Orchestral - my/maSCENA

Browsing: Orchestral

Canada's NAC Orchestra (2024-2025 Season). Photo: Rémi Thériault

NAC Orchestra Set to Embark on a Monumental International Tour

By Newswire on 16 January 2025 Classical Music, Newswire, Orchestral, Ottawa

January 16, 2025 – OTTAWA (Canada) – Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO) is proud to announce the launch of its latest international tour. This major tour will see the NAC Orchestra, led by Music Director Alexander Shelley, return to Japan for the first time in 40 years and debut in the Republic of Korea. NACO and Shelley, along with star pianists Yeol Eum Son (in Korea) and Olga Scheps (in Japan), will visit and perform in six cities at some of the world’s most renowned concert halls, including Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and the Seoul Arts Center. The Orchestra’s concert…

TSO conducted by Anja Bihlmaier at Roy Thomson Hall. Photo: Jae Yang

Review | TSO Delights with Dvořák and Mozart Crowd-Pleasers

By Denise Lai on 13 January 2025 Classical Music, Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Toronto

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) heralded the new year with two audience favourites: Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622 and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor, op. 95 (“From the New World”). On Jan. 12, the concert opens with the usual choice of a rarely-performed modern piece. Most Toronto audiences, myself included, are unfamiliar with Grażyna Bacewicz, even though she was one of Poland’s most well-regarded composers of the mid-20th century. Her “Concerto for String Orchestra” is her best-known and most-performed piece, and considered a prime example of Polish neoclassicism, showcasing Bacewicz’s style of blending traditional and…

Lebrecht Weekly | Santtu offers imaginative performances of Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos. 6 & 9 with the Philharmonia Orchestra

By Norman Lebrecht on 10 January 2025 Lebrecht Weekly, Orchestral

Four months ago, I wrote about one of the least satisfying Shostakovich records I have ever heard, a performance where the conductor, a hyped young Finn, skied across the musical surface without penetration or strategic concept. The gloom that overwhelmed me at the onset of a full cycle of symphonies from this unprepared interpreter has since been mitigated slightly by the emergence of a parallel cycle from a Finnish compatriot, Santtu-Matias Rouvali. Turning 40 this year, Rouvali is music director of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and a long-shot to be the next chief in San Francisco or Los Angeles.…

The OCM presents Distant Echoes of Africa as Part of Black History Month

By Newswire on 7 January 2025 Classical Music, Montreal, Newswire, Orchestral

Tuesday, January 7, 2025 – In honour of Black History Month, the Orchestre Classique de Montréal (OCM) will shine the spotlight on three artists of African descent: Cameroonian-Canadian soprano Suzanne Taffot, Haitian-Canadian composer David Bontemps, and Panamanian-American conductor Kalena Bovell, making her Montréal debut. The OCM’s concert on Thursday, February 6, at Pierre‑Mercure Hall, will feature the world premiere of Bontemps’ Le Deuil des roses qui s’effeuillent, a song cycle based on poems by Jacques Roumain, in a performance marking the 80th anniversary of the Haitian writer’s passing. This special evening will focus entirely on the music of Afro-descendant composers, with works by Black British composer Samuel Coleridge‑Taylor and African-American composers George Walker and William Grant Still. The program will conclude with a set of…

Magali Simard-Galdès & Olivier Bergeron with OSL. Photo: Gabriel Fournier

Review | Orchestre symphonique de Laval’s Holiday Program is in Tune with the Season

By Heather Weinreb on 23 December 2024 Concert Reviews, Montreal, Orchestral, Vocal

Putting on a Christmas concert is a challenge. The concert must feature enough time-worn classics to foster the holiday spirit; at the same time, every holiday concert strives to be fresh, even innovative. We don’t want to be fed the same “Jingle Bells” year after year, but we do want to hear music we recognize. On Dec. 18, Orchestre symphonique de Laval’s holiday concert offered many Christmas classics, from Leroy Andersen’s Christmas Festival to the beloved English carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas. But the concert also featured music by Georges Bizet and Gabriel Fauré that, while very melodious, is…

Job Posting – TSO Resident Conductor / TSYO Conductor

By Newswire on 21 December 2024 Arts Industry, Employment, Newswire, Orchestral, Toronto

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) announces the opening of two staff conductor positions—(1) TSO Resident Conductor, and (2) Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra (TSYO) Conductor—to begin during the 2025-26 concert season. Qualified candidates may submit an application for a full-time contract for both positions or a part-time contract for one of the positions. TSO Resident Conductor The TSO Resident Conductor will work closely with Music Director Gustavo Gimeno, TSO administrative staff, and the musicians of the TSO. This two-season position (2025-26 and 2026-27) includes significant repertoire building through a combination of covering assigned TSO concerts and rehearsals and conducting select concerts.…

Notre-Dame reopening: our music list

By Madeline Boldt on 20 December 2024 Classical, La Scena Online, Orchestral

Notre-Dame de Paris has long stood as the heart of France and became a powerful symbol of hope, unity, and faith following the fire in 2019. At the reopening ceremony on December 7, 2024, this spirit of renewal and togetherness was palpable, with the joyous sounds of orchestras, choirs, and the cathedral’s iconic 8,000-pipe organ filling the air. Below is a list of the music and musicians featured in the reopening ceremony of Notre-Dame de Paris. Notre-Dame de Paris (Excerpts) (Arr. Pierre Bertrand-Cagnes), Richard Cocciante Garou (Guitar) Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (Orchestra) Amazing Grace, William Walker Pretty Yende (Soprano)…

Kent Nagano conducting Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. Photo: Antoine Saito

Review | Experimental OSM Holiday Program Misses the Mark

By Amanda Wong on 12 December 2024 Classical Music, Concert Reviews, Montreal, Orchestral

The return of esteemed conductor Kent Nagano marked the first of Orchestre symphonique de Montréal’s festive December celebrations. Under the banner Le temps des fêtes avec Nagano (‘Tis the Season with Kent Nagano), the OSM presented a program ranging from cheerful Christmas ballets to dark and biblical storytelling including excerpts from The Nutcracker, a brand new oratorio, and an adaptation of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Though Nagano has not served as the OSM’s Music Director since 2020, he has continued to grace the Maison symphonique stage during past holiday seasons, and his presence is always welcome. The highlights of the evening…

Jan Mráček (soloist) with the Czech Philharmonic conducted by Semyon Bychkov. Photo: Petra Hajská

Review | Czech Philharmonic: A Rare Treat of Czech Music in Canada

By Denise Lai on 10 December 2024 Classical Music, Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Toronto

2024 is the Year of Czech Music. Inaugurated in 1924 to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Bedřich Smetana, this tradition occurs every decade in the year ending in 4, which also marks other important milestones in Czech music history: Smetana’s death in 1884, Leoš Janáček’s birth in 1854, and Antonin Dvořák’s death in 1904. How fortunate for us in Toronto that the 129-year-old Czech Philharmonic concluded the 100th anniversary of this celebration with two concerts in our city, as part of its North American tour in which the orchestra also played at Carnegie Hall. It was even more…

Czech Philharmonic conducted by Semyon Bychkov at Koerner Hall. Photo: Petra Hajská

Review | Czech Philharmonic Triumphs with Celebratory Program at Toronto’s Koerner Hall

By Gianmarco Segato on 10 December 2024 Classical Music, Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Toronto

The Czech Philharmonic’s guest appearance at Toronto’s Koerner Hall on Dec. 7 is part of a year-long series of concerts they are presenting the world-over in honour of the year of Czech music. Years that end in 4 often coincide with the anniversaries of the birth, death, or creation of key works of the most prominent Czech composers. 2024 coincides with anniversaries of several great Czech composers including the 200th of Bedřich Smetana’s birth and the 120th Antonín Dvořák’s death. Both were the focus of Dec. 7’s concert led by the orchestra’s Chief Conductor and Music Director, Semyon Bychkov. The…

Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 … 68 Next

Current Issue

PDF HTML

Next Issue : April/May

Ad Deadline : March 21, 2025

Past Issues, Subscriptions, Advertising