Tag Archives: classical-music

Mark Tetreault recalls his Toronto Symphony Tuba playing days

Whenever I come into the concert hall for a Toronto Symphony Orchestra concert and see a tuba my heart beats a bit faster: because it means something extraordinary. I just googled the tuba. You won’t hear the instrument in a … Continue reading

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A Toronto Summer Music opening night celebration with Les Arts Florissants

Driving downtown to the concert Thursday night July 9th in Koerner Hall I drove through downpours, hearing of roads closed by local flooding. By the time I got there the weather had cleared up, an auspicious beginning: to the 2026 … Continue reading

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Digging into cinematic culture with Maria Dueñas, Gustavo Gimeno & the Toronto Symphony

In a week when every item in the Toronto Symphony’s concert program has a connection to film, it was amazing to see such a remarkable variety, the many different ways music and movies can be connected. And the results were … Continue reading

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Virtuoso Shunske Sato takes Tafelmusik to the next level with Beethoven & Bologne

Descending the stairs after the final Tafelmusik concert of the season at Koerner Hall, walking slowly behind older audience members, a woman beside me glanced over, eyes glowing, wanting to share her experience. She had to talk. And so we … Continue reading

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Mandle Philharmonic plays Mahler 2nd

I have to make comparisons. Even the most sympathetic critic observes and then contextualizes, by framing those observations in comparison to others. On Friday May 22nd Mandle Cheung conducted his orchestra, the Mandle Philharmonic, in a performance of Gustav Mahler’s … Continue reading

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Co-existing worlds of Epic Wagnerian Toronto Symphony

Thursday night the Toronto Symphony showed us they could blend Western & non-Western cultural traditions. When Gustavo Gimeno spoke in his program note of the imminent arrival of thousands from abroad into our city for the FIFA matches, he spoke … Continue reading

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Ernesto Ramirez’s reflections on singing, preparing for his upcoming concert: an interview with a great singer

I am a big fan of Ernesto Ramirez and his beautiful tenor voice. I’ve seen him sing several times. The voice has a memorable sound, indeed the ideal colour for the Italian bel canto repertoire. He is a singer of … Continue reading

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The ambiguous virtuosity of La Maupin

La Maupin is the title of a new opera produced on film concerning a mythological person of ambiguous gender who may have existed. The historical figure is so interesting, you’d have to invent someone like this if she were not … Continue reading

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Opera Atelier present their new Pelléas et Mélisande

Wednesday night saw the premiere of Pelléas et Mélisande in a new orchestration by Christopher Bagan, conducted by David Fallis at Koerner Hall. Opera Atelier commissioned Bagan to reduce the scope of Debussy’s opera from a post-Wagnerian orchestra (70 + … 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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