
date: January 13, 2002
The Aldeburgh Connection’s first concert took place in the Great Hall of Hart House, University of Toronto, on Sunday afternoon, February 21, 1982. For our twentieth anniversary concert, we moved upstairs in the Faculty of Music’s Edward Johnson Building, from Walter Hall, our normal venue, to the larger MacMillan Theatre; there we attracted a capacity audience. Halfway through, we programmed Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music in its original version for 17 solo voices. This large group of soloists was joined in the final item, the closing fugue of Verdi’s Falstaff, by the University of Toronto’s Opera Chorus. Other partsong choices included Schubert’s Nachthelle in a ravishing performance by Michael Schade as tenor soloist. Most of the second half was taken up by the premiere performance of Liebesleid-Lieder for four voices and piano-duet, composed for the occasion by John Greer. The afternoon featured three comperes: Rosemarie Landry, Mary Lou Fallis and Christopher Newton, the latter two also contributing a hilarious performance of Lord Berners’s music-hall song, Come on, Algernon.
Song | Artist | Composer | Poet |
---|---|---|---|
If music be the food of love, 3rd setting | Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Purcell, Henry, real. Britten, Benjamin | Heveningham, Henry |
La passeggiata (Péchés de vieillesse) | Brett, Kathleen, soprano; Krause, Anita, mezzo; Colvin, Michael, tenor; Pedrotti, Mark, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Rossini, Gioachino | anon. |
Italien, Op.8/3 | Fallis, Mary Lou, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Mendelssohn, Fanny | Grillparzer, Franz |
Excelsior! | Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Finley, Gerald, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Balfe, Michael | Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth |
Pavane, Op.50 | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Ainsworth, Colin, tenor; Braun, Russell, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Fauré, Gabriel | Montesquiou, Robert de |
Don Juan’s Serenade, Op.38/1 | Pedrotti, Mark, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich | Tolstoy, Alexey |
En sourdine, Op.58/2 (Cinq Mélodies de Venise) | Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Fauré, Gabriel | Verlaine, Paul |
La barcheta (Venezia) | Schade, Michael, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Hahn, Reynaldo | Buratti, Pietro |
Entr’acte, Op.57/2 (Shylock) | Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Fauré, Gabriel | n/a |
Serenade to Music | Brett, Kathleen / Fallis, Mary Lou / Huhtanen, Carla / Whicher, Monica / Landry, Rosemarie, sopranos; Burgess, Norine / Krause, Anita / Robbin, Catherine, mezzos; Ainsworth, Colin / Butterfield, Benjamin / Colvin, Michael / Schade, Michael, tenors; Braun, Russell / Finley, Gerald / Pedrotti, Mark / Tomkins, Giles, baritones; Fewer, Mark, violin; Loewen, Che Anne / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos; Ralls, Stephen, conductor | Vaughan Williams, Ralph | Shakespeare, William |
Nachthelle, D892 | Schade, Michael, tenor; University of Toronto Opera Chorus; Ubukata, Bruce, piano; Ralls, Stephen, conductor | Schubert, Franz | Seidl, Johann Gabriel |
Sehnsucht, D636 | Braun, Russell, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Schubert, Franz | Schiller, Friedrich von |
Ständchen, D920 | Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; University of Toronto Opera Chorus; Ubukata, Bruce, piano; Ralls, Stephen, conductor | Schubert, Franz | Grillparzer, Franz |
Ein kleiner hübscher Vogel, Op.52/6 (Liebeslieder-Walzer) | Brett, Kathleen, soprano; Robbin, Catherine, mezzo; Schade, Michael, tenor; Braun, Russell, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Brahms, Johannes | Daumer, Georg Friedrich |
Life and Love: Waltz (Liebesleid-Lieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Pedrotti, Mark, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Greer, John | Parker, Dorothy |
Miss Twye: Ragtime (Liebesleid-Lieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Pedrotti, Mark, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Greer, John | Ewart, Gavin |
A Lady with Technique & Frustrated Male: Foxtrot and Charleston (Liebesleid-Lieder) | Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Pedrotti, Mark, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Greer, John | Mearns, William Hughes |
Monogamy: Pavane (Liebesleid-Lieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Pedrotti, Mark, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Greer, John | Parker, Dorothy |
The Good Girl: Minuet (Liebesleid-Lieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Greer, John | Parker, Dorothy |
The Garter: Schottische (Liebesleid-Lieder) | Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Greer, John | anon. |
Chastity: Tango (Liebesleid-Lieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Pedrotti, Mark, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Greer, John | Prior, Matthew |
To the Moon: Bolero (Liebesleid-Lieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Pedrotti, Mark, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Greer, John | anon. |
The Sex Situation: Polonaise (Liebesleid-Lieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Pedrotti, Mark, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Greer, John | Parker, Dorothy |
Anecdote: Gavotte (Liebesleid-Lieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Pedrotti, Mark, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Greer, John | Parker, Dorothy |
Unfortunate Coincidence: Rumba (Liebesleid-Lieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Pedrotti, Mark, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Greer, John | Parker, Dorothy |
Superfluous Advice: Can-Can (Liebesleid-Lieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Greer, John | Parker, Dorothy |
Superfluous Response: Tarantella (Liebesleid-Lieder) | Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Braun, Russell, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Greer, John | anon. |
A Very Short Song: Sarabande (Liebesleid-Lieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Pedrotti, Mark, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Greer, John | Parker, Dorothy |
The Dance of Love and Romance: Ländler (Liebesleid-Lieder) | Whicher, Monica, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Pedrotti, Mark, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Greer, John | anon. |
The Canadian Sleigh Song | Krause, Anita, mezzo; Braun, Russell, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Russell, Henry | Mackay, Charles |
Dear harp of my country | Finley, Gerald, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Irish folksong, arr. Britten, Benjamin | Moore, Thomas |
Come on, Algernon | Fallis, Mary Lou, soprano; Newton, Christopher, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Berners, Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, Lord | Clarke, Thomas Ernest Bennett |
Tutto nel mondo è burla (Falstaff) | Brett, Kathleen / Fallis, Mary Lou / Huhtanen, Carla / Whicher, Monica / Landry, Rosemarie, sopranos; Burgess, Norine / Krause, Anita / Robbin, Catherine, mezzos; Ainsworth, Colin / Butterfield, Benjamin / Colvin, Michael / Schade, Michael, tenors; Braun, Russell / Finley, Gerald / Pedrotti, Mark / Tomkins, Giles, baritones; University of Toronto Opera Chorus; Loewen, Che Anne / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos; Ralls, Stephen, conductor | Verdi, Giuseppe | Boito, Arrigo |
Happy Birthday! – ENCORE | Brett, Kathleen / Fallis, Mary Lou / Huhtanen, Carla / Whicher, Monica / Landry, Rosemarie, sopranos; Burgess, Norine / Krause, Anita / Robbin, Catherine, mezzos; Ainsworth, Colin / Butterfield, Benjamin / Colvin, Michael / Schade, Michael, tenors; Braun, Russell / Finley, Gerald / Pedrotti, Mark / Tomkins, Giles, baritones; University of Toronto Opera Chorus; Loewen, Che Anne, piano | anon. | anon. |