Category Archives: Personal ruminations & essays

Kent Monkman: Miss Chief Eagle Testickle’s big New York Adventure

Posted on January 14, 2020 by

Early in the musical documentary film The Last Waltz we see Ronnie Hawkins coming out onto the stage of the Winterland Ballroom. The music begins to play. Hawkins may be a musical legend but he is nervous, about to sing … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Framing the Pollyanna proposition

Posted on January 9, 2020 by

January is named for that two-headed god who is able to look ahead and back. As I ponder the wreckage of 2019 I wonder if Janus was too busy looking down at his phone and not watching where he was … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, Theatre & musicals | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tribal Messiah

Posted on December 22, 2019 by

I’m trying to find the right word, so please bear with me. For someone who goes to see concerts & theatre more often than most people, you might never guess that I’m sometimes frustrated. My mantra is “I’m a lucky … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Questions for Beste Kalender

Posted on December 18, 2019 by

Beste Kalender could tell you about the different pathways to success. One can be discovered in competitions, especially if one wins. You can be mentored by great singers. There’s even the Hollywood legend, the understudy going on as last minute … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Press Releases and Announcements, Theatre & musicals | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

News from Alexander Neef about Parsifal

Posted on December 13, 2019 by

“September 25 is going to be a big night for the Canadian Opera Company.” That’s how Alexander Neef’s email to subscribers began. It was in my inbox early this afternoon. It will be an expensive project, so of course he … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal ruminations & essays | Leave a comment

How to Singalong

Posted on December 13, 2019 by

I don’t presume to know how one does the Singalong Messiah thing.  I am no expert. [morning after emendation… There are different sorts of experts. Singers? organists, conductors, musicians? or the textual scholars, people who really know Handel?  I avoid … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, Press Releases and Announcements | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Met HD Akhnaten

Posted on November 24, 2019 by

Yesterday I watched Philip Glass’s opera Akhnaten as presented in the Metropolitan Opera’s High Definition broadcast on a big screen in Scarborough, at the same time people were watching it in many places around the world. I wish the Canadian … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , ,