The
Festival of the Sound for 2022 is now history. It was amazing! I think I will
always remember this one as “the Feel-Good Festival.” Every day, it seemed that
somebody or other would say, “It feels so good to be back here!” Or
else it was: “It’s so great to see you again!” Or both.
In
spite of the reduced length of the Festival (15 days versus the usual 23 or
24), and the reduced capacity of the concerts, the quality of the music-making
was as high as it’s ever been, perhaps even more so. Time and again, we heard
and saw that it wasn’t just the audiences who felt the joy of the return to
live music!
Classical
chamber music has always been the bread-and-butter of this Festival, but
diverse styles are also firmly rooted in the programming. Blues, jazz, big
band, comedy, and some much more technologically up-to-date performances
involving live looping could also be heard.
Out
of all of that profusion of creativity and artistry, I once again set myself
the task of choosing my own personal “Festival Top Ten.” These aren’t
necessarily the performances that might be judged “the best,” however one
judges such a thing. These are simply ten special moments that resonated in my
memory after the performances.
Without
further ado, then:
Ken Stephen's Festival Top Ten!
10: Ryan Davis creating music with his viola
and live looping technology.
9: Janina Fialkowska’s
fascinating master class session with rising star Bruce Liu.
8: Leslie Fagan’s hilarious
take as the mechanical doll, Olympia, in The Tales of Hoffman.
7: Turina’s Oracion del Torero at
Cameron Crozman’s musical tapas concert.
6: Amusing choreography in Me
and My Shadow from the Toronto All-Star Big Band.
5: Suzanne Shulman &
Erica Goodman playing The Rings and encoring one movement.
4: The restaging of Sounding Thunder – still
as gripping, relevant, and unsettling as ever.
3: Charles Richard-Hamelin’s sensitive
playing of Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin.
2: Hearing Janina Fialkowska
playing both of the Op. 40 Polonaises by Chopin – twice!
And
finally, my Number One memorable moment of Festival 2022…
1: Nimrod from the Enigma Variations by Elgar,
played by the National Academy Orchestra, in memory of Boris Brott. I cried.
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