Façade

The sounds and rhythms of words at play

Tuesday and Wednesday, May 3 and 4, 2011, at 8PM
Pre-concert talks at 7:15 pm
Trinity St. Paul's Centre

For Immediate Release - Toronto, April 7, 2011: Toronto's Talisker Players conclude their season in high style with Façade, an "entertainment" in which nonsense and word-play offer sheer delight – and occasionally surprising insights. The title work, William Walton's dazzling tour de force, will be given a rare complete performance. The evening also features the premiere of Alexander Rapoport's setting of Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky.  Façade stars soprano Xin Wang and tenor James McLennan, two young singers with growing national and international careers who are known for their vivid stage personalities, superb text delivery, and comic flair. They share the stage with Graham Abbey, actor and reader, and the members of the Talisker Players ensemble. Performances take place on May 3 and 4 (8PM) at Trinity St. Paul's Centre.

Walton's brilliant Façade (subtitled "an Entertainment") is a setting of poems by Edith Sitwell, which explore the sounds and rhythms of words in "the most elaborate patterns", and were considered wildly avant-garde in the 1920s. Walton's music, for reciter with flute, clarinet, saxophone, cello, trumpet and percussion, is a perfect match for the wit and originality of the poems. The original instructions for the piece stipulate that it should be performed behind a specially designed curtain "to deprive the work of any personal quality apart from the personality inherent in the poems and music".

Rapoport's new setting of Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky, for tenor with saxophone, trumpet, viola, piano and percussion, was commissioned by Talisker Players, and promises to be an important addition to the repertoire. Perhaps the most famous "nonsense" poem in the English language, Jabberwocky has been given surprisingly few musical settings (at least in classical music – it has received a number of renditions by psychedelic rock bands). Rapoport's new setting includes a highly entertaining preamble, based on a passage in Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, in which Humpty Dumpty explains the meaning of the many invented words in the poem, like 'brillig', 'slithy', 'raths' and 'frabjous'.

The programme will be rounded out by two other delightful works by Canadian composers. Alex Eddington's Poems of Dennis Lee is a selection of word-play verses by the iconic Canadian poet and philosopher, for soprano and string quartet. Harry Freedman's Pan, for soprano with flute and piano, is a setting of nothing but nonsense syllables, which nevertheless tells a complete comic story of conflict and resolution among the three performers.

As always with Talisker productions, Façade includes the spoken word as well as music. In this case, excerpts from Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll (delivered by Graham Abbey) will playfully explore the way we experience reality, and the way words can affect our perceptions.

Hailed for his "emotional intensity" (Opera News), Canadian tenor James McLennan has won praise for compelling portrayals in repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary works. A performer who "radiates considerable charm and sings with a strong yet pure tenor" (Toronto Star), he has appeared with opera companies and symphony orchestras from coast to coast.

Chinese-Canadian soprano Xin Wang is an acclaimed performer of contemporary music, having worked with Canadian and international composers including Melissa Hui, Christopher Butterfield,  Karin Rehnqvist, Chan Ka Nin, James Rolfe, Ana Sokolovic, Jurg Wyttenbach and Steve Reich, among others. Xin has distinguished herself with renowned organizations such as Tapestry New Opera Works' New Music Concerts and Soundstreams, and looks forward to returning to Queen of Puddings Music Theatre for the premiere of Ana Sokolovic's Svadba, in June 2011.

Pre-concert chats (7:15 pm), free with the price of admission, will be offered on both evenings by composer Alexander Rapoport. Always an engaging, entertaining and informative speaker, he will talk about his own piece as well as the others on the programme, and about how the text of each relates to the music.

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Ticket information

Media Contact: Francine Labelle/flINK
416-654-4406
labellefrancine@rogers.com

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