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Tag Archives: Debussy
Debussy by Design
Today is Debussy’s 150th birthday, the occasion for a recent series of posts about the seminal composer & writer: Unfinished Sympathy (Aug 21) Debussy and the writers (Aug 19) Debussy Sesqui (Aug 16) I’m going to talk about another aspect of the composer … Continue reading
Posted in Essays
Tagged Debussy, Fibonacci, Golden Section, Jardins sous la pluie, Roy Howat
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Unfinished Sympathy
In the Tuesday gatherings of Mallarmé and his followers, poems, plays, or songs might be performed to an appreciative audience. Nobody minded if the work being auditioned was unfinished. A glimpse of a dream could be every bit as powerful. … Continue reading
Posted in Essays
Tagged Catulle Mendès, Debussy, Diane au bois, Edgar Allan Poe, Guilio Gatti-Casazza, La chute de la maison Usher, Le diable dans le beffroi, Pelleas et Melisande, Richard Langham Smith, Rodrigue et Chimene, Schubert, Symbolist, The Devil in the Belfry, The Fall of the House of Usher, unfinished symphony
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Enigmatic Liszt
There’s more to Franz Liszt than most people realize. If you ask a musicologist they’ll usually rattle off a series of truisms: one of the first great virtuosi for the piano, possibly the greatest pianist in history Wagner’s father-in-law Long-lived … Continue reading
Posted in Essays
Tagged Debussy, Franz Liszt, Liszt Ferenc, Neapolitan Connection, Schumann
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Thank you, Rob Ford
I learned about gratitude in Martin Seligman’s book Authentic Happiness. Dr. Seligman is a key figure in a new kind of psychology, called “Positive Psychology”, positive because it’s oriented not on disorders and dysfunctions, but on happiness. I am not … Continue reading
Posted in Essays
Tagged Alexis Weissenberg, Amour de Loin, Authentic Happiness, Canadian Opera Company, Carl Sagan, Debussy, extra-somatic memory, Fetes, Gustave Samazeuilh, Love From Afar, Martin Seligman, Nocturnes, Nuages, positive psychology, Saariaho, Shchelkunchik, The Dragons of Eden, Trois Movements de Petrouschka
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L’Amour de loin DVD
As the Canada Opera Company’s February production of Kaija Saariaho’s Love From Afar gets closer my curiosity grows. I’ve seen several new operas in my time, both the ones that vanished, and the ones that have stayed in the repertoire. … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews
Tagged Debussy, Gerald Finley, L'Amour de loin, Love From Afar, Peter Sellars, Poulenc, Russell Braun, Saariaho
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10 Questions for Christopher Mokrzewski
Canadian pianist Christopher (“Topher”) Mokrzewski is a former member of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, participant in the preparation for COC’s recent Rigoletto and Opera Atelier’s 2011 La clemenza di Tito. But he’s also an accomplished soloist & chamber … Continue reading
Pelléas et Mélisande by Request
Last night Opera by Request presented Pelléas et Mélisande in concert. When an opera is given with singers in formal attire accompanied by a pianist, we usually understand that as a compromise. We lose the sounds of the orchestra, the … Continue reading
