THE CLASSICAL TRAVELER | Gounod: Faust (DVD Review)

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.

THE MORNING AFTER | Is she a swine?

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.

FITS & BURSTS | Jan Lisiecki’s star shines brightly with TSO: review

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.

REVIEW | The Dover Quartet flexes their brawn at the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto

By Robin Elliott on November 14, 2014

REVIEW | A near-perfect blending of music, poetry and whimsy

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...

REVIEW | The Unforgettable Tanya Tagaq

By Robin Elliott on November 7, 2014

“Live Music is Best.” That is the motto of the musicians’ union, and it could well be the motto of Tanya Tagaq as well. No amount of familiarity with Tagaq’s recordings and videos can prepare one for the impact of witnessing her in live performance.

THE VOICE | Techno Callas-Thenics

By Neil Crory on November 4, 2014

The American-born, Greek soprano, Maria Callas (1923 - 1977), must hold a record for the sheer number of studio recordings made within a 20 year period: 26 complete operas and 13 recital discs in total. Apart from a few 78 rpms made at the beginning of her career for the CETRA label, all of Callas' subsequent recordings were made by EMI. Together, these discs became the backbone of EMI's rich vocal catalogue.

REVIEW | Toronto Symphony Orchestra resurrects Elgar’s the Dream of Gerontius

By Michael Vincent on November 3, 2014

Arguably Eglar’s strongest work, the Dreams of Gerontius is a kind of sacred cantata-oratorio conjured up from the depths of pre-world War I turmoil. It is an important creative triumph for Elgar, and proved he could write religious music on par with the greats, such as Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven and Verdi. The piece is rarely heard outside of Europe, and seeing it on the Toronto Symphony Orchestra season’s line-up against the usual pork and beans repertoire is pleasant surprise for those of us who would like to hear more than his Pomp and Circumstance Marches or Enigma Variations.

THE MORNING AFTER | Vancouver Opera's Stickboy: Does an opera have to be great, to be great for opera?

By Lev Bratishenko on November 3, 2014

Seven seasons of Opéra de Montreal have trained me to read a season brochure cynically and only with chemical support. I must find satisfaction in the absence of disaster rather than the chance of a triumph. Objectively, of course, this is awful; I love opera but have to travel for interesting productions. But I am much calmer now.

LINES OF ENQUIRY | To Hell and Back: Canadian Premiere of Piano-Four-Hands Arrangement of Liszt's Dante Symphony Timely, Poignant

By Curtis Perry on October 30, 2014

Suffice to say, it has been a long and tumultuous week in Ottawa. For some here in the nation's capital, it was recently capped off with a remarkably timely and well-executed rendition of Liszt's Lenore and the Dante Symphony.