RECORD KEEPING | New Orford String Quartet: Brahms String Quartets

By John Terauds on February 15, 2016

This music has been compelling fresh ears for nearly a century-and-a-half and, fortunately for anyone fond of Brahms’ compositions, the New Orford Quartet has put together an equally compelling case for their own interpretations.

RECORD KEEPING | Paul Merkelo/Montreal Symphony Orchestra

By Paul E. Robinson on February 13, 2016

With his colleagues in the MSO, under the direction of Kent Nagano, Merkelo delivers near-definitive performances of three classics of the Twentieth Century trumpet repertoire, with rich and detailed sound quality provided by Analekta.

BOOK REVIEW | Play Life More Beautifully: Conversations with Seymour

By Robin Roger on February 12, 2016

Over 245 pages, Seymour and Andrew explore debate, and banter about the a diverse and rich range of shared matters of urgent importance to them, including their personal histories, spiritual quests, notions of the divine, being learners and teachers and their feeling about creativity, solitude, relatedness to animals and more.

SCRUTINY | Ensemble Studio Artists Shine In The Marriage Of Figaro Preview

By Joseph So on February 11, 2016

SCRUTINY | Christopher Purves: The Art of Song

By Joseph So on February 10, 2016

Christopher Purves: The Art of Song. The British bass-baritone dazzles audiences in Handel and Mussorgsky.

SCRUTINY | Chilly Gonzales And The Kaiser String Quartet Get Classical At Massey Hall

By Nicholas Godsoe on February 9, 2016

"As the string quartet, (in full tuxedo) followed by Gonzales, (in a suave, velveteen, burgundy robe) assumed the stage, the audience went wild..."

SCRUTINY | Tanya Tagaq and Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Call Rebel Rebel

By Michael Vincent on February 7, 2016

The audience was buzzing when I overheard a proclamation: "Tanya!" That Tanya, of course, was Tanya Tagaq, an Inuk throat singer from Cambridge Bay (Iqaluktuutiaq), Nunavut, located on Victoria Island.

RECORD KEEPING | Jan Lisiecki/Schumann

By Paul E. Robinson on February 6, 2016

For some listeners, Lisiecki’s approach will bring a welcome clarity to this music, but to my taste, his rendition tends toward the superficial, often missing the poetic soulfulness of the music.

SCRUTINY | Quirky COC Marriage Of Figaro Highlights The Eternal Struggle Of Desire Vs. Reason

By Joseph So on February 6, 2016

COC's Marriage of Figaro an interesting twist to this beloved Mozart and an unusual evening at the opera.

SCRUTINY | Tafelmusik Revives Beethoven's 9th

By Michael Vincent on February 5, 2016

What would Beethoven have heard? Brandishing the equivalent of field cannons, pitch-forks and bull-whips, with gut strings, valveless horns and baroque contrabassoon, Tafelmusik proposed a possible answer with a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony last night.