Laurie Anderson's The Art Of Falling shows an artist coming to terms with love, loss, and the world in which we live.

Canadian bass-baritone Philippe Sly and The Chimera Project brought their re-envisioned take on the Schubert classic to RCM’s 21C Festival last evening at Koerner Hall.

French pianist Lucas Debargue thrilled the Koerner Hall audience with his unique interpretations and intriguing musical personality.

With Australia in flames, Italian cities choked by smog and parts of Canada enjoying an unseasonal thaw, I’m listening to Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Pastoral Symphony, a lament for pre-1914 rhythms of life.

Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony are totally convincing in this recording of Shostakovich: 13th Symphony ‘Babi Yar’.

No happier way to start a year than Francis Poulenc, few grimmer than Charles Koechlin; Poulenc captivates, but tepid Koechlin is the sort of thing the BBC used to play to fill time up to the news.

Crowd pleasing programs and stellar talent mark Toronto’s beloved year end/New Year classical music extravaganzas, Bravissimo and Salute to Vienna.

Music by the young Dmitri Shostakovich, a dazzling talent strutting his stuff in the first decade of a revolution when all seemed possible and available — jobs for all, free meals at work, free love.

The TSO’s Mozartian version of Handel’s classic Messiah is enjoyable, bolstered by top-class Canadian soloists, and the always impressive Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

For those who appreciate a more reflective approach to Handel's Messiah, Tafelmusik is your band this year.