In a refreshing concert last Tuesday, July 19, Toronto Summer Music presented pianist Pedja Muzijevic’s "Haydn Dialogues,” a 75-minute performance of four Haydn sonatas separated by pieces by Oliver Knussen, John Cage and Jonathan Berger. Passionate about mixing old and new music, Muzijevic is also a genial talker, combining a delicious wit and the occasional catty comment with a streamlined historical sensibility that made it easy to relate to Haydn and his relationship to his patrons, the Esterházy family, and to the timely invitation by the British impresario, Salomon, to live and work in London. (“Talk about London Calling,” Muzijevic added in a clever aside.”)

Muzijevic also likes short concerts. “Don’t you just love an eight-minute sonata,” he said after playing the final London sonata, the two-movement Sonata in D Major, Hob.XVI:51 (1794), redolent with classical architecture.  

Continuing TSM’s London Calling theme, Muzijevic chose British contemporary composer Knussen’s Sonya’s Lullaby, Op.16 (1977-8) as his first modern work. Written as a lullaby to get his infant daughter to sleep (“wishful thinking”), it features a scampering atonality amidst a calm underpinning. More a description of a child finally falling asleep rather than a hypnotic sleep-inducing exercise, it was delightful.

The next Haydn (from 1784), the Sonata in G Major, Hob.XVI:40 (also in two movements), featured Muzijevic’s  sensitive broad tone in the Allegretto innocente with its stately theme contrasting with a sparkling secondary section. The Presto was filled with rapid chattering on the keyboard, humourous comments, joyous fun. (“It’s very hard to express humour in music and Haydn was a master at it.”)

Muzijevic then moved into a brief history of his relationship with the writings and compositions of Cage (“4’33” -- I’m available anytime”), from his university days to touring with Baryshnikov. (“Cage spoke in so many [musical] languages.”) In the afternoon that same Tuesday I had audited the invigorating three-hour masterclass led by mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke in which she pointed out that “art song is not painting a picture; it’s stepping into it.” Muzijevic’s dreamy take on Cage’s “serene nocturne, a meditation on tones and overtones,” In a Landscape, found the pianist truly in the landscape. Magical.

The third and fourth Haydn sonatas, Hob.XVI:44 (1773) and Hob.XVI:50 (1794) framed Berger’s impish and charming Intermezzo (2015) written specifically for the Haydn Dialogues. The earlier Haydn reminded Muzijevic of C.P.E. Bach and the pianist wondered if Haydn knew the work of Bach’s most famous offspring. The later sonata, the “grandest” of the London sonatas, sparkled with wit in the Allegro, as if the music were wearing a constant smile. The Adagio seemed to take on a contemporary viewpoint as Muzijevic’s juxtapositioning worked its magic on me; the virtuosic Allegro molto was simply radiant.

The disappointment of Jeremy Denk’s cancellation of his TSM recital July 21 due to illness was assuaged somewhat by the opportunity to hear his replacement, rising star, Israeli-born, 27-year-old Inon Barnatan, make his Toronto recital debut. Barnatan, who begins his third and final season as the New York Philharmonic’s inaugural Artist-in-Association this fall, even managed to preserve Denk’s choice of Schubert’s final piano sonata following intermission. Its first movement had a burnished, well-lived-in quality; Barnatan’s interpretation was contemplative and lyrical, relaxed and unified. The Andante sostenuto had no hard edges; it felt otherworldly. The third movement was light and dextrous while the finale had the intimacy of chamber music. It was the fourth time I’ve heard this masterpiece in the last 16 months. While Barnatan had neither the uncluttered Romanticism of Schiff, nor the technical ease of Hamelin, his playing was spellbinding nonetheless.

Greeted by a spontaneous standing ovation by the big Koerner Hall audience, Barnatan said that there is only one thing to do after Schubert and that is to go back to Bach. The evening concluded with an arrangement of the lovely chorale, Sheep may safely graze, from the Hunting Cantata BWV208, which glowed with understated spirituality.

The evening began with two Brahms’ extensions of Baroque staples by Bach and Handel. Barnatan emphasized the exalted nature of Bach’s Chaconne in D Minor for the left hand, deftly exposing the composer’s inner chordal universe. The masterful Variations and Fugue on a theme by Handel, Op.24 with its 25 variations on the Air from Handel’s B-flat Major harpsichord suite culminating in the brilliant, never-failing-to-satisfy fugue was carried off with aplomb by the young pianist. He mined the music’s rich melodic veins from limpid loveliness to devilish technical difficulty.

Artistic Director Douglas McNabney’s farewell season of Toronto Summer Music (TSM), the “London Calling” edition, got off to a memorable start July 14 with a concert of English music for strings conducted by Joseph Swensen. McNabney introduced the evening and spoke to the large crowd in Koerner Hall of his programming raison d'être: celebrating the tradition of musical life in London over several centuries. He cited the huge repertoire to be unfurled in the more than three weeks through August 7 which would include European music reflected by the various concert-giving associations that provided 19th-century London music lovers with a rich diet of Continental fare. As well, he described the very pastoral, optimistic qualities of the English music that would bolster TSM’s ambitious schedule. He noted that Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, which we were about to hear, was the first piece he wanted to program in the festival.

The remarkable performance by American tenor Nicholas Phan, TSO principal horn Neil Deland and the TSM Festival Strings, was breathtaking in its execution; Deland’s horn playing unforgettable in its purity of tone, a wondrous support for the mercurial tenor and the assorted poetic anthology, the text taken from some of Britten’s favourite verse by the likes of Tennyson, Blake and Keats. The powerful Blow, Bugle Blow, the foreboding horn of The Sick Rose, the anguished and awestruck Lyke Wake Dirge and the seductive voice of To Sleep. What a rare treat!

The concert opened with Holst’s St. Paul’s Suite and the Jig which evoked the days of the British Empire with its quintessentially bright and optimistic spirit and delicate pastoral quality. Later, North African tone colouring contrasted with the British stiff upper lip before a familiar folk tune (with a subtle nod to Greensleeves) seemed to acknowledge imperial primacy.

After intermission, the outer movements of Tippett’s Concerto for Double String Orchestra concealed a lovely jewel, ahead of Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro in which the TSM Strings were joined by the formidable Parker String Quartet. Initial full-blown energy turned to a graceful execution of Elgar’s melodious introduction. There was wonderful interplay between the quartet and the strings; an impressive sonic richness and typical Elgarian tunefulness filled the sweeping phrases as the Parker Quartet played with compelling intensity.

The following day, July 15, the quartet took centre stage at Walter Hall in a nod to The Musical Union of 1865, a classical chamber music association “disseminating a taste for good music amongst the upper classes in London.” Led by the forceful first violinist Daniel Chong, the Parker Quartet produced a dynamic, cohesive full sound; their balanced ensemble playing conveyed all of Haydn’s sophistication in his String Quartet Op.71 No.2 (1793), the 55th iteration of the form he invented. All voices were heard and paid attention to in the resplendent Adagio.

In Beethoven’s String Quartet Op.18, No.2 (1799), his second (written less than a year after the Sonata Pathétique for piano), the Parker showed great togetherness and sense of purpose as they swirled through the composer’s complex development. They brought a Haydnesque playfulness to the Scherzo with its theses and antitheses and in the final Allegro, intimations of the great creative spirit that would flower as Beethoven matured.

There was a hushed tension, a kind of magical effect, as they began their magisterial performance of Schubert’s String Quartet No.15, D887 (1826), his final quartet. The first movement was driven and overflowing with melodic moments, with Chong parrying and thrusting like a master musical swordsman, balanced by the empathetic cello playing of Kee-Hyun Kim. The charming trio of the third movement was suffused in songful melody while the final Allegro assai was replete with contrasts, style and verve.

Recently several colleagues had urged me not to miss Tapestry Opera’s world premiere production of Rocking Horse Winner. This co-commission with Scottish Opera had been playing since the end of May and I was interested to see how the spare narrative of D.H. Lawrence’s short story, required reading in high school literature classes of my generation, would be translated to the operatic medium.

Perfectly sized for the Berkeley Street Theatre, the production by Tapestry’s artistic director Michael Hidetoshi Mori was skillfully paced, permitting the cast of eight to fill the intimate space. Music director Jordan de Souza led an accomplished string quartet plus piano in Gareth Williams’ sparse score which provided ongoing commentary comfortably suited to the shifting moods of the hour-long drama.

Traditional wisdom says that English is one of the hardest languages to sing clearly. This was not the case on Saturday evening, June 4. From soprano Carla Huhtanen’s first tentative lines in the role of Ava, the deceptively simple, poetic libretto by Anna Chatterton rang out distinctly, even in the quietest moments, easily inviting the audience into the drama from the outset. In the challenging role of Paul, Ava’s young son, tenor Asitha Tennekoon captured the right tone and physicality to convey the obsessed yet endearingly damaged boy who uncannily predicts horse race winners. His scenes with his mother, also a broken victim, were particularly moving. Completing the cast were tenor Keith Klassen as Paul’s greedy Uncle Oscar and baritone Peter McGillivray as Bassett, Paul’s equally mercenary caregiver. As Paul’s major male influences, both presented contrasting portraits of avaricious protectors who were out for themselves while still professing to care for their young charge. A unique feature of this work is the four-member chorus which embodies the spirit voices of the stifling house. Tenor Sean Clark, baritone Aaron Durand, mezzo-soprano Erica Iris, and soprano Elaina Moreau, fashioned an atmosphere at once terrifyingly believable and haunting.

Camellia Koo’s two-level set ushered us into a cozily domestic but claustrophobic home with the upper part reserved for Paul’s cramped bedroom with its eerily over-sized rocking horse. This platform also served well as the race track where Oscar, Bassett and Paul excitedly cheered on the winners (and losers) of the horse races.

Overall, this was a compelling theatrical experience and can easily rest alongside Tapestry Opera’s other successes such as Nigredo Hotel, Sanctuary Song, Iron Road and M’dea Undone. The company continues to grow in stature as an alternative source for new opera of the highest quality.

The Esprit Orchestra with guests – the Elmer Iseler Singers – provided their audience with a lovely evening of new and newer music on March 31. The fourth concert of their current season opened with Darius Milhaud’s La création du monde (1923). Its first movement of trembling strings against a militaristic timpani set up the introduction of the saxophone, the featured instrument of the piece. The emergent jazz was clearly an invocation of George Gershwin.   

The Elmer Iseler Singers, led by Lydia Adams, were simply exquisite in their presentation of Hussein Janmohamed’s Nur: Reflections on Light (2014). In the second and fourth movements, the Singers proved why they are considered in the top rank of choral music performers in this city and beyond. The Singers are lucky to have the Janmohamed in their repertoire and I can’t imagine the composer would have been disappointed with the performance. Clear, crisp and intentional, the choir surrounded the audience from the balcony, in the aisles and from the stage. I have never appreciated the acoustics of Koerner Hall more than through this experience. The graceful presentation was accentuated with Adams’ clear mastery and deep understanding of the work. First premiered at the opening of the Ismaili Centre and Aga Khan Museum in 2014 – this rarely performed piece was a pure pleasure.

Douglas Schmidt’s Sirens (2016), which concluded the first half of the concert, sat beyond my ability to synergize. I have never actually seen a harmonium pump organ (an instrument that is rather noisy to play and noisy sounding) on stage with an orchestra. I found myself thinking that two very distinct things were at play, a coherent orchestral composition and a bellowing organ. Whether or not that was the intention, each seemed to me to exist irrespective of the other.

The final, and largest, piece of the evening was Esprit music director and conductor Alex Pauk’s new work, Devotions (2016). The Elmer Iseler Singers, under Adams, were the draw for me as a choral beat writer. It’s rare to find new works for orchestra and choir; so it was refreshing to have this opportunity to listen to Alex Pauk’s.

A big, thick work, I found myself thinking of cinematic movie scores, particularly those akin to Howard Shore’s. Inspired by many religious texts, Devotions fits into a larger conversation that choral composers specifically are having about the secularization of religious music. Or in many cases, the sacredization of secular music. Using religious texts in a non-religious setting is a spiritual experience nonetheless. Pauk’s joins the ranks of other works like Christopher Tin’s Calling All Dawns (2009) and Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man (1999).

The Elmer Iseler Singers were the dynamos of the evening. Pauk’s composition was not easy or straightforward music and these singers were impeccable. With the skillful use of tuning forks, some of the entries were consistent and well done.

Esprit continues to provide Toronto audiences with a world-class new music experience.