Tonight Erika joined me to hear the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert featuring joyful works by Beethoven and Bruckner.

No wonder they titled it “Joy!”

Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, William Shatner, and Dave Keon were all born on March 22nd. Me too. A concert featuring Bruckner’s Te deum and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony felt like a great way to celebrate my birthday, which will continue for another hour or so as I recall the event at the Salvation Army Citadel, just a short drive from home.

While I had told Erika what a splendid teacher Ron Royer (the SPO Music Director) was, she got a close look tonight. Ron is a superb communicator, both in his pre-concert talks and in his relationship with the orchestra, who respond to him.

Both works on the program also featured the Toronto Choral Society, who are led by Geoffrey Butler, and who was conductor for the Bruckner Te deum.

Our soloists, soprano Holly Chaplin, mezzo-soprano Veronika Anissimova, tenor Corey Arnold and baritone Luc Lalonde, all had their moments to shine.

While Ron was conducting the Beethoven, I think the star of the 9th was Geoffrey’s choir, who were superlative throughout.

Soloists, chorus and orchestra were thrilling to watch in the intimate space of the Citadel. It was jam-packed with perhaps 3 to 400 people in attendance. If you consider that the TSO concert I saw earlier this week, attended by perhaps 2400 people, takes the lovely sound of our TSO, and forces six times as many people to make do with the sonic energy that we heard tonight. Yes there are wrong notes, there are players who make mistakes: but the richness of the orchestral timbres are so much greater in their detail, like a high-definition sonic picture. Some of the climaxes took my breath away.

There wasn’t space for seats for the choir, so that we watched the first three movements of the Beethoven, then paused while the chorus entered, to stand at the back for that finale. The drama of the movement was extraordinary, watching perhaps 100 pairs of eyes in the rear, the singers of the Toronto Choral Society, watching Ron, awaiting their entrance. I was moved to tears, loving the closeup intimate view.

I’m grateful for a wonderful night of music, thanks to Geoffrey, Ron, Holly, Corey, Veronika, Luc, the singers and players, plus the works of Anton and Ludwig.

SPO will be back at the Salvation Army Citadel Saturday May 3rd for a concert titled “Journeys”
(click for more info).