Romantics, trills, tales and tangos
Sinfonia Ancaster’s season closer promises to be ‘unabashedly romantic’
Jeffrey Pollock and his Sinfonia Ancaster aren’t apologizing.
They’re going to be flat-out “unabashedly romantic” for their season closer on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre, 357 Wilson St. E.
When Pollock planned this past season, he wanted to ensure their programming had diversity. So, their “Land Acknowledgment” concert featured works by three living Indigenous composers while their “Half the Sky” concert focused on female composers.
“To balance out this lesser known repertoire, I wanted one concert devoted to works by composers that everyone would recognize,” said Pollock. “As the title of the concert states, we are unabashedly going to the heart of the orchestral repertoire, but even within this framework, we’re balancing an absolute blockbuster with two less frequently performed works by renowned composers.”
The blockbuster is Grieg’s “Piano Concerto” with Ancaster’s Valerie Tryon as soloist. Both the concerto and the soloist are audience favourites. And as Pollock points out, this will be the first ever piano concerto performed in the AMAC.
The concert will open with Mendelssohn’s overture, “Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage,” not to be confused with Beethoven’s cantata of the same name for chorus and orchestra.
After intermission, Pollock and SA will tackle Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 2.” Composed primarily in Kamianka, Ukraine while Tchaikovsky was on summer holiday in 1872 and revised some eight years later, the composer quotes several Ukrainian folk songs within the symphony including “The Crane” during the exciting final movement.
“The ‘Ukrainian’ symphony will
be SA’s seventh complete symphony in the three years I’ve been with the (community-based) organization,” said Pollock. “I’m so proud of the work that we’re doing together.”
Tickets via sinfoniaancaster.com or call 905-304-3232: $33.45, senior $27.80, under 25 $22.15 (all-in).
Saturday at 3 p.m. in the Church of St. John the Evangelist, 320 Charlton Ave. W., Bud Roach’s Hammer Baroque welcomes New York City-based Robert Warner who holds a DMA in harpsichord performance from State University of New York at Stony Brook, period violinist Chloe Fedor, and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra cellist Keiran Campbell for an hour-long program consisting of works by Handel, Rognoni, F. Couperin, Telemann, and J.S. Bach.
Warner, who’ll be performing on Roach’s Italian pentagonal virginal built by Matthew Redsell as well as his portative organo di legno built by Joel Van der Zee, will be heard in Froberger’s “Lamento sopra la dolorosa perdita della Real Maestà di Ferdinando IV Rè de Romani (Lament over the painful loss of the Royal Majesty of Ferdinand IV King of the Romans).”
The Stuttgart-born Froberger, unlike his teacher, the Italian master Frescobaldi, never left us performance tips for his music. So, three and a half centuries on, how do we play his works authentically?
“The stylistic influences on Froberger’s
music are clear,” explained Warner. “His toccatas are very much in the spirit of Frescobaldi, and it stands to reason that Frescobaldi’s performance instructions could be applied. Similarly, the ‘Lamento’ I am performing has characteristics of the French ‘tombeau,’ a highly expressive piece written in homage to a deceased person. Froberger’s keyboard suites, of which the ‘Lamento’ is a part, are generally more French in style, and so, I believe a French approach to performing them is appropriate.”
But riddle us this: when playing Froberger’s suites, should one do an Italian trill starting with the written note or a French trill starting from the note above?
“It’s too bad he’s not around to ask,” said Warner.
Ah, the unparalleled joys of early music geekdom.
Suggested donation: $15.
Sunday at 3 p.m. in the Burlington Performing Arts Centre, 440 Locust St., Denis Mastromonaco and his Burlington Symphony Orchestra close out their mainstage season with “Symphonic Fairy Tales.”
“The theme of the concert is ‘Fairy Tales’ and there are so many orchestral works within this programmatic genre,” said Mastromonaco. “I decided to choose a variety of works to engage audiences of all ages.”
So, for audiences who love large scale symphonic works, there’s Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade.” For younger audiences, there’s Prokofiev’s highly descriptive “Peter and the Wolf” with narrator Christopher Gray from the
KooGle Theatre Company. Burlington mime Trevor Copp is choreographing the “Waltz” from Tchaikovsky’s ballet, “The Sleeping Beauty,” and the all-ages finale is Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel Overture.”
Tickets at burlingtonpac.ca or call 905-681-6000: $50, senior (65plus) $45, ages 16 to 24 $30, under 16 $15 (all-in).
Wednesday, May 22, at 7:30
p.m. in the AMAC, address above, the Ancaster Music Society closes its inaugural Captivating Classics season with the Toronto-based tango band, Payadora.
The year hasn’t been all roses for Payadora.
In March, their Hungarian-born pianist, Robert Horvath, 52, lost his battle with cancer.
“Robert was our second pianist and was in the ensemble for eight years,” explained Payadora violinist-vocalist Rebekah Wolkstein. “He was dedicated to Payadora and was always happy to invest his time in the project. He was instrumental in creating many of our arrangements. He brought his amazing combination of classical training, jazz abilities and generous warm spirit to the ensemble. He was a tremendous human being, friend and musician.”
The group brought in Albertaborn pianist Clark Schaufele to fill the breach. An accomplished musician in multiple genres, Schaufele also plays double bass and can spell off Payadora’s regular bassist Joe Phillips when the latter plays classical guitar.
Payadora’s program includes tango faves such as “La cumparsita” and Piazzolla’s “Retrato de Milton,” and showcases originals by Wolkstein’s hubby, bandoneonist-violinist-vocalist Drew Jurecka’s “Ondas” and “Skeedaddle,” as well as Wolkstein’s upbeat “Gaucho de Las Pampas,” “Silk and Lace,” and “Mi Robi.”
“It is one of the last pieces I played with Robert,” said Wolkstein of her “Mi Robi.” “He loved it and I have dedicated it to him.”
Tickets via ancastermusic.org or call 905-304-3232: $40 (all-in).
The Hamilton Children’s Choir has announced Gillian Alexander as its new executive director succeeding Patricia LeClair who retired from the post after 17 years. Alexander has a long association with the HCC. She was a chorister for 12 years, and over the past nine years she served in various administrative roles with the organization including finance, marketing, and fundraising.
“We are thrilled that Gillian Alexander will be joining the HCC leadership team,” stated HCC board chair Katie Weresch in a media release. “Her solid understanding of the organization, her strong connections within the local community and her obvious passion for HCC will help play key roles in the stability and continued growth of the organization.”
The HCC will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2025.