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By Colin Eatock on November 30, 2014
Who makes classical music funny? Victor Borge did it, and so did Anna Russell. The violin-piano duo of Aleksey Igudesman and Richard Hyung-ki Joo are also funny. Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt are hilarious in their show Two Pianos Four Hands. And let’s not forget Peter Schikele (a.k.a. “PDQ Bach”), Dudley Moore, Steve Martin, Bugs Bunny and Monty Python.
(Continue reading)By Paul E. Robinson on November 26, 2014
In the spring of 2012 the Philadelphia Orchestra presented a “Stokowski Celebration” in the orchestra’s old home, the Academy of Music. The programs consisted of music associated with Stokowski, the longtime music director of the orchestra, and there was a well-curated display of Stokowski memorabilia in the lobby and on the orchestra’s website. Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducted all the concerts and in one remarkable moment Stokowski “passed” the baton to Yannick by means of lifelike holograms on either side of the proscenium. A year later Yannick made his first recording with the Philadelphia Orchestra and it included several of the works played at the Stokowski Celebration.
(Continue reading)By Michael Vincent on November 24, 2014
What do you get when you combine one of the world’s great violin virtuosos with a string orchestra of young green hopefuls? A masterclass for certain, but how on earth were they going to keep up? Since 1997, Anne-Sophie Mutter has been dedicated to fostering the Mutter Virtuosi, a small string orchestra formed as a way to give real-world performance experience to young hand picked players from the Mutter Foundation. Guided by Ms. Mutter, the idea is to give them a taste of what it means to tour, and perform in some of the world’s finest concert halls.
(Continue reading)By Paul E. Robinson on November 19, 2014
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By John Terauds on November 18, 2014
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By Paul E. Robinson on November 17, 2014
One might be forgiven for thinking that the strong Canadian presence in this performance is the key to its success. Baritone Russell Braun and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin are both in top form. And director Des McAnuff, formerly the artistic director of the Stratford Festival, has produced a fresh and powerful interpretation of Gounod’s perennial favourite.
(Continue reading)By Lev Bratishenko on November 17, 2014
It is a mystery why Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is performed so rarely. This wild opera was written in 1932 and it only premiered at the Met in 1994 with a production by Graham Vick that returned last Monday. The production remains silly, the opera magnificent.
(Continue reading)By Michael Vincent on November 14, 2014
A symphony concert featuring Beethoven and Mozart is as regular as regular gets. But when you combine it with the young piano dynamo Jan Lisiecki, visiting Danish conductor Thomas Dausgaard and clinch it with Carl Nielsen’s Fourth Symphony, you have something much more interesting.
(Continue reading)By Robin Elliott on November 14, 2014
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By Michael Vincent on November 8, 2014
In a 1950s interview with Robert Craft, Igor Stravinsky was asked to give his opinion about the use of music as accompaniment to recitation. His response: “Do not ask, sins cannot be undone, only forgiven.” Despite Stravinsky’s misgivings, the Art of Time Ensemble (whose aim is to go beyond the classical repertoire) opened its 15th season on Friday night, with a fascinating and varied look at how music and the written word have collided and intersected throughout the ages. Following a series of recited poems, sung poems, tone poems, poets as musicians and musicals inspired by poetry, it was a variety show approach that rapidly swung back and forth from light entertainment to deeply affecting music...
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