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February 13, 2013
Matthew Halls leads Toronto Symphony in masterful Beethoven Ninth
2012-13 Season
Whatever it is that makes one of the most iconic pieces in the symphonic repertoire sound exciting, conductor Matthew Halls produced with the help of the Toronto Symphony, Mendelssohn Choir and soloists at Roy Thomson Hall on Wednesday night.
February 13, 2013
Toronto Symphony Orchestra captures original energy of Beethoven’s Ninth
2012-13 Season
Matthew Halls conducts Beethoven’s Ninth for the first time in his career — and captures much of the excitement its first audience must have felt.
February 9, 2013
Rossini: Petite Messe Solennelle Program Notes
2012-13 Season
During the decades of the early 19th century, Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868) dominated the world of Italian opera in both the comic and serious categories. The Barber of Seville, Tancredi, Semiramide, Cinderella, The Italian Girl in Algiers, The Silken Ladder, The Thieving Magpie and William Tell are all still staged today.
February 9, 2013
Toronto Mendelssohn Choir takes a luxurious view of Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle
2012-13 Season
Gioachino Rossini would probably have barely recognized his Petite Messe Solennelle as the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir performed it on Saturday afternoon at Yorkminster Park Baptist Church. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
December 18, 2012
TSO & Toronto Mendelssohn Choir: Concert review
2012-13 Season
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s gift to the city this season is a wonderfully shaped, gorgeously glowing performance of George Frideric Handel’s 1742 oratorio Messiah.
With the help of four excellent soloists and an expertly prepared Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, visiting conductor — and Handel specialist — Nicholas McGegan brought an easy bounce and infectious sense of enthusiasm to this Christmastime favourite at Roy Thomson Hall on Tuesday night.
December 18, 2012
Toronto Symphony makes Messiah magic at Roy Thomson Hall
2012-13 Season
There was an audible, palpable buzz in the air after Tuesday evening’s first Toronto Symphony Orchestra performance of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah. It was like going home after a pop concert.
December 15, 2012
Hallelujah, it’s the Messiah: Choristers love to sing Handel’s oratorio
2012-13 Season
George Frideric Handel’s 1742 composition, the story of the prophecy, birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ, is a Christmas staple around the world and a steadfast Toronto tradition. Originally written as Easter music, it is performed here at this time of year by many choirs including Tafelmusik, Amadeus Choir, Elmer Iseler Singers, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and many church groups.
The 150-voice Mendelssohn Choir sings a five-concert series of the Messiah with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall beginning Tuesday, Dec. 18.
November 15, 2012
Mendelssohn Choir’s Carmina Burana Rocks Koerner Hall
2012-13 Season
The raw power of Karl Orff’s popular masterpiece, Carmina Burana, made me ecstatic the first time I heard it on record quite a few years ago. Last night’s performance at Koerner Hall by the Toronto Mendelssohn choir brought back that thrill and then some.
November 14, 2012
Carmina Burana Program Notes
2012-13 Season
The British composer Jonathan Dove (b. 1959) has composed in a variety of fields, including film scores, orchestral and chamber music and choral music, but he’s maybe best known for his operas and opera adaptations. As well as The Adventures of Pinocchio and Mansfield Park, based on the novel by Jane Austen, Dove has also created a two-evening chamber adaptation of The Ring of the Nibelung by Richard Wagner.