Sing To Me Again: Eastern European Lyric Treasures
Schedule
Sun Sep 29 2024 at 07:30 pm to 09:30 pm
UTC-04:00Location
Heliconian Club | Toronto, ON
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Join Canadian oboe and piano ensemble Fierbois, Apocryphonia and Syrinx Concerts Toronto, as we usher in our Third Cycle of Musical Revelaions with a lovely night of rare musical gems!Sing To Me Again is a wonderfully curated compilation of vocal-like and dance music for oboe and piano by Eastern European and Soviet composers. Enjoy freshly arranged works by Fierbois' oboist, Caitlin Broms-Jacobs ; combining the wonderful traditional folk influences, non-western scales, deep rich melodies, and intense emotional content with the haunting sound of the oboe. Combined with the musicality of award winning pianist Madeline Hildebrand , you are in for a wonderful night of deeply moving music!
The opening act for this wonderful set is vocal overview of the eight composers chosen by the ensemble, performed by Dr. John Holland - baritone, Alexander Cappellazzo - tenor and Ivan Jovanovic - piano
Many of the composers featured faced significant restrictions in their artistic expression due to oppressive governments or other challenges. While Western composers in the early to mid-20th century explored new directions like serialism and minimalism, Eastern European composers were often confined to traditional musical frameworks such as tonality, nationalism, and "accepted forms."
Some were hindered by being women, Jewish, or living under Soviet rule—like Gayane Chebotarian, a female Armenian composer, whose captivating and emotionally intense music remains largely unknown.
Pavel Haas, a Czech-Jewish composer born in 1899, exemplifies this struggle. His oboe suite, originally written for voice and piano in 1939, was reworked for oboe out of fear for his safety. The piece, infused with a traditional Czech chorale, is deeply moving and haunting. Haas died in Auschwitz in 1944.
The repertoire also includes Mikhail Glinka's Dances from Ruslan and Lyudmila, an opera based on an epic fairy tale about a knight’s quest to save the princess from an evil wizard, with music based on Russian folk melodies.
One of Toronto’s greatest composers is getting some representation too. Commissioned as a wedding gift for a couple’s 25th annversary, Canadian-Jewish composer Srul Irving Glick’s Suite Hebraïque No. 6 is featured in an all-new arrangement for oboe and piano.
Hear the ultra-romantic Sevdana by Bulgarian composer Georgy Zlatev-Cherkin, which draws inspiration from a lost love of the composer’s grandfather.
Additionally, three songs by Czech composer Vitezslava Kapralova (a prolific composer whose life was cut short at the age of 25), a piece by contemporary Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, and the ethereal Nocturne by Azerbaijani composer (and no stranger to Apocryphonia concerts) Fikret Amirov are included.
Works by:
Vítězslava Kaprálová, Srul Irving Glick, Georgi Zlatev-Cherkin, Mikhail Glinka, Valentin Silvestrov, Pavel Haas, Fikret Amirov, & Gayane Chebotarian
Performed by:
Fierbois - Caitlin Broms-Jacobs, oboe | Madeline Hildebrand, piano
&
Dr. John Holland, baritone | Alexander Cappellazzo, tenor | Ivan Jovanovic, piano
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Where is it happening?
Heliconian Club, 35 Hazelton Ave, Toronto, ON M5R 2E3, Canada,Toronto, OntarioEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
