Media
Media Room
November 14, 2016
CD Review: Handel’s Messiah – Sir Andrew Davis
2016-17 Season
Andrew Fletcher, NEMM.org, UK. Sir Andrew Davis claims that for this new concert edition, he wanted to do a ‘grand’ version, and sought to “keep Handel’s notes, harmonies and style intact, but to make use of all the colours available from the modern symphony orchestra”. This goal is achieved, with an overall ‘bright’ feel that is vital, fresh and exuberant, but not overcooked.
November 7, 2016
Toronto Mendelssohn Choir delivers a dramatically powerful Elijah
2016-17 Season
David Richards, Toronto Concert Reviews. The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir celebrated conductor Noel Edison’s twentieth season at the choir’s helm with a stunningly powerful performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s iconic oratorio Elijah. Edison put together a formidable cast of soloists which together with the choir and orchestra, created a performance with all the passion one could imagine.
November 2, 2016
Tutti Contenti at Amadeus Live
2016-17 Season
Brian Chang, The Wholenote. The second half of the film is dominated by the Requiem Mass. The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir shone the most in these pieces – after all, they know it well. Despite best efforts the diction was lost in the Sony Centre, but the overall effect was not diminished; it is the reality of singing amplified in a space full of soft services and full with 3100 patrons. The choir had excellent blend and balance and was well met by the Motion Picture Symphony Orchestra.
October 18, 2016
Festival of Carols 2016 Program Notes
2016-17 Season
Noel Edison, celebrating his 20th season as TMC Artistic Director and Conductor, instigated the annual TMC Festival of Carols in the early years of his tenure. His goal has not wavered – to present a festive evening of celebration containing a wide variety of seasonal music from around the world, old and new, original compositions as well as arrangements.
October 18, 2016
TMC announces webcasts for the 2016/17 season
2016-17 Season
The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir will webcast three of its concerts internationally this season. Webcasts are an important part of the TMC’s outreach initiatives and over the past four seasons have brought great choral music concerts to thousands of people locally, across Canada and internationally.
October 17, 2016
Elora Festival Singers offer up transcendent choral works!
2016-17 Season
David Richards, Toronto Concert Reviews: Edison’s genius as Artistic Director lies not only in preparing his choir to an exceptional level of performance. He consistently finds music spanning five centuries that fits into a coherent package. Yesterday was no exception; each work was exquisite on its own, but the combination added up to a mystical experience.
October 5, 2016
TMC offers a powerful interpretation of one of the pinnacles of choral music – Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah
2016-17 Season
The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir celebrates Artistic Director Noel Edison’s 20th anniversary season with the Choir with a performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s great oratorio, Elijah at Koerner Hall on November 5th. The 135-voice TMC and Festival Orchestra will be joined by four critically-acclaimed soloists. American bass-baritone David Pittsinger, praised for his roles in opera and as Emile de Becque in South Pacific, will make his debut performance of Elijah.
October 4, 2016
Fireworks! Mendelssohn’s Elijah Takes Off on Guy Fawkes Day
2016-17 Season
David Perlman, The Wholenote: What are the odds that there would be three separate performances of Felix Mendelssohn’s final completed oratorio, Elijah, all taking place this coming November 5? It’s not as though there’s some particularly significant Mendelssohnian anniversary in the offing: he was born in 1809 and died in 1847, at age 38, 14 months after Elijah premiered, in English, at the Birmingham Town Hall, as part of the Birmingham Festival. But by one of those odd twists of planning and timing (and without any discussion among themselves), Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Pax Christi Chorale and Chorus Niagara have all scheduled the work, same day and time, as a major part of their respective 2016/17 seasons.
September 27, 2016
Elijah Program Notes
2016-17 Season
Noel Edison speaks on why he chose Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah to celebrate his 20th season with the Choir: “How could I not choose a work by Felix Mendelssohn, the namesake of the Choir? And Elijah is one of my all-time favourite orchestral-choral works. Orchestral works are in the Choir’s DNA and this work is chock-full of big chorus effects. I love the drama and the way the story plays out — it’s religious opera bursting with the hellfire and brimstone of the Old Testament. And it’s tuneful and fulfilling, full of one beautiful piece after another. Enjoy!”