2012-13 Season Archives - Toronto Mendelssohn Choir

An invigorating performance: Missa Solemnis in D Major

tmchoir — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:08:43 +0000

Michael Johnson, Concertonet Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis doesn’t come around often enough, a fact that prevents it from becoming stale – and all the more reason to welcome it when it...

The post An invigorating performance: Missa Solemnis in D Major appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

Concert Review: TSO speaks a little too softly with Brahms’s A German Requiem

tmchoir — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:43:48 +0000

Arthur Kaptainis, National Post Softness reigned at the start, of course, as the violas and cellos traced their lines with the audio equivalent of a dotted line and the Toronto...

The post Concert Review: TSO speaks a little too softly with Brahms’s A German Requiem appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

TSO, Mendelssohn choir and soloists give Brahms his due

tmchoir — Thu, 23 May 2013 05:11:50 +0000

Robert Harris, The Globe and Mail And fittingly, Toronto’s Mendelssohn Choir, fresh off a performance of the Missa Solemnis just a week ago, provided the backbone of the TSO performance...

The post TSO, Mendelssohn choir and soloists give Brahms his due appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

Toronto Symphony Orchestra fails to transcend minutiae in Brahms German Requiem

tmchoir — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:48:17 +0000

The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, out in full force, sang with its characteristic mix of subtlety, power and precision. The Toronto Symphony players (with woodwinds and brass on risers, all bizarrely crammed into one corner of the stage with the piano, organ console and harp) were in great form.

The post Toronto Symphony Orchestra fails to transcend minutiae in Brahms German Requiem appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

Concert Review: Toronto Mendelssohn Choir keeps Missa Solemnis light, when perhaps it could have used more weight

tmchoir — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:55:15 +0000

Every season the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir undertakes a Big One, or even a Really Big One, such as Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, presented Wednesday evening in Koerner Hall under the baton of Noel Edison. It was a clear-headed and articulate performance that lacked something in Missa Solemnity.

The post Concert Review: Toronto Mendelssohn Choir keeps Missa Solemnis light, when perhaps it could have used more weight appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

Hats off to the Mendelssohn Choir for tackling Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis

tmchoir — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:58:45 +0000

It is notoriously difficult to perform. Which is why we should thank conductor Noel Edison, his Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and Festival Orchestra, for having the courage to mount this important, if rarely heard, work. And by and large, on Wednesday evening the group of hundreds of musicians and singers acquitted themselves quite well.

The post Hats off to the Mendelssohn Choir for tackling Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Program Notes

tmchoir — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:34:54 +0000

When you come right down to it, Beethoven didn’t compose a lot of choral music. There are three early works - the under-rated Mass in C, the rarely-performed oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives and the Fantasia for Piano, Chorus and Orchestra, Op. 80. Of course, there are choruses in the opera Fidelio before his last two choral masterpieces - the finale to the Symphony No. 9, and the great Missa Solemnis.

The post Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Program Notes appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

Preview: Toronto Mendelssohn Choir wrestles with the beast that is Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis

tmchoir — Tue, 14 May 2013 17:01:32 +0000

On Wednesday night, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, soloists, orchestra and conductor Noel Edison perform one of the monuments of early 19th century choral music, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. The performance reminded me yet again of what a monster this piece is. Beethoven spent four years writing, finishing it in 1823 (he died in 1827).

The post Preview: Toronto Mendelssohn Choir wrestles with the beast that is Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

Solemnis Spirit

tmchoir — Mon, 06 May 2013 23:50:09 +0000

The Missa Solemnis is infused with the same spirit as the Ninth Symphony and other late period Beethoven – a musical expression of faith locked in combat with doubt. Extremes of mood convey an almost desperate sense of Beethoven’s desire to connect to the world around him. The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir is perhaps the only group in the region that can marshal the forces for such a mammoth work.

The post Solemnis Spirit appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

A wondrous variety

tmchoir — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 17:21:04 +0000

The 2013 Good Friday concert at St. Paul’s Basilica featured the Mendelssohn Singers, the 70-voice choir formed in 2003 from the ranks of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. As in previous Good Friday concerts, music from various eras was sung (in this case from the 16th to the 21st centuries) and once again the choir used various spaces within the church to wonderful effect.

The post A wondrous variety appeared first on Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.