Scott Joplin’s revolutionary tale of female sovereignty and community is reconceptualized with a new story and libretto by playwright and broadcaster Leah-Simone Bowen, host of The Secret Life of Canada, working alongside Emmy-nominated co-librettist Cheryl L. Davis. This opera was written in 1911 when being a Black composer was unheard of. This opera is unique in nature considering operas are synonymous for telling the narratives of Europeans. This alluring story captivates the audience with its powerful vocals, while the costumes expertly recreate the feel of existing in 19th century rural United States. Opera aficionados and critics alike will be moved by the depth, sound and jarring plotline of this classic.

This production of Treemonisha offers audiences a beguiling glimpse into the life of a young Black woman who overcomes tremendous adversity and loss during the slave era, discovering her ability to unify her community leading them to a new future filled with possibilities. Bickersteth’s rich sopranic voice blends seamlessly with the talented cast and nine-piece chamber orchestra. The sounds of Western and African instruments fill the atmosphere and bring a surreal feeling of immersion. Joplin’s score lies in the fusion of his famed ragtime syncopations with classical, folk and gospel sounds. The re-imagining of this classic can be seen in the new arrangement and orchestration reflecting the duality of split identities: African and American. This dichotomy encourages audiences to reflect on the role and influence ancestors play in accepting the reality of living on new unfamiliar land.

This revolutionary retelling also sees a breadth of new scores adding to Joplin’s trailblazing and iconic stance which places a female leader at the helm of this American opera. These arrangements pull from traditional spirituals and male-led hymns to offer more space for female voices to flourish. Audiences can hear the influence of gospel, jazz, rhythm and blues and American songs intertwined in this masterpiece.

Joplin’s play sees a progressive display of feminism created far before such ideologies were accepted. The story takes place in the 1880s following the abandoned reconstruction efforts made by the United States government. Treemonisha is avant-garde, exploring themes of Black identity, feminism and leadership from an honest perspective. When Joplin first created this play, Black opera composers were a radical idea; a sentiment which remained true until 2021 when Terrance Blanchard (composer of Fire Shut Up in My Bones) became the first Black composer to have an opera produced by the Metropolitan Opera. Treemonisha acts as an ode to Joplin, who posthumously received a Pulitzer Prize in 1976. Joplin’s opera was almost lost altogether following his death when his orchestral parts were thrown out. Morehouse College in Atlanta is partly responsible for the revival of this opera, as it premiered in 1972 featuring Joplin’s original vocals.

Now more than ever, the narrative of Treemonisha amplifies the Black voice and the progressive nature and strength of Black women. This opera fosters cultural inclusivity in an area of artistic expression which rarely embraces the stories of the Black community. Treemonisha will usher in a new generation of Black opera lovers, encouraging community members to experience pride in our cultural heritage and in seeing our narrative performed as an operatic experience.

This Volcano production in association with The Canadian Opera Company, Soulpepper and Moveable Beast will move audiences through a myriad of emotions, culminating in pride. Luminato Festival Toronto and TO Live co-present the world premiere event in Toronto between June 6 and 17, with the opening night taking place on Saturday, June 10 at 8pm. The Black carpet event will make Canadian opera history taking place at Bluma Appel Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts (27 Front Street East). An ASL interpretative shows will take place Sunday, June 11 and the live audio described performance will take place on Saturday, June 17, just be sure to secure your audio description device.

Ticket prices start at just $21 and are now on sale. They can be purchased by phone at 416-366-7723 and 1-800-708-6752, or by email at boxoffice@tolive.com.

The post Treemonisha: Operatic Black Excellence appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

Coming up at Koerner are a host of exciting concerts, beginning with Chineke! Orchestra on March 18. Founded in 2015 by British double bass player Chi-chi Nwanoku, Chineke!’s mission statement is “to provide career opportunities for Black and ethnically diverse classical musicians in the UK and Europe”. Their upcoming concert, with special guest pianist Stewart Goodyear, promises a showcase of diverse talent both on stage and in the musical scores. The March 18th program includes African-American composer Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1 in E minor (1932), Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Othello Suite (1909), and Toronto-born Goodyear’s Callaloo – Caribbean Suite for Piano and Orchestra. Conductor Andrew Grams, music director of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, will take the baton.

Following the Chineke! concert, Koerner will host a string of chamber music and solo performances, of the type which have earned the Hall a reputation as a welcoming space for smaller, ensemble work.

Highlights of the chamber series include:

March 23, at 8pm, the Takács Quartet with pianist Jeremy Denk will perform a program of Haydn, Fanny Mendelssohn, and Robert Schumann.

March 31, at 8pm, the Benedetti Elschenbroich Grynyuk Trio will perform two “monumental” trios from Schubert and Tchaikovsky.

April 18, at 8pm, Italian pianist Beatrice Rana brings her “poetic” (New York Times) talents to a hot-ticket recital of Bach, Debussy, and Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” sonata.

April 21, at 8pm, award-winning musicians Blake Pouliot (violin) and Henry Kramer (piano) will partner up on an eclectic selection featuring Miklós Rózsa, Kaija Saariaho, Ernest Chausson, and others, including a Canadian premiere.

Finally, we can’t resist the sheer novelty of Koerner’s Tribute to Jacques Brel, from the same minds which brought us Piaf! The Show and Formidable! Charles Aznavour. Have your pipes and Belgian witbiers ready.

***
For more on the RCM season and tickets to Koerner Hall performances, click here.

The post Royal Conservatory of Music Spring 2023 Season Features Chamber Favourites and Belgian Pop Icons appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

The Fellowship performance was, unabashedly, a ton of fun. No matter how many times we’ve seen that film, that trilogy, nothing compares to encountering it once more on the big screen, with a packed house full of other Tolkienites / general dorks. From the opening strains of Howard Shore’s “Footsteps of Doom” (cue soon-to-be-Oscar-winning Cate Blanchett intoning, “The world has changed, I feel it in the water…”) through the beautiful “In Dreams”, sung by Edward Ross over the closing credits, Fellowship was, and will forever be, a film that could not exist without its stellar soundtrack.

Toronto-born Shore won two Oscars for his Rings soundtracks, first for Fellowship and then again for Best Picture winner Return of the King. Shore’s trajectory from original Saturday Night Live musical director to in-demand film composer – his first major score was for David Cronenberg, naturally – has seen him working with the likes of Martin Scorsese, Jon Stewart, Michel Hazanavicius, and Deepa Mehta.

If the FILMharmonic Orchestra has at all tired out from all these film performances, it wasn’t apparent at Fellowship, where Conductor Shih-Hung Young and the orchestra were clearly having a great time playing along to one of the most beloved fantasy films of all time. Though we might have preferred the Extended edition, we understand why FILMharmonic – and, in fairness, some of the audience – were content with the shortened original cut. Probably the greatest testament to their performance? After a certain point, we lost track of the fact there was a live orchestra at all.

Next up for FILMharmonic in Toronto will be Music at the Movies at Roy Thomas Hall. Featuring excerpts from Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (familiar from The Walking Dead, Groundhog Day, and a thousand other films/tv series), John Williams’s Schindler’s List, and Ennio Morriconne’s Cinema Paradiso (which contains the greatest film theme music of all time, as far as we’re concerned), and more, the concert is sure to be a hit. And also, a reminder: if you somehow haven’t seen Cinema Paradiso by now, run – don’t walk – to Bay Street Video to rent your copy!

#
Book tickets for Music at the Movies – February 10, 2023 at 8:00pm here.
For all things FILMharmonic, click here.

The post One Orchestra to Rule Them All: FILMharmonic Brings Rings, Jedi, and More to Canadian Concert Halls appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

The highlight, highlight, highlight of the evening was 23-year-old Kanneh-Mason’s rendition of Elgar’s Cello Concerto (1919). Dvořák might have the slight edge, but Elgar’s masterpiece is undoubtedly the other great cello concerto. From its dramatic opening adagio, through to its breathtaking finale, it ranks among the best works of classical music ever written.

And one that demands only the best musician to bring it to life. Only a few short years ago, Sheku Kanneh-Mason became the first Black musician to win the BBC’s Young Musician Award – an accomplishment which shot him to fame within the classical music world, and beyond. Judging by last week’s performance, Kanneh-Mason is a fine musician, albeit one prone to the occasional hiccup as he allows his exuberant style to get away from himself. Once or twice in the quicker passages, Kanneh-Mason got noticeably ahead of the orchestra, with Conductor Emeritus Peter Oundjian doing his best to rein him in. Youthful exuberance can hardly be faulted, and aside from that minor quibble the guest cellist was more than up to the task. His wonderful encore of the traditional Welsh tune “Myfanwy”, during which he played cello and whistled(!), added an unusual and highly welcome dynamic to the evening.

The relatively short programme also featured Ralph Vaughan Williams’s devastatingly beautiful Variations on a Theme By Thomas Tallis (1910). Easily one of the most popular works of classical music ever written – last year, it ranked third in Classic FM’s Hall of Fame audience poll – and deservedly so. With its remarkable orchestration, combining a full string orchestra, string quartet, and a string ensemble, Vaughan Williams transforms Tallis’s original 16th century theme in a lush, expressive work of deep harmonies. The soaring string lines – especially, and not coincidentally, in the cello section – combine perfectly with the smaller, more intimate solos of the quartet. Oundjian, who led the TSO from 2004 to 2018, conducted the orchestra with the skill and emotion he is known for.

Rounding out the evening was a world premiere, the latest from renowned Toronto-born composer Gary Kulesha, who also serves as Composer Advisor to the TSO and previously was Composer-in-Residence for the Canadian Opera Company. His Fourth Symphony (2023) was trademark Kulesha: exciting, occasionally discombobulating, and only somewhat derivative. The first movement, with its shades of Stravinsky and of R. Strauss, was probably the least interesting part of the composition, but it all came together in a satisfying finale that contained a few good jolts for the audience. Kulesha’s long-overdue fourth symphony – No. 3 debuted all the way back in 2007 – felt surprisingly at home next to the English masterpieces of the 20th century that graced the programme.

The post Sheku Kanneh-Mason Joins the TSO For Elgar, Vaughan Williams, and a Canadian World Premiere (Concert Review) appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

Warm. Funny. Charming. Beloved by all. Also: extraordinarily talented. Superstar. Able to slip effortlessly between genres, from classical to bluegress to traditional Chinese music, in collaborations with performers like Bobby McFerrin, Carlos Santana, and the many talented artists who make up his own Silk Road Ensemble. Not to mention: Simpsons character. “Sexiest Classical Musician” (2001). “Time‘s Most Influential People” (2020). Many, many awards.

Earlier this week, America’s Uncle paid Toronto – a city with a special place in Ma’s heart – a visit, joining the TSO for a centenary celebration featuring the music of Leonard Bernstein, Toronto’s own Oskar Morawetz, Wolastoqiyik-Canadian composer Jeremy Dutcher, and, perhaps inevitably, Dvořák. If Yo-Yo has grown tired of performing Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor (1894), he showed no signs of it in his exuberant performance at Roy Thomson Hall on November 16th.

Yo-Yo Ma has long maintained a special connection with Toronto. From his early years, when several notable Canadians, including Morawetz, gave him some of his earliest big breaks, through his later collaborations with local filmmakers (including Atom Egoyan) on the Yo-Yo Ma: Inspired By Bach series, Yo-Yo has an avowed loved for our city which shows no signs of abating. It was only fitting, then, that his guest appearance here served as the capstone of the TSO’s hundredth anniversary celebrations.

The program got off to an appropriate start with Morawetz’s Carnival Overture (1945), a sparkling, energetic piece infused with musical elements from Morawet’s native Czechoslovakia. The Overture was followed by another crowd-pleaser, Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story (1960), which the TSO performed with aplomb.

The real crowd-pleaser, of course, was Yo-Yo himself, taking over the second half of the evening, beginning with an intriguing collaboration with Jeremy Dutcher. Multi-hyphenate Dutcher has deservedly built a reputation for himself as one of Canada’s most interesting musical ambassadors. Dutcher’s works, including Wednesday evening’s Honour Song, combine classical European and Indigenous musical themes and structures to create something new and exciting.

Yo-Yo Ma has been performing the Dvořák, aka The Cello Concerto (sorry, Elgar) since his debut as a child prodigy in the 1960s. Dvořák’s masterpiece is one of the crowning achievements in the history of classical music, and Yo-Yo Ma one of its foremost interpreters. From its melodic opening movement, which concludes on such a climactic, grandiose fortissimo that audiences can be forgiven for mistaking it for the finale (on Wednesday, Yo-Yo actually winked when half the audience erupted in premature applause), through its lyrical second movement, with its languorous but no-less-technically-demanding Adagio theme, and on through the climax in the Rondo, the Dvořák – and Yo-Yo – never cease to impress.

Even after all that, there was room left for one more, an encore so genuinely impromptu that Yo-Yo had already put his Stradivarius away and had to borrow the “lowly” 1780 Paolo Castello cello of principal cellist Joseph Johnson. For his solo encore, Yo-Yo selected El cant dels ocells (“song of the birds”) a traditional Catalan folk song popularized by cellist Pabo Casals nearly eighty years ago. Aside from its lovely high harmonic grace notes, we can’t help but have a soft spot for a solo showcase that includes an anagram of the word “cello” within it. It was a charming note to end the evening on, ahead of cakes and sparkling in the lobby to celebrate the TSO’s birthday.

#

Tickets for the TSO’s 2022-2023 season can be purchased here.

The post The Toronto Symphony Orchestra Celebrates One Hundred Years (and One Yo-Yo Ma) appeared first on Toronto Guardian.