Tag Archives: Ravel

Toronto Symphony play for Gimeno

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

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Music minus one

I write a lot about transcriptions possibly because they’re so much fun. Sometimes I can manage to play them, sometimes they’re too difficult but still fascinating to explore.  One plays a piano piece while imagining an original from another context, … Continue reading

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Questions for Bruno Roy

Time flies. It seems like it was only yesterday that baritone Bruno Roy was a finalist in Centre Stage, the 2015 Ensemble Studio competition. The new voice that we had never heard before? He is now about to make his … Continue reading

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Voices to discover

The media give us interfaces with the arts.  Yes, we can go see plays, concerts & operas in person.  But what are the credentials of those voices on TV, radio, in newspapers and elsewhere?  We’ve all heard that  line “those … Continue reading

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Exoticism –The Music of Karol Szymanowski

Earlier this summer I let someone pick the play I saw, observing how it’s valuable to let someone else choose what one will see and/or hear.  We circumscribe ourselves with our menu choices, our viewing habits, our purchases, boxing ourselves … Continue reading

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Ten Questions for Alex Pauk

Alex Pauk is an artistic activist, a composer, a conductor, driving force behind many commissions for other Canadian composers,  and the Founding Music Director & Conductor of the Esprit Orchestra, an ensemble embarking upon their 30th Anniversary Season with a … Continue reading

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Fleeting fame

I held a piece of history in my hands. And then after keeping it a few days overdue, I returned it to the library. I am speaking of a score for an opera signed by its composer.  The opera?  Aphrodite, … Continue reading

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