We seem to have weathered the latest blast of Old Man Winter, which arrived late yesterday and finally blew itself out earlier this morning. Here in my part of North Niagara things are really not bad at all, although the snow we did get is rather wet and heavy. But it won't last, as we have some milder weather on the way and besides, it is early March, so how much more of this will we get? Not bothering to consult with the groundhog for obvious reasons.
Other parts of Ontario seem to have been hit harder than most of us here in Niagara, so be careful while venturing outside today.
If you get a bad case of cabin fever and want to escape for a bit, I have a couple of performances this weekend that might be of interest to you, one here in Niagara and the other in one of my favourite little corners of the world, Elora, by way of Kitchener.
Tomorrow afternoon at 4 the Elora Singers will continue with their winter season with a concert entitled "Baroque Meditations" at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church at 54 Benton Street in Kitchener.
The concert begins with the haunting and rarely-heard "Stabat Mater" by the early baroque Italian composer Agostino Steffani, composed in 1724 for six voices and Orchestra. It was a later work for the busy composer and was presented along with some madrigals to the Academy of Vocal Music in London on the occasion of his being elected their Honorary President for Life. It didn't last long though, as Steffani died on a trip to Frankfurt, Germany four years later.
Steffani, who was born in 1654, was an ordained priest as well as a prolific composer, eventually attaining the title of Kapellmeister at the Court of Hanover. It was in this position he met and befriended a young George Frederic Handel in 1710, helping the younger composer early on in his career.
Speaking of Handel, his familiar "Dixit Dominus" rounds out the Elora Singers concert tomorrow afternoon, and was written while he lived briefly in Rome at the beginning of the 18th Century.
Tickets for the concert can be picked up at the door or in advance by calling the box office at 1-519-846-0331 or online at www.elorasingers.ca.
Closer to home, the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake has already started previews of the World Premiere of a long-awaited South Asian epic in two parts at the Festival Theatre. The production, in collaboration with Why Not Theatre, gets the 2023 Shaw Festival season underway on an epic journey.
The production, "Mahabharata", is a contemporary adaptation of the four-thousand-year-old Sanskrit epic written and adapted by Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes from an original concept developed with Jenny Koons, and uses poetry from Carole Satyamurti's "Mahabharata: A Modern Retelling". Jain and Fernandes are also directing the production,
The presentation is in two parts: "Karma (Part One)" and "Dharma (Part Two)" and there are performances of both parts along with "Khana", a community meal with storytelling, on March 4, 5,9,11,12,16,18,25 and 26.
The World Premiere was commissioned and will be presented by the Shaw Festival through to March 26th. The production is by Why Not Theatre in association with the Barbican in London.
For tickets and more information go to www.shawfest.com.
Have a great weekend!
March 4th, 2023.
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