Monthly Archives: May 2012

Contes pour enfants pas sages

Posted on May 30, 2012 by

Christopher Butterfield’s Contes pour enfants pas sages premiered in Toronto recently adapting Jacques Prévert’s 1947 collection of stories of the same name.  It’s a cycle adapted as musical theatre in a collaboration between Continuum Music, Choir 21 led by David … Continue reading →

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The Promised Land

Posted on May 27, 2012 by

Thank you Tafelmusik.  What took you so long? Tonight I heard Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir venture boldly into the 19th century, sounding very much like they belong there.  The program on this occasion consisted of Beethoven’s “Eroica” and … Continue reading →

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Essential Alcina

Posted on May 26, 2012 by

Alcina by Essential Opera was my second consecutive night of Händel, following my second viewing of the Canadian Opera Company’s unorthodox production of Semele.  I hope I can be forgiven for making comparisons, but I think it’s relevant given that Toronto Händel … Continue reading →

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Semele in my nose

Posted on May 25, 2012 by

I had another chance to see & hear and even smell Zhang Huan’s production of Semele at the Canadian Opera Company. Yes, Semele also smells good (and I’m not just saying that to make a feeble joke).  Before the curtain … Continue reading →

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From C to shining C

Posted on May 22, 2012 by

No this isn’t about Pavarotti or tenors. Today I finally closed the circle on Beethoven’s sonatas.  I’d played thirty-one of his thirty-two in a sequence following the first two posts I made, after hearing about Stewart Goodyear’s Beethoven Marathon. For … Continue reading →

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10 Questions for Mireille Asselin

Posted on May 19, 2012 by

A singer deemed “Superb” by the Los Angeles Times, praised by Opera Canada for her “vivacious stage presence” and “soprano that charms and brightens a room”, the grateful recipient of Opera Hamilton’s Sheila Zack Scholarship for Emerging Artists, Mireille Asselin … Continue reading →

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10 Questions for Christopher Butterfield

Posted on May 18, 2012 by

Composer Christopher Butterfield has influenced a generation of composers through his teaching at the University of Victoria, where he is cross-appointed to the visual art department. One time choir boy at King’s College in Cambridge and member of the 80’s … Continue reading →

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10 Questions for Stewart Goodyear

Posted on May 15, 2012 by

Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, pianist and composer Stewart Goodyear began his training at Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, received a bachelor’s degree from Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and completed a Masters Degree at Juilliard School … Continue reading →

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Jane Archibald as Semele

Posted on May 12, 2012 by

You never can tell.  I would never have predicted which opera would be my favourite of the seven operas programmed this season by the Canadian Opera Company.  Both the adventurous staging and the consistently brilliant singing make Handel’s Semele by … Continue reading →

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10 Questions for Attila Keszei

Posted on May 8, 2012 by

After thirty-three years working at the University of Toronto in various roles that placed him in the forefront of sustainability at the University and the country, Attila Keszei is at a cross-roads.  Keszei is an engineer and a painter, sculptor … Continue reading →

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