Mar 28, 29, & 30 2025, Jeanne Lamon Hall
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir
Directed by Ivars Taurins
Myriam Leblanc, soprano
February 28, 2025 …. Ivars Taurins directs Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir in a program that celebrates the musical friendship between two great baroque composers. Choral Splendours: Bach & Zelenka features soprano Myriam Leblanc and takes place on March 28 & 29 at 8 PM and March 30 at 3 PM at Jeanne Lamon Hall. Tickets are available at tafelmusik.org.
Amongst the composers Bach most admired was the Bohemian Jan Dismas Zelenka — theirs was a mutual admiration enriched by friendship. Choral Splendours explores that friendship, pairing a selection of lesser-known, intimate gems from Bach’s Lutheran cantatas 45, 150, and 151 with an extravagant Catholic mass by Zelenka.
Myriam Leblanc’s soprano is “perhaps the most beautiful voice to come out of Québec in the past 10 years” (Samedi et rien d’autre). Leblanc is featured in the Zelenka Mass and sings a beguiling aria from Bach’s Cantata 150.
“We know that Bach held Zelenka’s music in high esteem, which is fascinating to me, as the character of their respective musical styles is so different,” says Ivars Taurins. “Both were highly accomplished, innovative composers who wrote masterful, complex works, but Zelenka’s music is more idiosyncratic, eccentric, and extrovert: at once charged with an unusual emotional intensity, and then utterly charming and capricious.”
Tafelmusik has presented four of the five highly original high Masses Zelenka composed in the final decade of his life, and these performances of the Missa Sanctissimae Trinitatis complete the cycle of these extraordinary works. With its virtuosic demands on the performers, vivacious rhythms, eccentric harmonies, and deep emotional impact, the Mass bears Zelenka’s unmistakable personal stamp.
LISTING INFORMATION:
Choral Splendours: Bach & Zelenka
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir
Directed by Ivars Taurins
with Myriam Leblanc, soprano
March 28 & 29 at 8 PM and March 30 at 3 PM
Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre
Tickets start at $20 and are available at tafelmusik.org.
Season Presenting Sponsor
Tafelmusik gratefully acknowledges the support of BMO, Presenting Sponsor of the 2024/25 concert season, as well as support from the Azrieli Foundation, Brookfield, RBC, and Power Corporation of Canada. We are also grateful to our government partners Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, and the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
For guest artist bios, visit: tafelmusik.org
ABOUT TAFELMUSIK
Brandon Chui, Dominic Teresi, Cristina Zacharias, Artistic Co-Directors
Glenn Hodgins, Executive Director
Every now and then a group of musicians comes along and changes the way we think about music. For over four decades, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir has been synonymous worldwide with dynamic, engaging, and soulful performances informed by scholarship, passion and artistic excellence. Performing on instruments and in styles appropriate to the era, Tafelmusik has performed in more than 350 cities in 32 countries. Its extensive discography on the Sony, CBC Records, Analekta and Tafelmusik Media labels have garnered ten JUNOs and numerous international recording prizes. From a vibrant home season in Toronto, to international tours, award-winning recordings, innovative collaborations, and inspiring education programs, Tafelmusik is a musical powerhouse with a reputation for thrilling and delighting audiences. www.tafelmusik.org
Website: tafelmusik.org
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Media contact:
Luisa Trisi, Big Picture Communications
luisa@luisatrisi.com | 427 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON M5S 1X7