Introduction to On the Road - Tafelmusik : Tafelmusik

April 6, 2021

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On the Road
Thursday, April 8, 2021

An introduction to On the Road by harpsichordist Charlotte Nediger

A young Tafelmusik Orchestra, with its new Music Director Jeanne Lamon, undertook its first substantial tour in the fall of 1981, with concerts in British Columbia, Washington State, Pittsburgh, Montreal, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. A month later we toured Handel’s Messiah in Ontario venues from Kapuskasing to Port Colborne. That same season culminated in a tour of the US with guest director Frans Bruggen that included concerts in Boston’s Jordan Hall, at Princeton University, and at Lincoln Center in New York City — an auspicious beginning to what have been four busy and exhilarating decades of touring. North American touring has taken us to every Canadian province and territory except Nunavut, and to 36 American states. In 1984 we embarked on our first European tour, and have crossed the Atlantic no fewer than 40 times since. The 1986/87 season opened with a tour of Mexico and Venezuela. In February 1993 we undertook our first of numerous Asian tours, and in June 1997 we were invited to the ancient cities of Jerusalem, Thessaloniki, and Athens. Mid-winter tours to Bermuda and Puerto Rico have buoyed our spirits. In 2012 we added another continent to the list, with our first tour to Australia and New Zealand: we’ve returned twice since to what have become favourite tour destinations.

Whether it’s a run-out to a small town in Ontario, a tour of European capitals, or a cultural adventure in the People’s Republic of China, touring has its challenges and its rewards. Bass section players can recount the trials and tribulations of travelling with large instruments; I can tell tales of harpsichords, both glorious and disastrous, that await our arrival in concert halls; and all musicians can speak of the challenge of finding energy and inspiration after a long day of airports, connecting flights, and airline food. In the same breath, however, they will speak of the thrill of playing in Vienna’s venerable Musikverein or Bach’s Thomaskirche in Leipzig; the wonderment of performing in an ancient amphitheatre at the foot of the Parthenon in Athens under a clear night sky; of the intriguing and sometimes bewildering meeting of cultures when playing in the former East Germany or in the provincial Chinese city of Hangzhou; and of the joy of regrouping with Bruno Weil and the European colleagues who joined an expanded Tafelmusik Orchestra every year at the Klang und Raum Festival in Germany for 19 wonderful summers. In recent years, our tours have been led by Elisa Citterio, who has brought her special energy to tours across Canada, and to the US, Australia, and Europe. Touring has played an essential part in forming the character of Tafelmusik over the last 40 years, and we have been honoured to serve as musical ambassadors of Toronto and of Canada.

Then came COVID-19, and life on the road for all performing musicians came to an abrupt halt. Thankfully Tafelmusik also enjoys a robust concert season at home, and with the creative energies of Music Director Elisa Citterio and Executive Director Carol Kehoe, we have been able to play together, albeit with many interruptions and in smaller formations. We dream of the day when you, our audience, are able to join us once again in the concert hall. And then dreams turn to getting back on the road … In assembling this program, we let our imaginations take us on a Grand Tour of Europe, playing some of our favourite chamber music on a journey that starts in London and ends in Venice, with stops in Germany, Austria, and France on the way. Perhaps it will be the seeds of an actual tour in a few year’s time!

Program

Henry Purcell
1659–1695

Incidental music to The Double Dealer (London, 1693)
Overture – Hornpipe – Minuett – Aire – Hornpipe – Slow Aire – Minuett – Aire – Aire

Geneviève Gilardeau & Cristina Zacharias, violins
Patrick G. Jordan, viola
Keiran Campbell, violoncello
Charlotte Nediger, harpsichord

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
1644–1704

Partia IV for violin & viola scordatura, from Harmonia Artificioso-ariosa (Salzburg, 1696)
Preludio – Allamande – Trezza – Aria – Canario – Gigue – Pollicinello

Julia Wedman, violin
Brandon Chui, viola
Felix Deak, viola da gamba
Charlotte Nediger, harpsichord

Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello
c.1690–1758

Sonata in C Minor for oboe, violin & continuo (Stuttgart, undated ms)
Largo/Allegro – Adagio – Allegro

Marco Cera, oboe
Cristina Zacharias, violin
Keiran Campbell, violoncello
Charlotte Nediger, harpsichord

Georg Philipp Telemann
1681–1767

Quartet no. 2 in E Minor, from Six Quatuors (Hamburg, 1733)
Largo – Presto – Cantabile – Allegro

Julia Wedman & Cristina Zacharias, violins
Dominic Teresi, bassoon
Keiran Campbell, violoncello
Charlotte Nediger, harpsichord

François Couperin
1668–1733

Sonate en quatuor “La Sultane” (Paris, undated ms)

Marco Cera, oboe
Dominic Teresi, bassoon
Geneviève Gilardeau, violin
Felix Deak, viola da gamba
Charlotte Nediger, harpsichord

Antonio Vivaldi
1678-1741

Sonata in D Minor, op. 1, no. 12 “La Follia” (Venice, 1705)

Elisa Citterio & Cristina Zacharias, violins
Keiran Campbell, violoncello
Lucas Harris, theorbo
Charlotte Nediger, harpsichord

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
Elisa Citterio, Music Director

Oboe Marco Cera
Bassoon Dominic Teresi
Violin Elisa Citterio, Geneviève Gilardeau, Julia Wedman, Cristina Zacharias
Viola Brandon Chui, Patrick G. Jordan
Viola da gamba Felix Deak
Violoncello Keiran Campbell
Theorbo Lucas Harris
Harpsichord Charlotte Nediger

Thank You to our Generous Donors

Tafelmusik is deeply grateful to our generous donors who have continued to support us through this challenging time. Your support has inspired us to remain strong and to deliver joy to our community through our music, and will enable us to persevere until we can once again perform live for you, our cherished patrons. Thank you for believing in Tafelmusik and in the power and beauty of music.

If you would like to make a gift, please click here or contact us at donations@tafelmusik.org.

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