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Browsing: Classical Music

Review | Maria is a Complex Cinematic Traversal of Callas’s Last Days

By Gianmarco Segato on 12 December 2024 Film, Opera

For fans of the legendary opera diva Maria Callas, it feels like rumours of a major film based on her life have been swirling for years. As with any heavily-invested fan base, knives were flying before anyone had even seen it and there was a hew and cry when Angelina Jolie was announced to star. Finally the wait is over, and though not perfect, Pablo Larrain’s Maria is a compelling, visually-stunning, auteur take on Callas’s final days in Paris. What immediately stands out is the care taken to replicate Callas’s late 1970s look: outrageous bejeweled capes, appliqued fur coats and…

OM Messiah. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Anna-Sophie Neher, Emily D'Angelo. Photo: François Goupil – Orchestre Métropolitain

Review | Yannick’s Messiah Vibrates Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica

By Wah Keung Chan on 10 December 2024 Baroque and Early, Choral, Concert Reviews, La Scena Online, Montreal, Vocal

Performances of Handel’s Messiah at Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica had been an annual tradition of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra up until about 12 years ago when its artistic director Kent Nagano did away with Handel in favour of Bach. Orchestre Métropolitain (OM)’s artistic director Yannick Nézet-Séguin grew up with this tradition as he announced before the concert from the stage, and this is the second year in a row that OM has presented Messiah at the Basilica to a full house. Nézet-Séguin hinted that this will become a tradition, so hopefully, it will be an annual event. What you missed? Dec.…

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…

View of Anri Sala’s installation Ravel Ravel Interval (2017) in its presentation at the MMFA in 2024. © Anri Sala. Photo: MMFA, Sébastien Roy

Anri Sala: Ravel Ravel Interval

By Newswire on 7 December 2024 Classical Music, Montreal, Newswire, Piano

Montreal, November 26, 2024 – Starting November 29, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) will present the Canadian premiere of the immersive video installation Ravel Ravel Interval by world-renowned French-Albanian artist Anri Sala. In this work, Sala trains his lens on the left hands of two pianists performing Maurice Ravel’s (1875-1937) Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major: Louis Lortie and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet. The exhibition will run through April 2025, the year of the 150th anniversary of Ravel’s birth. To foster an immersive auditory experience, a chamber will be installed with several speakers that transmit two quasi-simultaneous interpretations of Ravel’s…

Lebrecht Weekly | David Oistrakh: The Warner Remastered Edition (58CDs, 3DVDs)

By Norman Lebrecht on 6 December 2024 Lebrecht Weekly, Violin

Where has my week gone? Much of it was spent plundering a coffin of one of the most captivating violinists that ever lived. David Oistrakh, Odessa born (thus Ukrainian-rather than Russian-Jewish), set the tone for violin playing in the Soviet era. Not just in his own performances but in those of his Moscow students who included Oleg Kagan, Gidon Kremer, Lydia Mordkovich, Nina Belina, Stoika Milanova, Rimma Sushanskaya and many more, not to mention his own distinguished son, Igor. Maintaining a distinctive individualism in an authoritarian state, he taught young musicians to find their own path to the variable meanings…

Photo: Alice Pennefather/Royal Ballet and Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

Royal Ballet and Opera and The Metropolitan Opera Join Forces with New Cinema Collaboration

By Newswire on 5 December 2024 Dance, Newswire, Opera

For the first time, the Royal Ballet and Opera and The Metropolitan Opera are joining forces for their cinema seasons on their respective home turfs, giving more audiences in both the UK and US the opportunity to see much loved opera and ballet productions from each world-leading company. The first-of-its kind collaboration will increase the reach of each company to hundreds more cinemas in new markets. As a result of this partnership, RBO’s cinema partner Trafalgar Releasing will broadcast The Met’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia to a larger number of screens in the UK than are currently carrying the Met, while Fathom, the Met Opera’s cinema partner in…

Barbara Hannigan and Bertrand Chamayou. Photo: Luciano Romano

Review | Barbara Hannigan Pulls Out All the Stops at Toronto’s Koerner Hall

By Gianmarco Segato on 29 November 2024 Classical Music, Concert Reviews, Piano, Toronto, Vocal

Canadian soprano and 20/21st-century specialist extraordinaire, Barbara Hannigan, appeared at Toronto’s Koerner Hall on Nov. 28 with French pianist Bertrand Chamayou in a program they are currently touring across North America. This uncompromising, tightly-constructed 70 minute recital demonstrated why Hannigan is the current queen of ‘non-traditional’ vocal repertoire. The evening opened with French composer Olivier Messiaen’s song cycle, Chants de terre et de ciel (1938). The text is the composer’s own and is his customary mix of fervent Catholicism combined with love for family. The opening song, “Bail avec Mi (pour ma femme),” celebrates the contract between husband and wife.…

Results of the 30th Edition of the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques 2024

By Newswire on 29 November 2024 Arts Industry, Classical Music, Music Competition, Newswire

Le Théâtre Lyrichorégra 20 presents JEUNES AMBASSADEURS LYRIQUES 2024 RESULTS: 2024 CANADIAN YOUNG LYRIC TALENT – Chelsea Kolic, soprano 2024 QUEBEC YOUNG LYRIC TALENT – Lucie St-Martin, soprano INVITATIONS ─ 2024-2025 SEASON ─ ENGAGEMENTS ─ PRODUCTIONS ─ CONCERTS ─ STAGES/TRAINING SESSIONS Training session and auditions at the Mainfranken Theater Würzburg and auditions in Bavaria (Germany) in December 2024 – Lucie St-Martin, soprano Training session and auditions at the Mainfranken Theater Würzburg and auditions in Bavaria (Germany) before June 2025 – Chelsea Kolic, soprano Training session and auditions in Bavaria (Germany) – Justine Ledoux, mezzo-soprano & Sara Schabas, soprano Gala Concert…

The 13th International German Piano Award Ceremony. Photo: Stefan Höning & International Piano Forum Frankfurt

Magdalene Ho: The First Female Winner of the International German Piano Award

By Newswire on 29 November 2024 Classical Music, Music Competition, Newswire, Piano

Magdalene Ho, a 21-year-old pianist from Malaysia, is the first woman to win the prestigious International German Piano Award. Ho captivated the audience and jury with her performance of Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 and her solo recital rounds during the 13th International German Piano Award (22-23.11.2024). This achievement earned Ho the top prize, accompanied by a €20,000 award, solidifying her position as one of the most exciting emerging talents in the classical music world. Magdalene Ho came to international attention after winning the Clara Haskil Piano Competition in 2023. Her triumph is complemented by an impressive season of performances…

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