, As a solution, I’m simply going to “rattle off” as many as I can, allowing for as many concerts — and presenters — as possible to get some print:

Let’s start with the New Year’s Day “double-header in Vienna,” I alluded to earlier. Attila Glatz Concert Productions’ “Salute to Vienna” features the Strauss Symphony of Canada, András Deák, conductor, with Renee Schüttengruber, soprano, Wolfgang Gratschmaier, tenor and dancers from the Kiev-Aniko Ballet of Ukraine, at Roy Thomson Hall, 2pm. An hour later, the Guelph Symphony Orchestra presents its “Tour the World Series: Dreams of Vienna” with arias, duets, waltzes, polkas and marches. Judith Yan conducts, with Mark Dubois, tenor and Corinne Lynch, soprano, at the River Run Centre in Guelph.

Music Toronto has two fine and wonderfully varied offerings: on January 12, 8pm, at the Jane Mallett Theatre, flutist Leslie Newman and harpist Erica Goodman perform traditional South American folk songs and music by Ravi Shankar, alongside works by Bach, Saint-Saëns, Doppler/Zamara and others, for MT’s “Discovery Series.” And a week later, on January 19, (same time/same place), we are treated to a concert by the divine Lafayette Quartet performing Wolf’s Italian Serenade, Shostakovich’s String Quartet No.2 in A Major Op.68 and the String Quartet in C Minor Op.51 No.1 by Brahms.

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra prevails, hands down, however, in the “Much Mozart” department. Mozart@256 Festival, the TSO’s eighth annual celebration of the composer’s birthday, offers no fewer than eight concerts in which to immerse yourself, including two for kids; all but one is at Roy Thomson Hall. Mozart@256 runs January 11 to January 22. Some of the highlights include: the Concerto for Three Pianos and Orchestra K242 (with Stewart Goodyear, Katherine Jacobson Fleisher and Leon Fleisher doing the honours); the aforementioned Symphony No.41 K551 “Jupiter”; a “Young People’s Concerts: Mozart’s Magnificent Voyage,” featuring 23 excerpts from Mozart’s works; astonishing young Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki in the Piano Concerto No.20 K466; and the Requiem K626 with a luminous cast. Phew! For all the details, see the listings.

And if after all that you still crave more Mozart, you’re in luck. In my October column I referred to a certain all-Mozart programme, adding that you’d have to wait for it. Well, it’s here! On January 25, Toronto Philharmonia Orchestra, in its first concert with Uri Mayer as artistic director and principal conductor, presents “Celebrating Mozart” at its home in the George Weston Recital Hall. The programme? Mozart’s Serenade No.6 in D Major K239 “Serenata notturna,” Piano Concerto in C Major K467 “Elvira Madigan” and Symphony No.40 in G Minor K550. The pianist is André Laplante.

In winding up, I want to mention Trio Bravo’s February 5 recital at All Saints Kingsway Anglican Church at 2pm. The trio’s November 6 concert was cancelled due to the ill-health of one of its members. It’s nice to see that they’re back on track with a robust programme of works by Bach, Beethoven, Bruch and Schubert. Bravo, Bravo!

Wishing you all sustained good health, a festive, music-infused holiday season and a soul-nourishing New Year and beyond!

Sharna Searle trained as a musician and lawyer, practised a lot more piano than law and is listings editor at The WholeNote. She can be contacted at classicalbeyond@thewholenote.com.

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