Browsing: Classical Music

Opéra de Montréal’s production of Another Brick in the Wall, inspired by Pink Floyd’s cult album, must be one of the most eagerly anticipated arts event of the year. Composer Julien Bilodeau was given the enormous task of turning the work by Roger Waters into an opera. He spoke to us about the process. After graduating from the Montreal’s Conservatoire de musique, Bilodeau completed further studies in Paris and Frankfurt, and in 2006 received the Robert Flemming prize from the Canada Council for the Arts for most promising composer. Since then he has composed works commissioned by the Montreal Symphony…

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Ehnes Quartet: James Ehnes & Amy Schwartz Moretti, violins; Richard O’Neill, viola; Robert deMaine, cello Franz Schubert: String Quartet No. 14 in D minor “Death and the Maiden” D810; Jean Sibelius: String Quartet in D minor, “Intimate Voices” Op. 56 Onyx 2016. 4163. 74 min 3 s. You rarely get a ­pairing of Schubert and Sibelius. The ­latter gets the ­“nationalist composer” ­treatment, often found paired with other Scandinavians like Grieg, sometimes even with a Slav or two thrown in for good measure. And Schubert? Well, you can find him wherever you find good, wholesome ­German music. This new release…

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The opera L’Amour de loin – or Love from Afar – premiered to conspicuous plaudits in Salzburg in 2000, and has enjoyed ­numerous productions around the globe. It also signaled the beginning of a ­remarkably fertile, ongoing collaboration ­between composer Kaija Saariaho and then first-time librettist Amin Maalouf. Maalouf has since partnered with Saariaho on three more musico-dramatic works, all of them sharing certain distinctive features: strong female characters, epitomizing a ­generative, rancorless strain of feminism; an elusive, gossamer air of mysticism; a usually gentle, ultimately affirmative perception of the workings of providence; and a subtle yet dogged curiosity about the paradox of simultaneous…

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As soon as I entered her office, I felt the passion that drives Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot as she spoke about her instrument. She explained to me that “among the strings, the viola’s register is the closest to the human voice. Every string of the viola has its own tone.” An accomplished Viennese-born violist, Puchhammer-Sédillot is professor of viola in the Faculty of Music at the University of Montreal and is as passionate about the repertoire as she is about teaching the instrument. She regularly attends viola conferences around the world, where she shares her discoveries and reflections with other internationally-acclaimed violists.…

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Canadian violin virtuoso Alexandre Da Costa is on a mission – to bring classical music to the public. His latest project Stradivarius à l’Opéra consists of twelve gems from the operatic repertoire, ­reworked for solo violin and orchestra. He ­selected the works that he felt suited his large, lush tone, found the arrangements and then made a recording, now out on CD. Da Costa said that the project has two principal ­objectives: to appeal to opera lovers with a ­different approach to classics, and to reach out to those not familiar with the beauty of opera by providing an easily…

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Industry Moves In mid-December, nine members of the ­Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Board of ­Directors abruptly resigned from their positions, highlighting possible trouble behind the scenes. The resignations, which happened in two waves, included Chair Richard Phillips and Vice-Chair Blake Goldring, as well as ­Renette Berman, Diane Francis, Peter Levitt, William Morris, John Novak, William ­Thomas, and Sonia Baxendale. Even with the remarkable turnaround outlined in their ­annual 2015–16 fiscal report, which cited a surplus of over $800,000 after an alleged $4 to 6-million deficit, the orchestra has been rocked by a number of sudden changes since the controversial resignation of…

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The Tree of Life Daniel Taylor & The Trinity Choir Sony 2016. 88985387032. 55 min. Its conspicuous ­release before Christmas is no accident: like the 2015 release of Four Thousand Winter, The Tree of Life is a selection of a capella Christmas pieces. Unlike the previous album, The Tree of Life is curated to lead the listener on a journey where stillness and silence are equal players to the music of ­Mouton, Tavener, Britten, Elizabeth Poston, Robert Parsons, and Pärt. On this disc, leading Canadian countertenor Daniel Taylor is joined by soloists Jeremy Budd (treble), David Clegg (alto), Nicholas Pritchard…

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Stage Director Serge Denoncourt returns to the Opéra de Montréal for the first time in almost two decades, lending a measured dramaturgic eye to Poulenc’s indispensable chef-d’oeuvre. Their second production in as many to include an all-Canadian cast and artistic direction, with Dialogues Opéra de Montréal once again confirms the richness of the Canadian operatic scene. In advance of Opéra de Montréal’s new production of Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des carmélites, The Globe and Mail published a profile of the production entitled “Timely lessons about faith and intolerance” that compares the plot of Dialogues, which is based on the 1794 Martyrs of Compiègne…

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The Romantic Spirit of Beethoven Infuses the Montreal Chamber Music Festival’s 22nd Season May 26 ~ June 18, 2017 Pre-Festival Prestige Series ~ February 1, May 6, and May 10 For Immediate Release, January 24, 2017, Montreal, Quebec … The Montreal Chamber Music Festival presents Beethoven: Passion romantique, dedicating its 22nd season to the spirit of Beethoven, the great master who represents the transition from the Classical to the Romantic era.  Founder and Artistic Director Denis Brott, C.M. has featured the music of Beethoven on almost all Festival concerts, anchored by the performance of the complete Beethoven string quartets over six…

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Bernstein’s three symphonies have not enjoyed much exposure on record. Aside from the Sony and DG releases conducted by the composer, my database calls up only three other versions – Leonard Slatkin at the BBC, James Judd in New Zealand and an LA Phil DG download conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. While the composer’s edition must be considered in some sense definitive, his take on the two works has failed to ignite the public imagination. What catches my ear about Marin Alsop’s new recording with the Baltimore Symphony is how strikingly it diverges from her master’s voice. In the Jeremiah symphony,…

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