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Ernő Dohnányi

This Day in Music – 1877: Ernő Dohnányi Born

By Weiyu Dang on 27 July 2016 Piano, Romantic, This Day in Music

Probably the most famous Hungarian pianist not named Franz, Pozsony’s Ernő Dohnányi would carve out a prolific career full of virtuosic renown and panache. The young Dohnanyi entered the Budapest conservatory at seventeen to study piano and composition with a student of Liszt and a disciple of Brahms before making his debut a year later. His transcendent keyboard skills would quickly garner him renown in the music world with an elderly Brahms organizing the Vienna Premiere of Dohnányi’s Piano Quintet Opus No. 1. After the conservatory Dohnányi would be greeted with rapturous crowds, almost on par with Liszt’s famously riotous…

Video of the Day – Lara St. John

By Weiyu Dang on 27 July 2016 Canadian Music, Folk, Video of the day, Violin

At La Scena, we rather enjoy NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts because they’re always well curated and quite often line up with what goes on in the festival circuit. Today’s video of the day features Canadian violinist Lara St. John who will be performing later tonight at the Ottawa Chamberfest. Born in London to two educators, St. John began violin at age two and made her orchestral debut two years later. Something of a precocious talent, it could be said. Now forty-years into her career, St. John is now a powerful virtuoso performer and “owner of Ancalagon record label and the…

Marc Andre Hamelin (Photo: Fran Kaufmann)

Daily News Roundup: 26 July 2016

By Kiersten van Vliet on 26 July 2016 Daily News Roundup, Opera, Orchestral, Piano, Scena Jazz, Vocal Jazz

+ Sir Roger Norrington is celebrating the unorthodox at the Proms this week. “As a rule, conductors stand on their dignity. They take themselves seriously. They like to be revered. In his own idiosyncratic way, Norrington himself is all three: dignified, serious and revered. But he is also a lot of fun. He wants to connect with his audience. So when his listeners laughed out loud at a musical joke during his performance of a Haydn symphony, he was not offended but delighted.” + Speaking of the Proms, read a review of Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra performing…

Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt

This Day in Music – 1958: Angela Hewitt is Born

By Weiyu Dang on 26 July 2016 Canadian Music, Piano, This Day in Music

This day in music, we celebrate Angela Hewitt’s birthday. Of a musical family, Angela Hewitt turns fifty-eight today as one of Canada’s and the world’s finest musicians. Hewitt began piano lessons at three before a meteoric rise led to her first full-length recital at nine with the Royal Conservatory of Toronto. Hewitt’s pivotal success was her capture of Toronto’s 1985 International Bach Piano Competition, held in honour of Glenn Gould. The win garnered not only accolades, but more importantly, led to a relationship with recording company, Deutsche Grammophon. With DG, Hewitt’s recording of English Suite No. 6 launched a legacy…

The Witches Dance from The Witches of Venice, Photo: Gary David Gold

Opera Saratoga: Singing at the Springs

By Charles Geyer on 26 July 2016 Concert Reviews, Interviews, Opera

Nestled in the Adirondack foothills near the headstreams of the Hudson River, the City of Saratoga Springs in upstate New York was once the dowager empress of America’s great Victorian-era summer resorts, its fame resting on an abundance of fresh, natural mineral springs bubbling up from faults far below the earth’s surface, and alleged to possess restorative powers. Those magical waters still flow from the city’s protected aquifer today; but in a recreational economy that long ago diversified beyond mineral spas – racetrack, casino, restaurants and contending cultural attractions – one ought not overlook another local font whose output springs…

American composer Steve Reich

Daily News Roundup: 25 July 2016

By Kiersten van Vliet on 25 July 2016 Chamber Music, Contemporary, Daily News Roundup, Opera, Piano

Today’s Daily News Roundup is celebrating Bösendorfer pianos, welcoming a new contributor, and learning how to dress properly for concerts. + Read a review of three performances from the Lincoln Center Festival that featured maverick-turned-music-hero Steve Reich. + The Guardian’s Juanjo Mena explores the seduction of the Alhambra and Andalucían influences on Alberto Ginastera’s works. + La Scena Musicale’s newest contributor Andrew Burn asks if it is a good time to be a cynic. “When I am given the opportunity to speak in front of a group of musicians, I usually conduct an exercise or two. One of my most though-provoking…

Amarok Ensemble, Bryan Holt, cello, Lisa Tahara, piano, and Brenna Hardy-Kavanagh, violin.

Video of the Day – Amarok Ensemble

By Weiyu Dang on 25 July 2016 Chamber Music, Romantic, Video of the day

Performing tonight at the Ottawa Chamberfest, the Amarok Ensemble is comprised of three of Canada’s finest young musicians: Brenna Hardy-Kavanagh on violin, Bryan Holt on cello, and Lisa Tahara on piano. The group, formed in 2014, has performed at events as the 2015 St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar International Showcase in Stanford, CA, the Arts & Letters Club of Toronto and the Health Arts Society of Ontario concert series. Playing as part of the Chamberfest’s “Generation Next” concert heading, the ensemble is also part of the festival’s new Career Development Residency. Amarok will first present the making of a great…

Bösendorfer Imperial 290 Klavier

This Day in Music – 1828: Ignaz Bösendorfer Granted Piano-making License

By Weiyu Dang on 25 July 2016 Piano, This Day in Music

This day in music in 1828, Ignaz Bösendorfer was granted a piano-making license. Son of a carpenter, Ignaz Bösendorfer was an Austrian piano maker in the nineteenth century who founded the iconic Bösendorfer Company. Founded in the historically rich center of Vienna, Bösendorfer has an incomparable place in classical music and piano lore. The ornate and sophisticated aesthetic build combined with its innovative mechanical action make a piano that is still a status symbol. Of Bösendorfer’s advocates and ambassadors, Franz Liszt and his rapturous displays of virtuosity stands at the fore. Before finding Bösendorfer, a young Liszt broke all of the pianos…

London Bridge (http://www.hdwallpapers.in/)

The Heckeler: A Good Time to be a Cynic

By Andrew Burn on 24 July 2016 Baroque and Early, Classical Music, La Scena Spotlight

Editor’s Note: La Scena Musicale is pleased to announce our new contributor Andrew Burn. Andrew is a Switzerland-based Historical Bassoonist and Early Music specialist, and he delves into these topics on his blog, The Heckeler. When I am given the opportunity to speak in front of a group of musicians, I usually conduct an exercise or two. One of my most though-provoking involves asking all the participants to write down two rational reasons (or as close to as possible) why they should have a performing career. The only things which they are no allowed to write down are “I can’t imagine doing…

Susanna Eastburn

Daily News Roundup: 22 July 2016

By Kiersten van Vliet on 22 July 2016 Contemporary, Daily News Roundup, Musical Theatre, Opera, Piano

Today’s Daily News Roundup responds to the questions “Where have the great composers gone?” Plus presidential operas, Norman Lebrecht’s latest, and more. + Soap opera or operatic tragedy? Schmopera’s Jenna Douglas evaluates the hypothetical operas of the 2016 American Presidential election. + Susanna Eastburn, a chief executive of Sound and Music and a champion of new music, responds to Philip Clark’s editorial “Where have the great composers gone?” “It’s necessary to acknowledge that the world is different from even 10 years ago, let alone the 20th century. We underestimate the disruptive societal impact of digital technology. Most obviously, access to…

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