Classical music
The history of music and the history of Toronto have one great man in common: Glenn Gould. A prodigious pianist, he joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) at the age of 14 and became famous with his Goldberg Variations
, two recordings of Bach (1955 and 1981). A virtuoso with an almost genial aura, Glenn Gould suddenly retired from the stage (and from public life) in 1964 to devote himself to the recording studio. From then on, he concentrated on composing and creating radio and television programs. His unique style with its intense, elastic tempi divided the musical community as much as it fascinated the public. A true icon of his city, Gould's soul is everywhere in Toronto, including 250 Front Street West in front of the CBC, where you can sit next to his bronze statue. While no other classical musician in Toronto has surpassed Glenn Gould's success, the city is associated with another current piano prodigy: Tony Yike Yang. The youngest winner of the Frederic Copin International Competition (in 2015) at the age of 16, he has already performed with some of the world's leading orchestras and appears regularly on Canadian television.So, opera lovers are at home in Toronto. Opera has a rich history in the country. At the turn of the 20th century, when most of Canada's halls were inadequate for opera, Toronto opened Massey
Hall. Built in 1894, this superb concert hall is the oldest in the country. It is home to some of the finest musical performances in the country, including regular performances by the Mendelssohn Choir, which is nationally renowned for its performances of works for choir and a cappella orchestra. In 2006, Toronto opened a new modernist venue with a magnificent 2,000+ seat auditorium, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Home to the National Ballet of Canada, it is also the home of the Canadian Opera Company, one of North America's most renowned opera ensembles. Otherwise, the smaller Tapestry Opera is an interesting company for its work on contemporary repertoire. Toronto also has a great ensemble, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Led today by Spaniard Gustavo Gimeno, the ensemble took on a new dimension when such luminaries as Japan's Seiji Ozawa and Finland's Jukka-Pekka Saraste took over as conductors. The ensemble has been in residence at Roy Thomson Hall since 1982, regularly inviting great soloists such as Martha Argerich, Maxim Vengerov, Yo-Yo Ma, Ievgueni Kissine, and Glenn Gould, as well as great voices such as the American sopranos Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle.Rock and folk
Folk music is a must here. Present since the arrival of the French and British settlers, this traditional music with French, English, Irish and Scottish origins was popularized in the country by artists like Gordon Lightfoot and singers Ian and Sylvia in the 1960s and 70s. Like them, most folk artists of the era got their start in the avant-garde cafés and bars of the Yorkville neighbourhood. But if Toronto is a folk town, it's mainly because it was the birthplace (in 1945) of one of its masters: Neil Young. His 1972 album Harvest
, the best-selling and most successful album ever recorded, is a timeless masterpiece that has inspired young bands of all generations.Toronto has a great indie folk and indie rock scene, with many of the artists and bands that have been featured in Pitchfork
magazine being born here: cowboy Junkies - pioneers, big success in the 1980s -, Timber Timbre and its dark folk rock, singer Feist and her banter pop, Metric, the descendants of the Pixies, Fucked Up and its cerebral punk, Austra and its icy post-punk, Death from Above 1979, dance-punk that had a lot of success in its time, Peaches, the queen of electroclash, or finally Broken Social Scene, a rock super-group composed of Leslie Feist or Emily Haines of Metric, among others. Of course, Toronto's creative dynamism is echoed by the density of the city's scene. Among them, The Velvet Undergroud is a mythical club on Queen Street West that lives up to its (very rock) name, The Danforth Music Hall is a beautiful theater to see headliners, the Phoenix Concert Theatre is a giant venue with a rather indie and cutting-edge program, the Opera House - don't be fooled by its name - is a rock venue in the beautiful setting of an old Vaudeville theater, and finally The Garrison offers rock, pop and rap. The city is home to a very good festival, North By Northeast - Canada's answer to South By Southwest in Texas - which is very well known for its rich program of shows.Hip-hop
It's impossible to talk about Toronto without mentioning one of its most sonorous and emblematic representatives: the rapper Drake. Lil Wayne's protégé in the early 2000s, he has become in two decades one of the most important figures in the world of rap, shining a light on his hometown scene with his success. Billboard magazine has named him the hip-hop artist of the last decade (2010-2019), no less.
If Toronto is today, like New York, Los Angeles or Atlanta, a great city of American rap, it is thanks to its excellent artists who have made their mark over the decades, such as Choclair, Dream Warriors, K'Naan, K-os, Jazz Cartier, Haviah Mighty, Kardinal Offishall, Maestro Fresh Wes, Main Source, Saukrates, Tory Lanez or Thrust. the Weeknd, an award-winning artist who dabbles in R&B, hip-hop and pop, is also worth mentioning.
Toronto has no shortage of places to enjoy live rap music, including nightclubs like EFS Social Club, Luxy and Rebel. Several venues also host hip-hop shows, including the Drake Hotel with its basement stage that features a lot of rap music in a very warm atmosphere. And during the summer, any self-respecting fan must attend the famous Bastid's BBQ. A must-see event in the hip-hop scene, organized by local DJ Skratch Bastid, it hosts legends such as DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Premier, Kid Capri, Masta Ace, Marco Polo and Pete Rock, as well as up-and-coming and local artists.
Theatre and humour
It is often forgotten (or ignored), but Toronto is one of the three English-language theater capitals of the world - London and New York being the other two. Not surprisingly, Toronto has the most dynamic English-language theatre scene in Canada. Several Broadway hits were even born in Toronto before being exported, such as Show Boat and Ragtime
Among Toronto's most famous theaters, the oldest is the Royal Alexandra Theatre. Opened in 1907, it is the oldest theatre in North America and has been in continuous operation since its opening. Along with the Princess of Wales Theatre, it is one of the places saved from destruction by Ed Mirvish, a prominent Toronto businessman and patron. The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre, dating from 1913, is the last surviving stacked theater in the world. Its interior is absolutely sumptuous, a true showcase for a beautiful play. Also worth mentioning is Soulpepper Theatre, the city's largest non-profit theater company and resident of the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, which regularly stages classic works by Ibsen, Chekhov, Shakespeare and Harold Pinter. For a play in the language of Molière, you can go to the Théâtre français de Toronto, a professional theater that stages comedies and contemporary creations, as well as classical and modern repertoire. To discover the best of tomorrow's Canadian talent, the Factory Theatre is the place to go. Founded in 1975, the Factory Theatre's mission is to promote Canadian artists and to encourage emerging and different voices. A little off the beaten path north of Toronto is the Meridian Arts Centre, a theater that presents musical performances (jazz, world music, etc.) as well as symphonic concerts, various plays, dance performances, etc
All these stages are an opportunity to discover (or revisit) the work of emblematic men of letters and playwrights of the city such as Timothy Findley (1930-2002), well known in France (and Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres), George F. Walker, one of the most prolific authors of the country, or Robertson Davies, who enjoyed a small success in France around the 1990s.
A few festivals are worth noting: Rhubarb Festival, a veritable incubator for the performing arts of Canadian queer culture, Luminato, a promoter of diversity and creativity in the performing arts (theater, dance, music, visual arts), and the Toronto Fringe Festival, the Canadian branch of the "Fringe movement", an international network of independent theaters whose mission is to support marginalized and underrepresented voices
Comedy also has a place in Toronto's comedy clubs, including the famous Yuk Yuk's Toronto, where Jim Carrey got his start in the 1970s. The city also hosts a major annual comedy festival, Just for Laughs, the English-language edition of the famous Quebec-based festival Just for Laughs
