The Constant Lover
Words and music about the sweet anguish of love
Tuesday, October 30 and Thursday, November 1, 2012, at 8PM
Pre-concert talks at 7:15 pm
Trinity St. Paul's Centre
For Immediate Release - Toronto, October 11, 2012: Toronto's inventive Talisker Players open their 2012/13 season with The Constant Lover - a programme guaranteed to warm the blood as the nights grow longer. The ensemble is joined by mezzo soprano Anita Krause and tenor Lawrence Wiliford - two of Canada's most sought-after vocal stars - to present an eclectic variety of music exploring the sweet anguish of love, in words and music written by flirts and seducers, lovers and cads, the chivalrous and the licentious. Performances take place at Trinity St. Paul's Centre October 30 and November 1.
The Constant Lover features the premiere of a newly commissioned work from the Nova Scotia composer John Plant (whose stunning La notte bella captivated Talisker audiences in February 2011). Sonetto di Gaspara Stampa is a setting for mezzo soprano, violin, viola, cello and piano of an impassioned sonnet by Gaspara Stampa of Venice, one of the most important woman poets of the 16th century in Europe.
The evening also features two beautiful works by unjustly neglected composers of the 20th century, both for tenor and string quartet. Amoretti, by the British composer Edmund Rubbra, is a lush and lyrical setting of sonnets by Edmund Spenser, one of the great craftsmen of modern English poetry. Cantiunculae Amoris, by Karl Heinz Füssl, is a setting of poems by the classical Roman poets Ovid and Petronius, with music that perfectly matches the humour, bawdiness and zest of the texts.
There is humour also in Kurt Weill's One Touch of Venus - but there is heart-felt yearning as well. One of the musical theatre pieces from his Broadway period of the 1940s, with lyrics by Ogden Nash, it includes such memorable songs as 'I'm a Stranger Here Myself' and 'Speak Low'. The Players present excerpts arranged by Laura Jones for mezzo soprano, clarinet and string quartet.
The programme is rounded out with Lovers, by the American composer Seymour Barab, a set of coy little poems by Sir John Suckling, for mezzo soprano, clarinet, viola, cello and piano; and Sono Liete, a short love duet by G. F. Handel for mezzo soprano, tenor and strings.
Each performance of The Constant Lover will be preceded by an informal talk by the Talisker Players Composer in Residence, Alexander Rapoport. Free with a ticket to the concert, these entertaining and informative chats became an instant hit when they were instituted two seasons ago.
The Talisker Players are widely admired for their original projects that unite instrumental music, song and the spoken word. Joining them for this performance is the acclaimed actor and theatre director Ross Manson, reading seduction scenes from great literature, including Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, Boccaccio's The Decameron and Henry Fielding's Tom Jones.
Celebrated for her "gleaming" voice and impeccable musicianship, Canadian mezzo-soprano Anita Krause is equally esteemed in the concert hall and on the opera stage. Recent highlights include her debut at the Oregon Bach Festival in Sir Michael Tippett's A Child of our Time, and appearances with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, with the Toronto Symphony in Mahler's Symphony No. 8 and with l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal in Mozart's Requiem. In addition to her regular appearances on the opera stage, Ms. Krause has demonstrated impressive versatility as concert artist, and has been hailed as a "recitalist of rare intelligence and integrity" by the press.
Lauded for his luminous projection, lyrical sensitivity, and brilliant coloratura, American-born Canadian tenor Lawrence Wiliford is in high demand in concert, opera, and recital repertoire ranging from works by Monteverdi to contemporary composers. He is recognized internationally for his interpretation of Bach and other composers of the Baroque period. He also champions English and North American art song, a passion that has led to engagements across North America and at the Aldeburgh Festival in England. He is also very much in demand on the opera stage. He made his Canadian Opera Company leading-role debut as Ferrando in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and later appeared as Flute in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Roy in James Rolfe's Swoon, in which he was acclaimed as a "singer-actor with a real talent for comedy."
information
Media Contact: Francine Labelle/flINK
416-654-4406
labellefrancine@rogers.com
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