Category Archives: Reviews

Skye Consort and Emma Björling: right after trick-or-treating

Posted on October 22, 2019 by

Within the first ten seconds of this new CD I knew I was going to like it. It’s Skye Consort & Emma Björling, and the first cut on the album is “Herr Hillebrand”, a traditional Medieval Swedish ballad, in Swedish. … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Popular music & culture, Press Releases and Announcements, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Singing through Centuries: TMC’s 125th

Posted on October 21, 2019 by

Today the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir celebrated their 125th anniversary with a gala concert at Koerner Hall, joined for the occasion by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (who haven’t yet had their centennial, and who only came into existence in 1922). Led … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Resonant Minorities

Posted on October 18, 2019 by

Tonight I was present at the Canadian premiere of Yang Zhen’s third installment of his “Revolution Game Trilogy”, Minorities, a Red Virgo production presented by Canadian Stage. You will recognize many things in this show. We watch five female dancers later … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Politics, Reviews, Theatre & musicals | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Rusalka: and now for something completely different

Posted on October 13, 2019 by

Tonight the Canadian Opera Company premiered their take on the recent Lyric Opera of Chicago production of Dvořák’s Rusalka directed by Sir David McVicar. It stands in rather stark contrast to the other current COC production, Puccini’s Turandot¸ whose mise-en-scene … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Amplified Opera —The Queen in Me

Posted on October 12, 2019 by

The title tells the story. Night #2 in the Amplified Opera opening concert series at the Ernest Balmer Studio was The Queen in Me, a performance piece straddling the line between surreal confessional and stand-up comedy, a brilliant piece of … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

AMPLIFIED OPERA @ birth: The Way I See It 

Posted on October 11, 2019 by

I was among the audience present at the Ernest Balmer Studio for the birth of Amplified Opera, the brain-child of Teiya Kasahara & Aria Umezawa, in the first of three different programs to launch a new opera company. Directed by … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Psychology and perception, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Toronto Symphony play for Gimeno

Posted on October 10, 2019 by

Tonight’s Toronto Symphony concert reminded me of someone I haven’t thought of in ages, a piano teacher in my teen years. At every lesson we’d begin with small-talk, and then he’d say “now play for me!” It was a wonderfully … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments