Classical music to kick off 2022 with sweet sounds

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The (Very) First Viennese School

When: Jan. 7, 7:30 p.m.

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Where: Christ Church Cathedral (690 Burrard St., Vancouver)

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Tickets: $32.25 to $64.50 at Early Music Vancouver, earlymusic.bc.ca

Peter Moore, trombone | James Baillieu, piano

When: Jan. 23, 3 p.m.

Where: Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton St.)

Tickets: $25 to $60 at Vancouver Recital Society, vanrecital.com

Gerald Finley, bass-baritone | Julius Drake, piano

When: Jan. 30, 3 p.m.

Where: Orpheum Theatre (601 Smithe St.)

Tickets: $25 to $85 at Vancouver Recital Society, vanrecital.com

The Story of the Madrigal

When: Feb. 4, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Christ Church Cathedral (690 Burrard St., Vancouver)

Tickets: $32.25 to $64.50 at Early Music Vancouver, earlymusic.bc.ca

Steven Osborne, piano

When: Feb. 13, 3 p.m.

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Where: Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton St.)

Tickets: $25 to $85 at Vancouver Recital Society, vanrecital.com

Han Finckel Setzer Trio

When: Feb. 15, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton St.)

Tickets: $15 (student), $50 (adult) at Friends of Chamber Music, friendsofchambermusic.ca

It normally takes a few weeks to clean the worst of holiday season Musak out of our ears before classical events bring a fresh start to the new year.

That’s not the case this January when a number of prime presenters will start 2022 with impressive programs.

Of course, the intricacy of bringing top international artists to town has been a medical and political issue — and may be so again. But Early Music Vancouver, the Vancouver Recital Society, and Friends of Chamber Music seem primed to get back to doing what they do best early in the new year.

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Even before the holiday decorations are dismantled, Early Music Vancouver (EMV) plans to host the American ensemble Quicksilver, which will present a program of music associated with 17th-century Vienna. The group made its Canadian debut here as part of EMV’s 2012 summer festival, and it will be a special pleasure to catch up with it a decade later.

The Vancouver Recital Society (VRS) had a great, albeit truncated, fall series and intends to build on that momentum starting Jan. 23 with, of all things, a trombone and piano recital.

Peter Moore is that rare phenomenon — a brass player with a recital career. What does a trombone virtuoso play? Everything from a Beethoven sonata originally written for cello through Gershwin songs.

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The VRS offers a lieder recital January 30: bass-baritone Gerald Finley, the distinguished Montreal-born singer, is here with favourite co-recitalist Julius Drake.

They’re on a North American tour featuring songs by Schubert and Wolfe, and as the first outing of new songs by Marc-Anthony Turnage using Shakespeare texts. VRS fans may recall hearing the contemporary British composer’s Duetti d’Amore a few seasons ago thanks to Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti; more recently Turnage has been in the news with his football-inspired orchestra piece Up for Grabs.

Early February sees the return of Profeti della Quinta in a program called The Story of the Madrigal.

Founded in Israel by singer/harpsichordist Elam Rotem, the group is currently based in Switzerland.

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They made their Vancouver debut in 2014 with Il Mantovano Hebreo, Italian madrigals and Hebrew prayers by Salomone Rossi; this time around the all-male ensemble will present mainly Italian repertoire from the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, including a piece by the infamous prince and murderer Carlo Gesualdo — perhaps the quirkiest of all madrigalists.

Pianist Steven Osborne makes his latest visit to the Playhouse February 13. He’s a superlative artist who invariably offers exceptional programs that are often quite out of the ordinary. His recital is a provocative pairing of Debussy’s too rarely heard Etudes (1915) with Rachmaninov’s First Piano Sonata (1908).

These two major works were created at almost the same moment in time but in different musical worlds — indeed, galaxies — by composers glorying in the infinite possibilities of the modern piano.

Finally, Friends of Chamber Music launches its 2022 offerings on Feb. 14 with a performance by the popular Han Finckel Setzer Trio.

Known for their commitment to the masterworks of the trio repertoire, the Trio starts its latest Vancouver visit with something outside its usual playlist, African Dances for Violin and Piano, Opus 58 by British Late-Romantic composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912).