Europe and the New World by Brahms, Franck, Gershwin, Corigliano, Från (2019/2019), Walter Hall, Toronto, Kanada

TSM Artistic Director Jonathan Crow, and pianist Philip Chiu, who’s been praised in Montréal’s La Presse as “…a pianist-painter who turns every musical idea into a beautiful array of colours,” join forces for an artfully varied trans-Atlantic concert by German, Belgian/French, and American composers. The beloved Sonata by Belgian-born composer César Franck balances passion with graceful lyricism. American composer John Corigliano wrote his dynamic Sonata for Violin and Piano for his father, John Corigliano Sr., who served with distinction as Concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic from 1943 to 1966. Brahms composed Sonatensatz – his earliest piece for violin and piano – as the third movement of a sonata whose creation he shared with Robert Schumann and Albert Dietrich. They intended it as an homage to the revered violinist Joseph Joachim, who had befriended and inspired all of them. Master violinist Jascha Heifetz enriched the instrument’s repertoire with dozens of delightful (and sometimes fiercely difficult!) arrangements and transcriptions. Here we have Heifetz’s affectionate versions of many of the finest and most familiar melodies from George Gershwin’s marvellous folk opera, Porgy and Bess.