I can tell that my colleague James Young is going to be having a wonderful time of it in the next couple of weeks as we seem to have almost wall-to-wall early music in town. (See next week's preview too.)
The Victoria Summer Music Festival mostly, it must be admitted, inhabits the nineteenth century, musically speaking.
Tonight, however, they branch out and present Great Composers of the Baroque featuring music by - well, you've probably already guessed.
Marie-Josée Lord, soprano (who, if I am not mistaken, was to be heard singing our national anthem in Ottawa on Canada Day); Isabelle Bozzini, cello; Grégoire Jeay, baroque flute; and Luc Beauséjour, harpsichord will perform a variety of vocal and instrumental music by - who else with that title? - Bach, Handel and Vivaldi. (I think we'll have to forgive the omission of Schumann just this once, even though it is his bicentenary; after all, every other VSMF concert includes something of his.)
Without getting into too much detail, I can tell you that the programme includes a flute sonata by Bach, a cantata by Vivaldi, a trio sonata by Bach and an extract from Handel's Giulio Cesare.
As usual, the concert begins at 7:30 in the Phillip T Young Recital Hall. Tickets are available from Ivy's Books in Oak Bay or by calling 727-3229. They may also be ordered online via the VSMF's ticketing page.
Last night's concert featured an up-and-coming Canadian early music singer. Tonight's concert at the Victoria Conservatory of Music features two Canadian early music singers who have well and truly arrived: the Divine Nancy Argenta and the extraordinary Daniel Taylor
Joining them will be English harpsichordist Laurence Cummings, who has, for the last fourteen years, been Head of Historical Performance at the Royal Academy of Music.
Their programme includes music by Bach, Purcell, A.N.Onymous and Handel.
Which is scarcely relevant: these are two of the age's great voices (and I write as one who is remarkably intolerant of the frailties of the human voice); if you have already heard either or both in concert, you don't need me to tell you to attend. If you have never heard them before - what are you waiting for?
Their recital takes place in the Alix Goolden Performance Hall beginning at 7:30. Tickets from the Conservatory (386-5311) or at the door.
Yes, it's BC Day weekend and that means, for thousands, just one thing: Symphony Splash.
As usual Tania Miller will direct the Victoria Symphony in a programme which, I gather, this year has a distinctly nautical flavour (fair enough, when you're actually playing on a barge).
This year's soloists are pianist Grace Ma and violinist Philip Manning and I gather that the traditional 1812 Overture (at least we don't believe it's anything to do with the War of 1812) will be somewhat noisier than usual, thanks to the participation of the guns of HMCS Nanaimo and HMCS Edmonton, moored at Ship Point.
Now, if we could just arrange to have those ministers responsible for the arts funding cuts to be in the firing line....
There will be activities going on from 1 p.m. but the actual performance by the Symphony begins at 7:30.
We often get to hear some remarkable young musicians in Victoria - we seem to specialise in pianists and violinists, as witness this year's Splash - but, once they have spread their wings and fled the nest, although we may hear reports of their progress, actual physical sightings, not to mention hearings, are rather rarer.
Which is all the more reason to celebrate tonight's Victoria Summer Music Festival recital featuring violinist Jonathan Crow and pianist Arthur Rowe, who also happens to be the VSMF Artistic Director.
I believe it must have been 1993 when I first heard Crow play - although as he was then concertmaster of the GVYO, I didn't exactly hear him; mainly I noticed his resemblance to the son of a friend of ours back in England (who sadly passed away - the father that is - earlier this year).
It was not long, though, before he was making an impact as a solo performer, culminating in his playing of the Tchaikovsky concerto under the late Yehudi Menuhin when he guest-conducted the Symphony a decade or more back.
Since then Crow has led the McGill orchestra, become the youngest-ever member of the Montreal Symphony and is now back at McGill as a professor of the violin.
Arthur Rowe, of course, suffers from something of the "prophet is not without honour" syndrome here in Victoria; but don't be fooled by his accessibility: he is a first-class, no make that world-class pianist and, if anything, we don't get enough of him here.
Their programme will include sonatas by Mozart, birthday-boy Schumann and Prokofiev. Phil's Hall, 7:30. ticket information as per Friday.
A quick "heads up" that the final VSMF concert takes place tonight, with Australia's Freshwater Trio performing music by Haydn, Brahms, Dvoràk and - of course - Schumann.
Last modified: Fri Jul 23 00:30:54 PDT 2010