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The Toronto Consort presents Praetorius Christmas Vespers December 8 & 9, 2006 TORONTO, November 22, 2006 — The Toronto Consort presents the complete Christmas Vespers by Michael Praetorius at Trinity St Paul’s Centre at 8:00 pm on December 8 and 9, 2006. The Praetorius Vespers capture the intimacy and splendour of Christmas, and past performances of this audience favourite have consistently sold out. The 6-member period ensemble under the direction of David Fallis grows to over 60-strong when it is joined by vocal soloists Michele DeBoer, Katherine Hill, Kevin Skelton, David Arnot and Ariel Harwood-Jones, The Toronto Chamber Choir, and a host of period instruments, to recreate a 17th-century Lutheran Christmas service. Tickets are available through the Box Office at (416) 964-6337. The Praetorius Christmas Vespers is a jewel of the early Baroque period based on the Lutheran church’s Vespers service. The Consort revisits this Christmas service the way it might have been performed under the direction of Michael Praetorius in a large church in 17th-century Germany: voices, recorders, sackbuts, violins, theorbos, viols and two organs will be positioned around the church and in the balconies. This early Baroque “surround-sound” experience culminates with the composer’s brilliant four-choir Magnificat, which is scored for 20 individual vocal and instrumental parts, and is interwoven with Christmas carols and other “best-loved German songs” as specified by the composer. Sections of the Vespers performed by all 60 musicians provide a stunning contrast to the more intimate moments when just 4 or 5 soloists sing a capella. The Consort’s recent recording of this work for Marquis (MAR 335) is available in stores across the country or on-line through www.marquisclassics.com. In addition to the sheer logistics of staging the Vespers, Artistic Director David Fallis has faced the extraordinary challenge of piecing the service together through research and scholarly detective work. Without the benefit of previous performances or recordings of the complete Vespers performed in its original context, Fallis must rely on descriptions of similar events gleaned from church records and libraries. As always, a little creative interpretation goes hand-in-hand with Fallis’s scholarly approach, to create a unique and deeply moving Christmas concert.Listing information: Media Contact:
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The Toronto Consort
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