The Toronto Summer Music Festival returns for another year with a theme on The Modern Age. The festival will feature 20 mainstage concerts by renowned Canadian and international artists including the Emerson String Quartet, Sondra Radvanovsky, Milos Karadaglic, and the Toronto Symphony, plus masterclasses, lectures, interviews, workshops and free outreach concerts from July 22 to August 12.
“The 2014 Festival celebrates the music of the early 20th century, a fascinating period of wildly diverging artistic currents,” says Artistic Director Douglas McNabney. “From the late romanticism of Strauss, Rachmaninoff and Vaughan Williams, to the iconoclasms of Prokofiev and Bartok, to the raucous modernism of Schoenberg, this year’s Festival explores the multifaceted musical offerings of the Modern Age. This compelling music was set against a backdrop of great change including the ascension of popular music fuelled by the emergence of a recording industry and new mediums for distribution, namely the radio and the phonograph.” The 2014 Festival explores many of the influences and ideas of the time through both the concert programs and various Festival Insiders events.
To give you an idea of what this year’s festival has to offer, here are a key points.
Festival Insider events are special behind-the-scenes offerings including interviews with artists, guest lectures, and masterclasses with featured guests. These events take place Tuesdays through Fridays at 2pm in the Edward Johnson Building, University of Toronto.
OLG SHUFFLE Concerts
Back by popular demand, OLG SHUFFLE Concerts take place at 5pm, Wednesdays through Fridays at Heliconian Hall. Inspired by the Shuffle function on an iPod, these informal, eclectic one-movement performances are Pay What You Can and feature Festival Artists, special guests and next-generation emerging artists. Last year, I attended a couple of these concerts. They are a fabulous way to end a workday; especially, in such a lovely venue.
Free TSM Academy Concerts
These popular free concerts showcase gifted Toronto Summer Music Academy Fellows and guest artists. Performances are at 12pm on July 25, July 31, August 1 and August 7 at Heliconian Hall.
And some concerts that I would personally recommend are:
Opening Night featuring the Emerson String Quartet
Tuesday, July 22nd, 7:30pm, Koerner Hall
One of the greatest quartets of our time! Over the past three decades America’s Emerson Quartet boasts thirty acclaimed recordings, nine Grammys® (including two for “Best Classical Album”), three Gramophone Awards, the Avery Fisher Prize, Musical America’s “Ensemble of the Year”, and collaborations with many of the great artists of our time. They launch the 2014 Festival with Beethoven’s Serioso Quartet, Britten’s String Quartet in C Major, Op. 36 and Schubert’s haunting Death and the Maiden. The concert will be followed by a champagne reception in the lobby with the artists.
Romanticism to Modernity
Friday, July 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall
A stellar group of musicians – Mark Fewer (violin), Axel Strauss (violin), Steven Dann (viola), Christopher Costanza (cello) and Pedja Muzijevic (piano) – perform richly textured chamber works by Berg, Bridge, Strauss and Schoenberg, from the pivotal period when Romanticism was giving way to modernity.
Soledad
Tuesday, July 29 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall
The Modern Age marked the birth of popular new idioms – jazz, calypso, and several dance forms including the tango, which took Europe by storm. Soledad, protégés of the great Argentinean pianist Martha Argerich, is a group of superb chamber musicians (violin, piano, guitar, double bass, accordion) who perform an intriguing mix of traditional and Tango Nuevo styles.
Modigliani String Quartet
Wednesday, July 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall
France’s electrifying Modigliani Quartet, featuring Philippe Bernhard (violin), Loïc Rio (violin), Laurent Marfaing (viola) and François Kieffer (cello) have been lauded as one of today’s best quartets in the world for their balance, transparency, and confident style. The Strad magazine praised them for giving “a gripping and persuasive performance, played with awesome individual and communal brilliance.” Their program includes Haydn’s Quartet in G Major, Op. 77, Bartók’s String Quartet No. 2, Op. 17, and Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major, one of the most widely performed chamber music works in the classical repertoire.
Russia After Revolution
Friday, August 1 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall
This program features two of Canada’s superlative violinists, Jonathan Crow and Martin Beaver, performing the Prokofiev Duo for Two Violins. They are joined by Paul Coletti (viola), Marc Coppey (cello) and Angela Cheng (piano) for Shostakovich’s dramatic Piano Quintet in G Minor Op. 57 and Vaughan Williams’ Phantasy Quintet.
Spotlight on the TSO
Thursday, August 7 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall
TSO principals Jonathan Crow and Etsuko Kimura (violin), Eric Nowlin (viola), David Hetherington (cello), Yao Guang Zhai (clarinet) and special guests baritone Peter McGillivray and pianist David Louie perform a Viennese program featuring Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer and Waltzes by Strauss, all in brilliant arrangements by Schoenberg and Berg.
TSM Academy Art of Song Recitals
Friday, August 8 at 12:00 p.m. & 4:00 p.m. at Walter Hall
Each year, outstanding young singers and pianists from around the world audition for 12 coveted scholarships to TSM Academy. After two weeks of intensive training in Toronto with internationally acclaimed French baritone François Le Roux and iconic pianist Graham Johnson, Alumni of the TSM Academy Art of Song program showcase their freshly honed skills in two recitals at Walter Hall.
The full Toronto Summer Music Festival schedule is available online. Festival, Weekly, Flex passes ($202 -$592), as well as, individual tickets ($20 to $99) are on sale now. To purchase festival passes and single tickets visit torontosummermusic.com, call 416-408-0208 or visit the Weston Family Box Office at the Royal Conservatory of Music.
With so many great concert options, including some free events, there is no reason to miss out on the Toronto Summer Music Festival. I am looking forward to enjoying some music by Schubert, Mahler, Prokofiev, and of course, some Argentinian Tango as well. Summer, music, and good company, sounds like a great way to spend some quality time.