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Welcome to La Scena Musicale’s weekly Highlights, a roundup of classical music news from Canada and beyond. Classical musicians and ensembles are getting in the holiday spirit with free performances at children’s hospitals, upcoming holiday themed concerts, and the release of winter or Christmas inspired albums.
The holiday spirit
In the holiday spirit, Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir (Stir) are putting on six performances in their A Ringing, Swinging Christmas series between Dec. 2 and 16. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra has a lineup of nine holiday concerts from Dec. 11 to 23, including the Holiday Pops and Messiah. The Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal is presenting Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ on Dec. 19. The NAC has a smattering of concerts between now and the new year, featuring everything from a performance of the Home Alone soundtrack to Handel’s Messiah. Ensemble Caprice and Ensemble ArtChoral will also perform a series of Messiah concerts from Dec. 2 to 22 (Opera Wire).
Rafael Payare and 15 members of the OSM also visited children at the The Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine (Ludwig Van) to play Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, with narration by comedian Anne Dorval.
Wintersong
Ryan Shane Owen has published Wintersong, an electro-pop inspired album that explores traditional folk songs and classical music from the last six decades. Lise Davidsen has released Christmas From Norway under Decca Records, which Norman Lebrecht has recently reviewed, and the Choir of HM Chapel Royal has put out Christmas from the Chapel Royal under the Resonus label.
The CBC has announced its top 23 albums of the year, including Elisapie’s Inuktitut and the self-titled debut album from Toronto-based Nico Paulo.
Recent and Upcoming Shows
On Nov. 30 Nicolas Namoradze replaced a sick Sergei Babayan (Ludwig Van) for Festival Bach Montréal’s Bourgie Hall concert.
Les Violons du Roy
The German Konzerthaus Dortmund is hosting a concert to speak out against the rise in anti-semitism (Slipped Disc) on Dec. 2.
Takács Quartet, the artists in residence at the University of Colorado Boulder since the 1980s, will perform Hungarian works at the Vancouver Playhouse (Stir) on Dec. 5.
Violons du Roy performed works by guitarist Miloš along with the composer at Carnegie Hall on Nov. 30. They’ve also announced a pair of Quebec-based Bach concerts for Dec. 14 and 15.
Debuts
Benjamin Bertin is releasing his debut ATMA Classique album, Nikolaï Medtner: Les trois dernières sonates pour piano on December 8. In addition to the three Medtner piano sonatas, the album also presents Bertin’s rendition of When roses fade, transcribed by Boris Shatskes.
Recordings
Francis Battah will be releasing the digital version of his new album, Traduttore, Traditore, on Dec. 8. It’s a highly technical, experimental album featuring Ensemble Éclat and conductor Charles-Éric Fontaine.
Awards, Appointments, and Competitions
Tom Philpott is the new Director of Artistic Planning and Partnerships (Opera Wire) for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Frances Axford Evans has also been appointed Concerts Director.
Antoine Rivard-Landry has won the 2023 edition of the Concours de piano Auguste-Descarries.
Ukrainian violinist Bohdan Luts won first prize at the 2023 Long-Thibaud International Competition (The Violin Channel). He was awarded €35,000 (around $52,500 CAD) and the opportunity to perform with Orchestre de la Garde républicaine the day after the end of the competition. Korean violinist Dayoon You won second prize, and Japanese violinist Koshiro Takeuchi won third.
Bohdan Luts performing in the Long-Thibaud international competition 2023 (screenshot from YouTube livestream, https://www.youtube.com/live/biw9Qu83Km4?si=UDfIfJ30QOEYwSeB)
Luna Li has been awarded the English SOCAN Songwriting Prize for “Silver Into Rain”, while Gab Bouchard has won the French SOCAN Songwriting Prize for his song “Ton shift est pas fini”.
Local News
David Pickard will be stepping down from his role as the director of BBC Proms (Opera Wire) after next year’s festival.
Jargar Strings has just released the new Evoke Cello string set. They “are designed to power the projection of your instrument and your personality” according to the company’s administrative director Erik Martens in an interview with The Violin Channel.
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra has signed a longterm recording contract with Harmonia Mundi, which will begin with the release of Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie in February of 2024 (Ludwig Van).
Canadian producer Jordan Young is using AI to help musicians sing in different languages (CBC). He has previously used it to create a Kanye West-style song using an AI generated version of the rapper’s voice.
New York City Ballet and the members of its orchestra have reached a deal, agreeing to a 22 per cent pay increase over the next three years (New York Times). This comes after the ballet company issued a nine per cent salary cut during the pandemic.
Daryl Hall of the famous duo Hall & Oates is suing John Oates (CTV News) for selling his share of the duo.
Obituary
Irish folk music legend Shane MacGowan has died at 65 (The Guardian) after being hospitalized for viral encephalitis in late 2022. He’s best known for being the lead singer of The Pogues, and he’s worked with the likes of Sinéad O’Connor, The Dubliners, and The Popes.
Conrad von der Goltz has died at 95 (Slipped Disc). He was a German violinist and the former concertmaster of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra.
The guitarist for Killing Joke, Kevin Walker (The Guardian), died of a stroke at 64.
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This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
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