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A Vinyl Renaissance: Stepping Forward or Stepping Back?

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By on Arts Industry, Classical Music, Popular Music
December 2019 / January 2020

In an editorial meeting at La Scena, our jazz ­editor Marc Chénard posed the following ­questions: “With the resurgence of vinyl as a ­delivery medium, how does this apply across genres of music? Is the trend similar for classical and jazz? Are vinyl pressing companies ­restoring older production equipment, or are new manufacturers of such equipment appearing?” The answers form the basis of this overview. The recording and distribution of music has gone through many changes since Thomas Edison created the first recording device. I’ve experienced 78 rpm picture records from the post-war period, the 45 rpm singles distributed through…

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Photo: Harmonie Laval

Free outdoor concerts at the foot of Mount Royal

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By on Popular Music

The mountain goes vintage on five summer Thursdays Montreal, June 11, 2019 – In the tradition of popular summer concerts in public parks at the beginning of the 20th century, Harmonie Laval and various ensembles will offer five free performances at 7 p.m. on Thursdays, July 4, 11 and 18 and August 1 and 8. Music lovers will be transported back to a time when people gathered to hear beautiful music under the summer sky. The concerts will be held at the Mordecai Richler gazebo on Park Avenue, a stone’s throw from the Sir George-Étienne-Cartier monument, rain or shine (unless…

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Sarah Brightman - Hymn

Sarah Brightman’s Hymn Album on Tour beginning with Montreal on February 9

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By on Classical Music, Popular Music, Vocal

The world’s most successful and best-selling soprano Sarah Brightman unveiled her much anticipated fifteenth full-length album, HYMN, last November via Decca Gold/Universal Music Group/Universal Music Canada, the country’s leading music company. This marks the multiplatinum GRAMMY® award-nominated classical crossover pioneer’s first new studio recording since she released the international chart-topper Dreamchaser in 2013. In addition to her new album, Sarah Brightman launched her world tour, Hymn: Sarah Brightman In Concert, which will include 125 shows on five continents throughout 2018/2019 and includes three Canadian dates in early 2019. See Canadian tour dates below. To enhance her world of enchantment, Sarah Brightman has partnered with Swarovski on…

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Interview with Il Divo: Let’s Talk Opera

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By on Opera, Popular Music, Vocal

Il Divo, the male vocal quartet composed of singers Urs Bühler (Switzerland), Carlos Marín (Spain), David Miller (USA), and Sébastien Izambard (France) is celebrating it’s 15th anniversary with a worldwide tour and their new CD Timeless. We met the internationally acclaimed quartet right before their performance at Theatre St. Denis in Montreal. The ensemble, originally founded by British producer Simon Cowell, and now self-produced, delighted their fans with pieces from their new CD: Timeless. The recording is composed of a mix of pop and traditional standards from the 1930’s until now. It was released last August on Decca Gold with a #1 debut…

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The Monster (baritone Joshua Jeremiah) from Gregg Kallor's Frankenstein Suite; presented by The Angel's Share; photo by Kevin Condon

New York City October Surprises: Lang on the High Line, Kallor in the Catacombs

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By on Arts Industry, Chamber Music, Choral, Classical, Classical Music, Contemporary, Education, Experimental Jazz, La Scena Online, Musical Theatre, Opera, Orchestral, Piano, Popular Music, Scena Arts, Technology, Theatre, Vocal

REVIEW: of works by composers David Lang and Gregg Kallor – The Mile-Long Opera by Lang, performed on the High Line; and sketches from The Frankenstein Suite, plus the monodrama “The Telltale Heart,” by Kallor, performed in the Catacombs of Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery. Some uncanny musical surprises graced unusual locations both above and below New York City street-level during the early part of Halloween month. Here’s a diary retrospective. Going the Extra Mile Beginning at twilight on six consecutive evenings (October 3 through 8; viewed October 7), Pulitzer-Prize-winning composer David Lang and a host of collaborators presented a unique choral…

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New Jewish Music. Analekta Works by Current, Marhulets, Foss

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By on CD and Book Reviews, Choral, Contemporary, Folk, Orchestral, Vocal
October 2018

Three composers are involved in this first co-production between Analekta and the Azrieli Music Prizes: Brian Current and Wlad Marhulets, winners of the 2016 Azrieli Commissioning Competition and Azrieli Prize in Jewish Music, respectively, and the American Lukas Foss. The Czech National Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Steven Mercurio, the choir by Miriam Nmcová. Soloists are soprano Sharon Azrieli, clarinetist David Krakauer and tenor Richard Troxell. In The Seven Heavenly Halls, Current offers his musical vision of the Zohar, the fundamental text of the Kabbalah. Tension in the orchestra, a tumult of voices, mystical flights of fancy and dense textures…

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Once: From Film to Stage

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By on Musical Theatre, Popular Music
October 2018

The opening show of the Segal Centre fall season is the musical Once, which won eight Tony Awards in 2012, including best song (“Falling Slowly”) and best musical. Once is based on the low-budget 2007 Irish film of the same name directed by John Carney about a Dublin-based busker and vacuum repairman and his relationship with a Czech immigrant who is an aspiring pianist and single mother. Their friendship quickly develops into a complex, passionate love story built on their love of music. The film’s soundtrack also garnered an Academy Award and a Grammy. The Montreal production is set in…

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Young Verdi & Ladino Music: A Possible Connection

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By on Folk, Opera
October 2018

Born in Roncole, Italy, on Oct. 9 or 10, 1813, Verdi was named in French, Joseph François Fortunin. At that time, that part of Italy was still under French dominion. He was the son of Carlo and Luigia Verdi. Verdi’s parents owned a tavern close to Busetto in the Parma region of northern Italy. His parents were middle-class, educated Catholics. His father even bought a spinet piano for his young son, which indicates both that they were people of means and that they supported Verdi’s talent from a young age. Verdi received his main musical education as a child from the…

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Socalled and the Kaiser Quartett Photo: courtesy of the artist

Socalled Meets String Quartet: Whatever the Medium, Yiddish Culture is Here to Stay

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By on Chamber Music, Popular Music
October 2018

A fixture on the Montreal music scene with an impressive following abroad, Josh Dolgin, a.k.a. Socalled, has been dubbed “the mad wizard of Yiddish hip-hop.” Over the last two decades, his whimsical blend of seriously irreverent artistry has popped up in concert halls, clubs and cinemas, as he dabbles in cartooning and magic and takes part in far-flung collaborations like Tales from Odessa, his Yiddish gangster puppet musical for the Segal Centre, and the Juno-nominated album AKOKA, with classical cellist Matt Haimovitz and klezmer clarinettist David Krakauer. This fall sees the release of both his original queerotic film The Housesitter along…

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Quintette Kleztory: A Mosaic of Influences and Emotions

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By on Folk, World Music
October 2018

Kleztory is a stunning example of the power and the universal nature of the language of klezmer music. Strange to say, this internationally renowned quintet does not have any members of Jewish origin. From Russia, Western Canada and Quebec, the five musicians came together for their shared love of traditional klezmer music – into which, however, they do not hesitate to take the liberty of weaving their diverse personalities. Their return from Trondheim, Norway, where they will participate in a festival of Jewish culture, will mark the beginning of a rich season of travel and gatherings. Sidewalks to Studios Clarinettist…

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