New Digital Pass opens Tafelmusik concerts to the world
Guest artists include Jonathon Adams, Leila Schayegh, Masaaki Suzuki, Krisztina Szabó, and Nick Wallace
Toronto, August 31, 2021 … Following the resounding success of its first all-digital season, Music Director Elisa Citterio and Executive Director Carol Kehoe have unveiled Tafelmusik’s 2021/22 digital season of eight full-length, newly recorded digital concerts that span almost two centuries of repertoire. Today’s announcement includes the launch of a new Digital Season Pass that invites music lovers to explore the beauty of Tafelmusik on demand, wherever they live. Passholders will also enjoy priority access to live concert ticket sales, which will be announced at a later date as public health guidelines allow. Digital Passes are now on sale at tafelmusik.org and include all eight concerts (premiere dates between September 2021 and June 2022), as well as exclusive content by Tafelmusik artists. Single tickets for digital concerts will go on sale approximately three weeks prior to each concert premiere date.
“We can’t wait to share these concerts with you!” says Music Director Elisa Citterio. “We have curated a new season that sparkles with moments of wonder, beauty, and joy — from our first venture into the music of three 19th-century composers, Antonin Dvorak, Louise Farrenc, and Hector Berlioz, to the timelessness of J.S. Bach, including the premiere of my orchestral arrangement of the Goldberg Variations; and from an enchanting exploration of magic and music to a celebration of the human voice. In addition to performances recorded at our home venue of Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, we are excited to be returning to some favourite Toronto venues, including Massey Hall and Koerner Hall, and hope to spark a connection with music lovers here at home and around the world.”
Highlights of Tafelmusik’s 2021/22 digital season
A detailed description of each concert can be found below.
- 40th anniversary of Tafelmusik Chamber Choir
- Return to newly revitalized Massey Hall for Bach’s B-Minor Mass led by conductor Masaaki Suzuki
- Tafelmusik’s debut performance of music by Dvorak directed by Leila Schayegh
- Tafelmusik’s debut performance of Nonet for strings and winds by 19th-century composer Louise Farrenc
- New multimedia program exploring magic and music, created by Marco Cera and magician Nick Wallace
- World premiere of Bach’s Goldberg Variations in an orchestral arrangement by Elisa Citterio
- The Phantom of Goldberg, solo work for harpsichord by Canadian composer Grégoire Jeay, performed by Tafelmusik’s Charlotte Nediger.
- Baroque showcase featuring the stunning mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó
- Christmas concert with selected choruses from Handel’s Messiah; excerpt from Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ, and more
A tribute to the late Jeanne Lamon, Tafelmusik’s Music Director Emerita who passed away earlier this summer, is being planned for the 2022/23 season.
“Seventeen months have passed since Tafelmusik last performed a live, full-length concert and we have deeply missed the audience’s physical presence in the hall,” said Executive Director Carol Kehoe. “Today we are committing to presenting a full season of new digital concerts that will be available to Digital Season Passholders and single ticket buyers worldwide, bringing the Tafelmusik experience to a larger audience than ever before. We continue to prepare for the possibility of opening some concerts to the public, when a return to live performance is possible in a way that ensures our patrons’ comfort and safety.”
2021/22 Digital Season
MUSIC & MAGIC
Directed by Elisa Citterio
Created by Marco Cera and Nick Wallace
Stage direction by Ryan Joyce
Online premiere October 28, 2021
Open your eyes and ears to the world of illusion and enchantment in this new digital program for all ages. Inspired by his lifelong fascination with magicians, Tafelmusik oboist and visual artist Marco Cera has conjured up Music and Magic, a mesmerizing digital show featuring award-winning magician Nick Wallace. The film combines magic vignettes with music by Bach, Handel, and Purcell, along with a performance of Spring from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.
SPOTLIGHT 15
Directed by Elisa Citterio
Online premiere November 18, 2021
Fifteen soloists and fourteen concertos are featured in this playful mix-and-match showcase of Tafelmusik’s artistry. Music Director Elisa Citterio conceived this concert as a challenge to the musicians, inviting each of them to flex their musical muscles as soloists and leaders. Collaboratively designed with input from the orchestra, the program pairs movements from different concertos — occasionally even by different composers — creating a kaleidoscope of sounds and styles, from baroque to galant.
THE VOICE OF VIVALDI
Directed by Elisa Citterio
Krisztina Szabó, mezzo-soprano
Online premiere December 2, 2021
The sheer beauty and soulfulness of the human voice infuses this concert featuring mezzo soprano Krisztina Szabó— one of Tafelmusik’s first guest soloists since February 2020. Passionate arias from three Vivaldi operas are even more striking when paired with two sacred arias by members of the Bach family, including the powerful lament Ach dass ich Wasser gnug hätte by Johann Christoph Bach. Orchestral works by Alessandro Scarlatti, Dall’Abaco, and Johann Bernhard Bach mirror the expressive range and intensity of the arias.
A TAFELMUSIK CHRISTMAS
Directed by Ivars Taurins
Tafelmusik Chamber Choir
Online premiere December 16, 2021
Curated by Ivars Taurins, this festive program reunites members of the choir and orchestra for the first time in 2021 — a perfect way to launch the 40th anniversary season of Tafelmusik Chamber Choir. A selection of sparkling choruses from Handel’s Messiah and richly harmonized baroque arrangements of Christmas carols complement the exuberance of Bach and the elegance of Charpentier. Choral works by Berlioz and Poulenc add depth and dimension, while pastoral sinfonias by Stradella and Pasquini balance this program spanning two centuries.
HAYDN AND FRIENDS
Online premiere March 17, 2022
Tafelmusik’s award-winning recordings of Haydn symphonies have been admired the world over for their verve and panache. We now return to the music of Haydn and his contemporaries on a more intimate scale in this program of classical chamber music. Trios by Haydn and Bréval are paired with a lively quintet by Boccherini, and the bassoon makes an appearance in Danzi’s quartet in D Minor. In striking contrast to the emotional expressiveness of baroque music, these intimate works full of wit and charm favour the clarity and poise of classicism.
TAFELMUSIK MEETS DVORAK
Leila Schayegh, guest director
Online premiere April 7, 2022
Known for her “ravishing legato cantabile” (The Strad), violinist Leila Schayegh makes her Tafelmusik debut as guest director for this concert of 19th-century chamber music — a sequel to Tafelmusik’s 2019 performances of music by Tchaikovsky, which were met with rave reviews.
Dvorak’s famous Serenade for strings is at times tender and lilting, at others animated and optimistic. The Serenade is paired with the Nonet, op. 38 for winds and strings by the French composer Louise Farrenc, a trailblazing woman who became the toast of Paris following the work’s triumphant premiere in 1849.
BACH B-MINOR MASS
Masaaki Suzuki, guest director
Joanne Lunn, soprano
Tim Mead, countertenor
Thomas Hobbs, tenor
Jonathon Adams, baritone
Tafelmusik Chamber Choir
Online premiere May 6, 2022
The multi-award-winning conductor and Bach specialist Masaaki Suzuki returns as guest director for one of the great masterpieces of Western art music, Bach’s B-Minor Mass. A monumental work of great dramatic impact, it was never performed in its entirety during the composer’s lifetime.
Performing in the newly revitalized Massey Hall, Tafelmusik chamber choir and orchestra will be joined by a stellar cast of soloists, including Joanne Lunn, soprano; Tim Mead, countertenor; Thomas Hobbs, tenor; and Jonathon Adams, baritone.
BACH GOLDBERG VARIATIONS
Directed and arranged for orchestra by Elisa Citterio
Online premiere June 2, 2022
Inspired by Bach’s practice of reworking his music, Elisa Citterio offers her own musical translation of the composer’s timeless keyboard masterpiece in this new arrangement for strings, winds, and continuo. Bach’s Goldberg Variations was written as an exercise in keyboard virtuosity and remains among the most technically demanding works ever written for harpsichord. Elisa first envisioned the new arrangement in 2017, when Tafelmusik performed orchestral transcriptions of two excerpts of The Goldberg Variations during a tour of its multimedia program J.S. Bach: The Circle of Creation.
This highly-anticipated finale to Tafelmusik’s 2021/22 season opens with a solo work for harpsichord by Canadian composer Grégoire Jeay, performed by Tafelmusik’s Charlotte Nediger.
Access to all eight programs and exclusive content by Tafelmusik artists will be available through the Digital Season Pass, available for just $226 starting August 31, 2021. Music lovers from around the world are invited to explore the beauty of Tafelmusik online from their own homes, on demand through to August 2022. All programming, dates, and guest artists are subject to change without notice.
The digital pass can be purchased online at: tafelmusik.org/digitalpass
Website: tafelmusik.org
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ABOUT TAFELMUSIK
Led by Music Director Elisa Citterio and Executive Director Carol Kehoe, Tafelmusik is an orchestra, choir, and experience that celebrates beauty through music of the past.
Founded over 40 years ago on the pillars of passion, learning, and artistic excellence, Tafelmusik continues to bring new energy to baroque music and beyond. Historically informed performances of 17th- to 19th-century instrumental and choral music (led by Chamber Choir Director Ivars Taurins) share the stage with vibrant, insightful multimedia programs, and bold new music written just for the group. Each piece is played on period instruments, underscored and illuminated by scholarship.
Through dynamic performances, international touring, award-winning recordings, and comprehensive education programs, Tafelmusik invites audiences to engage with beauty and experience the breadth of emotion music can inspire.
Media contacts:
From August 30 to September 6: Sarah Baumann, Director of Marketing, sbaumann@tafelmusik.org | 427 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON M5S 1X7
After September 6: Luisa Trisi, Big Picture Communications, (416) 456-0499 | luisa@luisatrisi.com | 427 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON M5S 1X7