Tag Archives: Bela Bartok

Toronto Symphony play Béla Bartók’s Miraculous Mandarin

Toronto Symphony recently released their third Harmonia Mundi live recording, captured from performances 21-23 November 2024 at Roy Thomson Hall, featuring two works by Béla Bartók (1881-1945) plus a piece by Canadian Emilie Cecilia LeBel. Roy Thomson Hall’s acoustics seem … Continue reading

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Room of Keys with David James Brock and Adam Sherkin playing Béla Bartók

Room of Keys is a sort of sacred mystery play. I don’t throw that M word out there in the spirit of a whodunnit so much as the old sacred pre-Shakespearean plays that would stage a small Biblical episode. No … Continue reading

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Anticipating David James Brock’s upcoming Room of Keys: an interview

Room of Keys is David James Brock’s one act play, created with Adam Sherkin of Piano Lunaire, inspired by Béla Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle (1918). It’s natural that a mysterious symbolist play invites exploration. As with the piano paraphrases of La … Continue reading

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And after Rota

The concert was titled “The Unknown Chamber Music of Nino Rota”. How could I resist, being already a fan of Rota’s film compositions?  This is the man who gave us the iconic Godfather music.  My favourite is his score for … Continue reading

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