Expanding its concert series to four full productions (each performed twice), Toronto’s Talisker Players kicks off the 2013/14 season with City of the Mind, a concert about cities, ancient and modern, featuring soprano Erin Bardua, mezzo soprano Vicki St. Pierre and baritone Joel Allison – three young Canadian singers.
City of the Mind begins in the 15th century, with Les Cris de Paris, a consort piece based on the cries of street vendors in the French capital. Moving ahead a couple of centuries, Tommasso Giordani’s Addio di Londra, for soprano with violin, viola and continuo, is an ode to a famous but unnamed personage upon his departure from London, entreating him to remember the sights of the city in his travels abroad.
The programme features a rare North American performance of a selection of Wiener Lieder, in arrangements by Talisker Players’ cellist Laura Jones, for mezzo soprano, clarinet and strings. These traditional Viennese songs, centered on the theme of life in Vienna and sung in the local dialect, are a unique socio-cultural phenomenon. Their heyday was the late 19th century, though they have been written over hundreds of years, and are still being written today.
City of Minds Image: Talisker Players |
Moving into the 20th century, the players celebrate New York City with excerpts from Leonard Bernstein’s iconic On the Town, also arranged by Laura Jones for baritone, soprano and string quartet. And Toronto is featured in two pieces: Andrew Ager’s entertaining Ellis Portal, for baritone, mezzo soprano, clarinet and string quartet, about the city at night; and Erik Ross’s cool and quirky Concrete Toronto for soprano and saxophone.
The Talisker Players are renowned for their original projects that unite instrumental music, song and the spoken word. Joining them for this performance is the acclaimed Stratford actor Graham Abbey, reading selections from novels, memoirs and letters about life in the city, by writers from Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins to Nora Ephron and David Sedaris.
Each performance of City of the Mind will be preceded by an informal talk by the Talisker Players Composer in Residence, Alexander Rapoport. Free with a ticket to the concert, these informative chats became an instant hit when they were instituted three seasons ago. For those who are looking to add something new to their repertoire of music, or simply need a weeknight out, this is a most excellent choice.