Tafelmusik plays to the tempo of the times
Six months had passed since the players last faced each other when the members of Tafelmusik, Toronto’s baroque period instrument orchestra, assembled for a September rehearsal on the stage of Trinity St. Paul’s Centre.
Not that a live concert was possible for them; COVID-19 had brought about the effective cancellation of such events for the foreseeable future.
No, what the players were preparing was a program to be performed without an audience for exclusive online viewing. A ticketed event, it constituted a component of a reimagined 2020-21 season mixing online pre-recorded and livestreamed programs, digital releases and panel discussions.
“I had to rethink the season,” says music director Elisa Citterio. “We had invited many guests from Europe and I didn’t know when the borders would be reopened. I had to postpone all guest appearances. However, it did give us the opportunity to work with our core members. And I have the luxury of five days’ rehearsal instead of two.
“It is a challenging period but we can record. It is important to keep morale high. I am trying to keep everyone busy. We talk on Zoom every week to share ideas.”
Given current restrictions on group gatherings, many of these ideas involve making small ensemble chamber music for online viewing.
Tafelmusik at Home has offered chamber events by members of the orchestra on a choose-what-you-pay basis, hosted from their living rooms. #Taf elm usik Together invites music lovers to gather virtually on Tafelmusik’s Instagram, Facebook and YouTube channels for short performances and other artistic content, shared daily, again from the members’ living rooms. And a funding campaign titled Keep Tafelmusik Together was launched to help finance such initiatives.
A combination of rules affecting personnel numbers and social distancing has also necessitated a novel approach to rehearsing.
For a video in June, viewers saw 10 members on stage, though they were filmed individually. For this month’s presentation of “Passions of the Soul,” the latest range of health and safety restrictions meant turning what was to have been a livestreamed event into a Nov. 26 pre-recorded concert.
“In the middle of rehearsal for ‘Passions of the Soul’ we had to change the way we worked because of new rules,” says production manager David Costello.
“We didn’t change the program, but we went from a 15-person band to 10 and moved from a livestreamed concert to a filmed concert.”
To facilitate filming, the orchestra also moved from Koerner Hall to AstroLab Studios in Toronto’s east end to gain extra space for social distancing and a circular arrangement of players so they could see each other more clearly.
There were seven cameras, Costello notes, adding that “filming also enabled us to play multiple times if there were mistakes.”
“Technically we discovered we could have rehearsed with more than 10 players but we had no idea if new regulations would change this. Koerner Hall had originally closed down, even for rehearsals.”
Costello praises the musicians for “a really great attitude. We used to know our rehearsal schedule 24 to 36 months in advance. Now it’s 24 to 36 hours.”
Transitioning from a live performance culture to a film and video culture has turned out to be smoother than might have been expected, in part because of the players’ long experience of improvisation. Older members still remember the days of extra-tight budget touring.
On the other hand, it hasn’t been all that easy getting used to performing with masks, Mylar screens for the wind players and with physical distancing heightening the challenge of ensemble playing.
Citterio expresses pride in the level of performance her players have achieved under these conditions, although they probably pine for the pre-COVID-19 conditions that enabled them to make their first and so far only compact disc under her direction, a handsome collection of concertos titled “Vivaldi Con Amore,” on the Tafelmusik media label.
Meanwhile, with most of her family in pandemic-plagued Italy, she tries to keep in touch daily by telephone, recalling that in the early days of COVID-19 they had to remain in their homes for 61 days without even being able to go out for a walk.
“I managed to be with them in the summer,” she says, “but my father is very concerned. He is 88.”
“Passions of the Soul,” will be broadcast online at 8 p.m. on Nov. 26. Ticket buyers will have a 48-hour window to watch the concert. Ticket information and program details are available at tafelmusik.org or at 1-833-964-6337.