<\/p>\n
Cir\u00adcum\u00adstances have pre\u00advented me from attend\u00ading many live con\u00adcerts, recent\u00adly, so I jumped at the chance when Isaac White and his par\u00adents kind\u00adly invit\u00aded me to a con\u00adcert at Grace Church On-the-hill, a hand\u00adsome Angli\u00adcan church built in 1912. I arrived ear\u00adly, so I spent an hour wan\u00adder\u00ading around For\u00adest Hill, in Suy\u00addam Park, Rel\u00admar Gar\u00addens, and the Cedar\u00advale ravine before meet\u00ading Isaac at the Sec\u00adond Cup. For\u00adest Hill is like a small town embe\u00added in the city, with its own lit\u00adtle \u201cmain street\u201d and a thick canopy of maples. In the crisp autumn air, the vil\u00adlage seems like a Ray Brad\u00adbury sto\u00adry re-writ\u00adten by Mar\u00adgaret Atwood. Among the stacks of pump\u00adkins and the drift\u00ading red and gold fall\u00aden leaves, the Angli\u00adcan, Unit\u00aded Church and Jew\u00adish ver\u00adsions of Toron\u00adto Respectabil\u00adity com\u00adpete. No place could seem far\u00adther from the woes of the world. The local book store has a strange\u00adly mor\u00adbid dis\u00adplay of high\u00adly lit\u00ader\u00adary titles in its win\u00addow, with each title accom\u00adpa\u00adnied by a card explain\u00ading how the author died (did you know that Roland Barthes was run over by a laun\u00addry truck?). There are very com\u00adfort\u00adable pub\u00adlic bench\u00ades on the side\u00adwalks, a rar\u00adity in the rest of pen\u00adny-pinch\u00ading Toron\u00adto. In the ravine, I saw a dog chas\u00ading a cat chas\u00ading a squir\u00adrel chas\u00ading a leaf.<\/span><\/p>\n When Isaac showed up, we walked up to the church, and met his par\u00adents. I\u2019d been up for two days with\u00adout sleep, and had been pump\u00ading myself with cof\u00adfee all day long, so I\u2019m afraid I was unchar\u00adac\u00adter\u00adis\u00adti\u00adcally imp\u00adish and talk\u00ada\u00adtive. The fea\u00adtured per\u00adform\u00aders were Sin\u00adfo\u00adnia Toron\u00adto, a cham\u00adber orches\u00adtra direct\u00aded by Nurhan Arman, accom\u00adpa\u00adnied by pianist Angela Park. The pro\u00adgram includ\u00aded Elgar\u2019s Ser\u00ade\u00adnade, Op.20; Mozart\u2019s ninth piano con\u00adcerto, and a string orches\u00adtra ver\u00adsion of Tchaikovsky\u2019s Sou\u00advenir de Flo\u00adrence, Op.70, which is nor\u00admally per\u00adformed as a string sex\u00adtet. The Elgar was a famil\u00adiar favourite of mine, and was well enough per\u00adformed. Angela Park did a pro\u00adfes\u00adsional, but not espe\u00adcially inspired ren\u00addi\u00adtion of Mozart\u2019s \u201cJeune\u00adhomme\u201d con\u00adcerto. But after the inter\u00admis\u00adsion, there came a sur\u00adprise. The Tchaikovsky piece would not nor\u00admally appeal much to me, but from the first wave of the bat\u00adton, I was swept up in it. This was not the usu\u00adal, half-heart\u00aded, mild\u00adly embarassed inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtion of Tchaikovsky that you usu\u00adally get in Cana\u00adda. They played it pop\u00aderly, like a bunch of vod\u00adka-fueled Rus\u00adsians would do it, all the unabashed emo\u00adtion pour\u00ading out with\u00adout restraint, The lead vio\u00adla and lead vio\u00adlin\u00adist both played their hearts out, not pulling back on even the most impas\u00adsioned phras\u00ades. The last two move\u00adments were expe\u00adcially impres\u00adsive. They have noth\u00ading even remote\u00adly relat\u00aded to Flo\u00adrence in them, and don\u2019t seem to have much to do with the first part of the piece, but what-the-hey, nobody ever said that log\u00adic was Tchaikovsky\u2019s strong point. The effect on the audi\u00adence was dra\u00admatic: the polite applause of the first half of the con\u00adcert was replaced with the real stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019d like to thank Mr. and Mrs. White for pro\u00advid\u00ading a much-need\u00aded injec\u00adtion of live music, which cheered me up con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00adably. I hope my cafeindish chat\u00adter\u00ading didn\u2019t offend them. After the con\u00adcert, Isaac and I played Nin\u00adtendo Wii ten\u00adnis until my cumu\u00adla\u00adtive exhaus\u00adtion kicked in.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cir\u00adcum\u00adstances have pre\u00advented me from attend\u00ading many live con\u00adcerts, recent\u00adly, so I jumped at the chance when Isaac White and his par\u00adents kind\u00adly invit\u00aded me to a con\u00adcert at Grace Church On-the-hill, a hand\u00adsome Angli\u00adcan church built in 1912. I \u2026<\/p>\n