Arthur Kaptainis, Musical Toronto. Expectation and fulfillment: We get a bit of each every day, and giant helpings whenever an orchestra like the Toronto Symphony programs Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé as a complete ballet. This score is languorous and lavish in equal measure, and if the first of two performances in Roy Thomson Hall under the baton of Juanjo Mena was a little heavy on the languor, the emphatic moments had their properly fulfilling effect.
Author: tmchoir
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T.O. concert for Queen’s 90th was indeed Happy and Glorious
Martin Knelman, Toronto Star. It was a highly enjoyable celebration of the Queen’s 90th birthday with a distinctively Canadian twist. And it should have been on national TV in prime time so millions could have joined the party.... From an Ontario perspective, the most stirring mix of provincial pride and nostalgia came when the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir sang “A Place to Stand,” which became an anthem for the Ontario Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal, which the Queen visited.
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An experience of sonic excellence: New Ears respond to The Creation
At one point I began to imagine myself seated in the hull of Noah’s Ark instead of Koerner Hall with its beautiful wood-paneled balconies and ceiling and how I was being prepared for a world of such beauty and diversity, listening to the music. Haydn’s Creation was an experience of sonic excellence combining vocal soloists, choir and orchestra and at the same time a good opportunity to reflect on the natural beauty we’ve been afforded and should not take for granted.
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Choral Splendor Marks TMC’s The Creation at Koerner Hall
Joseph So, Musical Toronto. One of the cornerstones of the oratorio repertoire, Haydn’s The Creation (Die Schöpfung) is a wonderful work that I never get tired of hearing. Together with Die Jahreszeiten, it’s two pieces on my short list of go-to oratorios if I ever want a “spiritual uplift.” So it was great to hear it again the other evening at Koerner Hall.
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Toronto Mendelssohn Choir spectacular in Haydn’s Creation
David Richards, Ontario Arts Review. The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir created an evening of spectacular bliss. Noel Edison successfully highlighted the drama and humour in the work with uplifting results. He created a symphonic sound of magnificent proportions with the 135 voice choir and the Festival Orchestra.
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The Creation Program Notes
The opening orchestral introduction, called “The Representation of Chaos” is famous. Haydn paints the dark, frightening void just prior to creation by using snippets of melody, vague rhythms, strange harmonies, awkward dissonances and sudden outbursts. “There is nothing else quite like it,” claims Noel Edison. “It’s the Big Bang expressed in music, and was way ahead of its time!”
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Toronto Mendelssohn Choir Soars!
David Richards, Ontario Arts Review.
Good Friday at St. Paul’s Catholic Church was the perfect day and place for a concert by the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. The choir made wonderful use of the church’s magnificent acoustics, not to mention the elaborately decorated sanctuary. The concert of sacred music in such beautiful surroundings, on this special day, made the spirits soar. If Good Friday was meant to send a message of peace, hope and love to mankind, then the Mendelssohn Choir was an inspirational messenger.
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Composer’s Commentary on I will lift up mine eyes
Leonard Enns writes of his TMC commission, I will lift up mine eyes: Psalm 121 is typically read, and often set musically, as a text of assurance and comfort. My setting is similar in that regard. What I find compelling, though, is the second phrase of the psalm: "from whence commeth my help (?)." Many musical settings treat the phrase "from whence cometh my help" simply as a modifier (no question mark); i.e. "... the hills from whence cometh my help" (take, for example, Mendelssohn's "Lift thine eyes"). Most current translations, however, treat it as a question.
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Sacred Music for a Sacred Space 2016 Program Notes
Artistic Director Noel Edison has always enjoyed the combination of Renaissance with contemporary music in a concert program. For him, it’s the similarity between the openness and simplicity of the structure of these compositions that works so well together.