Tag Archives: strauss

Dmitri Hvorostovsky at Koerner Hall

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20110128_dmitri-hvorostovksy-2A packed out Koerner Hall just saw something half way between an art song recital and a revivalist meeting.  To say that Mr. Hvorostovsky has a fan club would be a gross understatement.  He was greeted by cheers, every song got prolonged applause (alas for those of us who prefer some continuity in a set), there were more flowers than at Princess Di’s funeral and about the only thing missing was that, mercifully, no underwear got thrown on stage.  Oh, and, despite the requests to the contrary, the whole show was “artfully” lit by the constant flashes from phone cameras.  He also sang some songs.  In fact it was a nicely chosen mixture of Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Tchaikovsky and Strauss.  Full details are here.

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Program for Dmitri Hvorostovsky recital

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Dmitri-Hvorostovsky-014_0The program for Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s February 21 recital at Koerner Hall has been released.  It is:

 

 

 

Glinka:
To Molly (Do not demand songs from a singer), (text: Kukolnik)
It’s Pleasant to Be with You (text: N.Ryndin)
Say Not That It Grieves the Heart (text: N. Pavlov)
Doubt (text: Kukolnik)
Bolero (text: Kukolnik)

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Mahler 4 at the TSO

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Last night’s TSO concert was pretty satisfying.  It kicked off with The Dance of the Seven Veils from Salome.  I don’t think I’ve ever really listened to this without visuals before so that was interesting.  I thought Michael Sanderling did a good job of maintaining clarity while building towards the big climax.  For the rest of the program the orchestra was joined by Simone Osborne.  We got some “lollipops” in the first half.  The Song to the Moon from Rusalka, Depuis le jour from Louise and, unannounced, Vilja from The Merry Widow. Lovely singing, here sensitively accompanied by Sanderling and the orchestra.  Simone was clearly audible throughout which doesn’t always happen at Roy Thomson Hall.

Simone Osborne

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The Living Spectacle

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spectacle-300x286The Canadian Art Song Project branched out last night with a ticketed concert at The Extension Room.  The opening number was the latest CASP commission; The Living Spectacle by Erik Ross to words by Baudelaire translated by Roy Campbell.  Like a lot of modern song the three movements were all quite piano forward and hard on the singer.  The second text, The Evil Monk, certainly brought out the darker and more dramatic side of Ambur Braid’s voice while the third, The Death of Artists, was cruelly high even for someone with Ambur’s coloratura chops.  She coped very well and Steven Philcox’ rendering of the piano part was suitably virtuosic.

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New Voices

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newvoicesNew Voices is the latest CD from the Brooklyn Art Song Society.  It features songs by Glen Roven, Michael Djupstrom, James Kallenbach and Herschel Gerfein.  What most struck me was the retro feel of all four composers’ works.  We are in a tonal sound world with occasional jazz/folk inflections and the piano line is clearly written to support the voice.  One might be listening to, say Ned Rorem.  I say this because it’s such a contrast with the songs being written by contemporary Canadian composers with their chromaticism, experimental and frequently changing time signatures and often almost adversarial relation between voice and piano.  Which one prefers, of course, is a matter of taste.

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A lunchtime of Mozart, Strauss and Dvořák

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Rachel_KrehmSo there’s another free (well almost, $5 suggested donation) lunchtime concert series.  It’s Music Mondays at The Church of the Holy Trinity in Trinity Square (A most worthwhile institution which has long taken a leading role in the fight for social justice in Toronto and, on top of that, I used to play rugby with a former incumbent).  As it happens yesterday saw the last concert of the 2015 season featuring the Canzona Chamber Players, conductor Evan Mitchell, and soprano Rachel Krehm.  The Canzonas are a pretty big band, 53 players yesterday, for a chamber group (I guess they have big chambers in Canzona) and could be very loud in the rather resonant church acoustic.

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September approaches

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Rachel-66-pinwheel2It’s almost September which means there may even be stuff to write about soon.  Here’s what’s in my calendar so far.

August 31st at 12.15 pm there’s a concert in the Music on Mondays series featuring soprano Rachel Krehm and an orchestra conducted by Evan Mitchell performing Dove sono by Mozart, selections from Strauss Op 27 and Dvorak’s 8th Symphony.  It’s at Holy Trinity Church near the Eaton Centre. PWYC suggested $5.

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The Solti show

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The recording of Richard Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten made at the Salzburg Festival in 1992 is very much Sir Georg Solti’s show.  The conducting is superb and the Vienna Philharmonic, of course, respond for Solti.  From the opening, shattering cords through the various orchestral interludes to the final ensemble and chorus Solti is utterly convincing in his command of tempi and dynamics.

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Masterclass with Soile Isokoski

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Ms. Isokoski looking less down to earth than this morning

Ms. Isokoski looking less down to earth than this morning

This was a really interesting morning.  The TSMF runs a “fellow” program for singers and collaborative pianists and this morning, as part of that program, there was a masterclass with Finnish soprano Soile Isokoski.  There were eight singers and four pianists with seven German songs (Strauss, Schubert and Wolff) and one in Finnish prepared (and preparing a Finnish piece for an Isokoski masterclass reminds me of that Youtube thing of the kitten walking down a line of Alsatian guard dogs).  It was classic masterclass format.  Each singer sang their piece and then went over fine points; diction, legato, phrasing, breathing, emotion, colour, at Ms. Isokoski’s direction.  It was fascinating.

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Toronto Summer Opera

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vampyrThere’s not a lot of opera in Toronto in the summer but Summer Opera Lyric Theatre has announced it’s 29th season of performances by young and emerging artists in Toronto.  This season there are three offerings:

  • First up is Marschner’s Der Vampyr.  There are four performances on July 31st (8pm), August 2nd (2pm), 5th (2pm) and 8th (8pm).
  • Ambitiously enough, this is followed by Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos on August 1st (2pm), 4th (8pm), 6th (8pm) and 8th (2pm).
  • And finally, another rarity, von Flotow’s Martha.  Again four performances on August 1st (8pm), 5th (8pm), 7th (8pm) and 9th (2pm).

All three shows are directed by Bill Silva-Marin and will be performed in the Robert Gill Theatre at the University of Toronto.  Single tickets are $28 ($22 students/seniors) or $60 for the lot.  Tickets are available by phone at 416-366-7723 or online at www.stlc.com.