Tafelmusik Brings Vivaldi To Toronto With VIVALDI'S WORLD

This October, Tafelmusik launches its home season at Jeanne Lamon Hall with a program that bridges 18th-century drama and modern pop culture. Vivaldi's World running October 23–26 showcases Vivaldi as one of music's greatest sonic 

storytellers. The program is guest directed by acclaimed Spanish violinist Lina Tur Bonet, who returns to Tafelmusik after her sensational debut in 2024. For the first time, Tafelmusik adds Thursday evening performances to its home season at Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul's Centre, an exciting expansion that offers audiences even more opportunities to experience the orchestra live. Following its Toronto run, the program travels to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on October 27, 2025. 

Anchored in the brilliance of Vivaldi and his contemporaries, Vivaldi's World showcases the virtuosity, invention, and sheer theatricality of baroque music. Paired with works by Scarlatti, Albicastro, and Zelenka, the concert promises high drama, breathtaking virtuosity, and unexpected cultural connections. The program culminates in Geminiani's Concerto “La Follia” variations on one of the most famous bass lines in history, heard across centuries of music from the baroque to Beethoven, Brittney Spears and the soundtrack from Succession. 

“Vivaldi was one of music's greatest storytellers,” says Lina Tur Bonet, Tafelmusik's Guest Director for Vivaldi's World. “Each concerto is like a miniature play, full of colour, character, and emotion. With Vivaldi's World, we invite audiences to step into these sonic dramas, from virtuosic fireworks to the familiar strains of La Follia, which continues to echo today in popular culture.” 

“Lina's charismatic brilliance was a great match for Tafelmusik's virtuosity during her first visit in 2024,” says Cristina Zacharias, Artistic Co-Director. “Vivaldi's World promises more fireworks and more passion, all delivered with the joyful inventiveness that each performer brings to the stage.” 

Full Program: 

● Albicastro: Concerto in C Minor, op. 7, no. 4 

● Vivaldi: Concerto for violin “Il Grosso Mogul,” RV 208 

● Vivaldi: Concerto for two oboes in D Minor, RV 535 

● Scarlatti: Sinfonia No. 5 in A Minor 

● Zelenka: Sinfonia in A Minor, ZWV 189 

● Geminiani: Concerto XII after Corelli in D Minor “Follia” 

The concert also shines a spotlight on remarkable soloists:

Violinist Lina Tur Bonet returns to Tafelmusik in Vivaldi's spectacular Il Grosso Mogul, a concerto so virtuosic it was considered almost unplayable in its day. (watch her perform it here) 

Oboist Daniel Ramírez Escudero steps into the spotlight in his first featured appearance with Tafelmusik since joining the orchestra this season, paired with longtime oboist Marco Cera.