Tafelmusik – Press

“Music director Elisa Citterio set a musical tone of joyful liveliness in Bach’s Sinfonia from Cantata BWV249 with rhythmically crisp, scrupulously articulated playing, rich tonal hues and bright colours.

The mellifluous majesty of the Ouverture from the Orchestral Suite No. 1, BWV 1066, and the ensuing fugue had transparent clarity and luminous tonal colour, while the orchestra’s impressive delivery of the whole program from memory enhances engagement and close listening.”

“…Tafelmusik gave fine service to a mighty musician.”

“The period instruments of Tafelmusik, augmented with brass and timpani, were in excellent form.”

“The colonial powers may not have appreciated the music and instruments of their new properties, but we certainly can. Rather than let these non-European artists only showcase their talents on their own — we were treated to mesmerizing solos by both — Tounkara and Farahmand were also included in music performed by the whole orchestra, to beautiful effect.

We saw, heard and felt what it was like to have people from completely different traditions come together with a common purpose to do what musicians do best: entertain.”

“The first performance of Tafelmusik Orchestra’s “Baroque Diva” concert program at Koerner Hall on Thursday night was a many layered thrill. […] The Tafelmusik Orchestra was in particularly fine form in a program that demanded tight ensemble playing as well as nimbleness.”

“Musically of course, the concert was splendidly played. Tafelmusik’s reputation has been solidly built since its 1979 inception. Let’s hope it is back with another of these marvelous, imaginative programs in the not too far distant future.”

“Their vigorous account of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048, demonstrated how well the strings played together with a precise, tastefully balanced ensemble without aid of a conductor, a 19th-century convention unknown to Bach the several generations that followed him. […] For a farewell program to dear old Sherwood Auditorium, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra gave us a celebratory evening of great music, captivating historical context, and polished performance with ample conviction.”

“Bach’s music itself was at the center of the program, brilliantly performed from memory by eleven string players, two oboists, and a bassoonist (the harpsichordist read from a score). […] Although many of the musical selections were familiar, one not-so-familiar but wonderfully complex Adagio (an arrangement of the alto aria from Cantata BWV 42) was the highlight of the second half of the program. In more vivacious works like the Sinfonia from Cantata BWV 11 that closed the program, Tafelmusik played at lightning-fast tempos with extraordinary clarity.”

“The evening’s high point was a magnificent rendition of the Brandenburg Concerto first movement, jovial in melody and the orchestra’s clear enjoyment of performing the piece. Fascinating, the concert’s verbal discourse on the creation of music paired with such orchestral talent made for quite the unforgettable evening.”

“There was fire in the Allegro finale, as there was in the finale of Handel’s Concerto Grosso in B flat, in which the architecture of the fugal Allegro was made strikingly lucid. And the focused playing of Christina Mahler and Allen Whear in the slow movement of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Cellos in G minor delivered everything.”

“Music is such a universal language,” said Mackay. “It brought people together that didn’t necessarily speak the same language years ago and can do the same thing today.”

Tafelmusik plays outdoors without any amplification, and their strategy for making it work