Program Notes
Media Room
January 22, 2025
Visionaries: Vivaldi & Da Vinci Program Notes
2024-25 Season
The program notes are written by Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence. At a glance and on the surface, there might seem to be little in common between Baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi, Renaissance artist…
December 17, 2024
Festival of Carols Program Notes 2024
2024-25 Season
The program notes are written by Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence. Welcome to the 25th annual Festival of Carols! A beloved holiday tradition in Toronto that is now a quarter-century old, the Festival…
October 30, 2024
The Love Affair: Waltz & Tango Program Notes
2024-25 Season
The program notes are written by Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence. The central pieces of tonight’s program—Brahms’s Liebeslieder Wälzer and Palmeri’s Misatango—are both inspired by dance forms associated with romantic love. However, the…
April 18, 2024
Verdi Program Notes
2023-24 Season
The program notes are written by Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence. After the 1871 Cairo premiere of his opera Aida, Giuseppe Verdi announced his retirement from opera composition. While he would eventually renege…
February 13, 2024
Winterreise Program Notes
2023-24 Season
The program notes are written by Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence. From the mid-eighteenth-century through to the end of the nineteenth, numerous German-speaking writers (the most famous among them including Goethe and Heine)…
November 13, 2023
Festival of Carols Program Notes 2023
2023-24 Season
The program notes are written by Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence. Welcome to the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir’s 2023 Festival of Carols! A December tradition for the choir for many years, the Festival of…
September 28, 2023
Carmina Burana Program Notes 2023
2023-24 Season
The program notes are written by Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence. Carmina Burana opens with epic music and astute commentary: “O Fortune, like the moon, you are changeable, ever waxing and waning.”…
September 7, 2023
In Time Program Notes
2023-24 Season
The program notes are written by Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence. Welcome to the Toronto Mendelssohn Singers’ opening concert of the 2023-2024 season! This season begins with a collaboration in musical and…
March 22, 2023
Bach Mass in B Minor Program Notes
2022-23 Season
The program notes are written by Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence. Hailed by Bach expert Christoph Wolff as Bach’s “musical and artistic creed,” the Mass in b minor is deservedly considered one…