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 for his Goldberg Variations, two Bach recordings (1955 and 1981). A virtuoso with an aura of near genius, Glenn Gould suddenly retired from the stage (and from public life) in 1964 to devote himself to recording studios. 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 emblem of his city, Gould's soul is everywhere in Toronto, including 250 Front Street West in front of the CBC offices, where you can sit next to his bronze statue. If no other Toronto classical musician has surpassed Glenn Gould's success, the city is associated with another current piano prodigy: Tony Yike Yang. The youngest winner of the Frédéric-Chopin International Competition (in 2015) at the age of 16, he has already played with some of the world's leading orchestras and appears regularly on Canadian television.
So, opera lovers are right at home in Toronto. Opera has a rich history in this country. At the turn of the 20th century, when most Canadian halls were inadequate for opera, Toronto inaugurated Massey Hall. Built in 1894, this superb concert hall is the oldest in the country. High-quality musical performances are staged here, including regular appearances by the Mendelssohn Choir, renowned throughout the country for its interpretations of works for a cappella choir and orchestra. In 2006, Toronto inaugurated the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, a new modernist venue with a magnificent auditorium seating over 2,000. 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. Smaller in scale, Tapestry Opera is an interesting company for its work on contemporary repertoire.
Toronto also boasts a great ensemble, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Today led 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 on the baton. Regularly inviting great soloists - Martha Argerich, Maxim Vengerov, Yo-Yo Ma, Ievgueni Kissine, Glenn Gould - or great voices - American sopranos Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle - it has been in residence at Roy Thomson Hall since 1982.
Rock and folk
Here, folk music is a must. Present since the arrival of French and British settlers, this traditional music with its French, English, Irish and Scottish origins was popularized in the country by artists such as Gordon Lightfoot and singers Ian and Sylvia in the 1960s-70s. Like them, most of the folk artists of the time got their start in the avant-garde cafés and bars of the Yorkville district. But if Toronto is a folk city before the Eternal, it's above all because it was the birthplace (in 1945) of one of its masters: Neil Young. A sacred monster, his 1972 album Harvest (the artist's best-selling and most successful) is a timeless masterpiece that inspires young bands of every generation.
Living at the pace of the United States, Toronto boasts a fine indie folk and indie rock scene, with the city boasting the birthplace of many of the artists and bands that have graced the pages of Pitchfork magazine: cowboy Junkies - pioneers of the 1980s -, Timber Timbre and their dark folk-rock, singer Feist and her banter pop, Metric, descendants of the Pixies, Fucked Up and their cerebral punk, Austra and their icy post-punk, Death from Above 1979, dance-punk that was very successful in its day, Peaches, the queen of electroclash, and Broken Social Scene, a rock supergroup featuring Leslie Feist and Emily Haines from Metric, among others.
Of course, Toronto's creative dynamism is echoed by the city's density of stages. 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 for 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 a former Vaudeville theater, and finally The Garrison offers rock, pop and rap. The city is also home to the North By Northeast festival - Canada's answer to Texas' South By Southwest - which is renowned 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: rapper Drake. Lil Wayne's protégé in the early 2000s, Drake has gone on to become one of the world's leading rap stars in the space of two decades, lighting up the entire hometown scene with his success. In fact, Billboard magazine has named him Hip-Hop Artist of the Decade (2010-2019), no less.
If today Toronto is, like New York, Los Angeles or Atlanta, a major American rap city, it's 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 and Thrust. also worth mentioning is The Weeknd, a multi-award-winning artist who dabbles in R&B, hip-hop and pop.
Given its dynamism in this field, Toronto has no shortage of places to enjoy live rap, notably in nightclubs such as EFS Social Club, Luxy and Rebel. A number of venues also host hip-hop shows, including the Drake Hotel and its basement stage, which features a huge amount of rap in a very warm atmosphere. And during the summer months, every self-respecting hip-hop fan must attend the famous Bastid's BBQ. A not-to-be-missed event on the hip-hop scene, organized by local DJ Skratch Bastid, it welcomes legends such as DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Premier, Kid Capri, Masta Ace, Marco Polo and Pete Rock, not to mention up-and-coming and local artists.
Theatre and humour
It's often forgotten (or ignored), but Toronto is one of the world's three English-language theater capitals - London and New York being the other two. Unsurprisingly, Toronto is home to Canada's most dynamic English-language theatre scene. Several Broadway hits, such as Show Boat and Ragtime, were even born in Toronto before being exported.
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 venues saved from destruction by Ed Mirvish, a prominent Toronto businessman and patron of the arts. Another historic landmark, The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre, dating from 1913, is the world's last surviving stacked theater. The interior is absolutely sumptuous, a veritable showcase for a fine play. The Soulpepper Theatre, the city's largest non-profit theater company and resident of the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, regularly stages classic works by Ibsen, Chekhov, Shakespeare and Harold Pinter. For a play in the language of Molière, head for the Théâtre français de Toronto, a professional theater staging comedies and contemporary creations, not forgetting the classical and modern repertoire. If you want to discover the very best of Canada's up-and-coming talent, the Factory Theatre is the place to go. Founded in 1975, the theatre's mission is to promote Canadian artists and encourage emerging and different voices. A little off the beaten track north of Toronto is the Meridian Arts Centre, a theater presenting musical performances (jazz, world music, etc.) as well as symphony concerts, a variety of plays, dance performances and more.
All these stages are an opportunity to discover (or revisit) the work of the city's emblematic writers and playwrights, 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 country's most prolific authors, or Robertson Davies, who enjoyed a small success in France around the 1990s.
Festivals of note include the 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 dedicated to supporting marginalized and under-represented voices.
Comedy also has its place in Toronto's Comedy Clubs, including the famous Yuk Yuk's Toronto, where Jim Carrey cut his teeth in the 1970s. The city also hosts a major annual comedy festival, Just for Laughs, the English-language edition of the famous Quebec-based Just for Laughs festival.
