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Category Archives: Reviews
TSO are back for Gimeno’s Mahler 9 proposition
I’ve had a wonderful experience tonight at Roy Thomson Hall watching and listening to Gustavo Gimeno leading the Toronto Symphony in Mahler’s 9th Symphony. The orchestra has just returned from their European tour. You can read more about the tour … Continue reading
A last Rigoletto on the cusp of a regime change
For Valentine’s Day 2026 this subscriber attended the Canadian Opera Company’s last performance of Rigoletto in their winter season at the Four Seasons Centre, in Christopher Alden’s rather un-romantic production. The rose petals fall from above as the young girl … Continue reading
Posted in Opera, Reviews
Tagged Andriana Chuchman, Ben Bliss, Canadian Opera Company, Christopher Alden, David Ferguson, Family Day, Four Seasons Centre, Ian Derrer, Johannes Debus, Lunar New Year, Peixin Chen, Quinn Kelsey, Rigoletto, Sarah Dufresne, Simona Genga, Valentine's Day, Verdi
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Three Romantic Violin Sonatas from Duo Concertante
Add Nancy Dahn’s violin to the pianism of Timothy Steeves and you get Duo Concertante. I’m a fan who enjoyed their previous outings playing Beethoven and the edgier pieces on their Ecology of Being recording from 3 years ago. Their … Continue reading
Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews
Tagged Amanda Maier, César Franck, Duo Concertante, Nancy Dahn, piano, Robert Schumann, Timothy Steeves, violin, Violin Sonatas
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A last visit for Alexander Shelley with the NACO
Saturday night the National Arts Centre Orchestra played their annual Toronto concert to an enthusiastic Roy Thomson Hall audience. As 2025-26 is the final season as music director for Alexander Shelley, this was his last visit at the helm of … Continue reading
COC Barber in 2026
At first glance the two operas being presented by the Canadian Opera Company represent a contrasting pair. Last week I reviewed the dark Christopher Alden Rigoletto, being offered in a revival with a strong cast. Tonight I saw the COC’s … Continue reading
Opera Salon Series: Romanticism & Bel Canto
Today I attended a Voicebox: Opera in Concert Opera Salon, highlighting Romanticism & Bel Canto. I want to see any concert or presentation that offers us a new way to offer opera and to find an audience. We’ve seen arias … Continue reading
Posted in Opera, Reviews
Tagged Alexander Cappellazzo, bel canto, Cassandra Amorim, classical-music, Diana Rockwell, Edward Jackman Centre, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Evan Korbut, Gaetano Donizetti, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Giuseppe Verdi, Guillermo Silva-Marin, Henry Ingram, Holly Chaplin, Jules Massenet, Justin Welsh, Michael William Balfe, music, opera, Romanticism, Vincenzo Bellini, Voicebox Opera in Concert
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A Rigoletto for our time
The Canadian Opera Company are reviving the Christopher Alden Rigoletto, last seen in 2018 and first seen here in 2011. I have always been conflicted about it, a production that in some ways shows the real story that composer Giuseppe … Continue reading
Toronto Operetta Theatre’s Czardas Princess starts the New Year
Toronto Operetta Theatre began the new year of 2026 looking over their shoulders with a romance that had its premiere over a century ago in Vienna: Imre Kálmán’s Czardas Princess. We went on the weekend sitting among a boisterously enthusiastic … Continue reading
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