Page 56 - DreamScapes Magazine | Winter 2024/2025

Hallelujah!
SING-ALONG MESSIAH
RETURNS TO MASSEY HALL
Wanted: 2,000 singers, from seasoned veterans to shower-stall
crooners, to join Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber
Choir at Toronto’s Massey Hall on December 22 for a thrilling
sing-along performance of the world-famous Messiah oratorio.
BY CYNTHIA DAVID
masterpiece, with its rousing
George Frideric Handel’s 1742 choral
Hallelujah chorus, has been a
holiday tradition since 1986, when
Tafelmusik choir director Ivars Taurins first
donned a powdered wig, velvet coat and
German accent to become Mr. Handel. Hijinks
ensued. One year a Star Wars stormtrooper
brought Mr. Handel his traditional glass of
wine. Nobody knows what tricks the witty
director will have up his voluminous sleeves
this year.
New Digs for 2024
Tafelmusik is making a triumphant return
to Massey Hall for the first time since
renovations shut down the storied building
in 2017. As the music and voices soar, notice
the meticulously restored stained-glass
windows that were boarded up for decades
to muffle noise from the street. Windows of
12 famous composers, including Handel,
adorn the Hall’s exterior. The “lost” portraits
of Bach and Beethoven, now returned to
their proper place, were found in unmarked
boxes in the basement of nearby Roy
Guest Artists
Thomson Hall.
Joining the orchestra, choir and 2,000 extras
are four guest soloists. Soprano Myriam
Leblanc is one of Quebec’s brightest stars,
mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó is known
for her interpretation of baroque music,
tenor Jacob Perry is known for his stylish
interpretations of early music and French
Canadian bass-baritone Philippe Sly has been
recognized internationally for his beautiful
tone and magnetic stage presence.
Sing your Heart Out
Many devoted audience members return
annually, arriving with dog-eared scores.
Those who sing Handel’s majestic music
with the chorus are placed in the section that
suits their voice: soprano, alto, tenor or bass.
As one of a cast of thousands, nobody cares
how well you belt out time-worn biblical
lines from the brisk All we like sheep to the
56
DREAMSCAPES WINTER 2024/2025
DID YOU KNOW?
Tafelmusik musicians play on old
instruments or reproductions that
create the same warm, vibrant
sound Handel’s audience would
have heard in 1742. Baroque
instruments may also be shaped
differently than their modern
counterparts, from an original
French horn that resembles a del-
icately coiled paper clip to a brass
trumpet several feet long.
show-stopping Hallelujah chorus with its
thundering And he shall reign for ever and
ever. The concluding part of the oratorio is
the solemn Amen that envelopes listeners in
layer upon layer of swirling sound. Some
people leave the hall in tears, while others
leave with a smile, ready to face the holiday
season.
DS
TRAVEL PLANNER:
Tafelmusik’s Sing-Along Messiah is performed
at Massey Hall, 178 Victoria St., Toronto on
Sunday, Dec. 22 at 2 p.m. For concert details
and reservations, visit tafelmusik.org
PHOTOS: DAHLIA KATZ