REVIEW: MARQUEZ’S FANDANGO HIGHLIGHTS ANNE AKIKO MEYERS AND ANDREW LITTON’S ‘DANCE’ CONCERT 

Anne Akiko Meyers (violin), Vancouver Symphony Orchestra/ Andrew Litton (conductor): Works by Márquez, Stravinsky and Ravel, Orpheum Theatre, October 18, 2024.

This was a very entertaining ‘dance’ concert with Andrew Litton, currently conductor of the New York City Ballet. Given the Vancouver Symphony’s recent interest in presenting brilliant, effect- laden pieces that can resonate strongly with a younger audience, the showstopper here was the Canadian premiere of Mexican composer Arturo Márquez’s Fandango for Violin and Orchestra, commissioned and played by long-standing virtuoso violinist Anne Akiko Meyers. Though somewhat anachronistic and rudimentary in construction for a work of the current era, it really packs a wallop when played with the flare and emotional commitment displayed by Meyers and Litton. The rhythms of Ravel’s Valses Nobles et Sentimentales and La Valse, coupled with Stravinsky’s balletic Divertimento from Le Baiser de la Fée provided an attractive complement…See more.

REVIEW: AN ENTERPRISING VSO OPENING JOURNEY FROM NIGHT TO A TRIUMPHAL RACHMANINOFF AND A CINEMATIC FIREBIRD

Stewart Goodyear (piano), Vancouver Symphony Orchestra/ Otto Tausk (conductor), Symphonic Cinema/ Lucas van Woerkum (director): Music of Morlock, Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky, Orpheum Theatre, September 20, 2024.

The Vancouver Symphony’s 2024-2025 opening concert was about as enterprising as it gets, placing two works together that have already anchored opening night festivities in recent years: Rachmaninoff’s 3rd Piano Concerto and Stravinsky’s The Firebird. The additional wrinkle was combining the latter with the North American premiere of the recently minted ‘Symphonic Cinema’. Overall, the concert was very successful, not least in wooing a younger audience to classical music and addressing post-Covid attendance concerns. Stewart Goodyear and Otto Tausk combined for a powerful performance of the concerto while Tausk showed great improvement on his earlier attempt at the Stravinsky. The film component generally complemented these efforts, yet with qualifications. The concert began with an appropriate musical tribute to much-loved Juno award winning composer and former VSO Composer-In-Residence, Jocelyn Morlock, who sadly passed away last year…See more.

THE DISTINGUISHED AMERICAN MAESTROS:

LEONARD SLATKIN CELEBRATES HIS 80TH BIRTHDAY

Conductor Leonard Slatkin has been a force in the American classical music scene for almost a half century, and this year he will celebrate his 80th birthday. Born into a distinguished musical family and trained at Aspen and Juilliard, Slatkin has been Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony (1979-1996), the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington (1996-2008), the BBC Symphony (2000-2004), the Detroit Symphony (2008-2018), and Orchestre National de Lyon (2011-2017). His recordings for Vox, Telarc, EMI, RCA, and Naxos number in the hundreds and he has won six Grammy awards with 35 nominations. Slatkin has made the strongest contributions to perpetuating American music, and is one of the few American conductors to illuminate British music too. This interview traces the conductor’s development from his rich musical beginnings through his successive orchestral appointments and recording ventures. It reveals his assessment of key moments in the development of American classical music, plus the ingredients essential to keeping classical music healthy in the 21st century. It also celebrates Slatkin’s very first appearance with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, where he gave a distinguished concert of Richard Strauss and Mason Bates…See more.

REVIEW: JOHANNES MOSER AND MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN COME TOGETHER FOR A VERY PERSUASIVE FRENCH PROGRAMME

Johannes Moser (cello), Marc-André Hamelin (piano): Works by Boulanger, Debussy and Franck, Koerner Hall, Vancouver Academy of Music, April 18, 2024.

It is noteworthy when two world-renowned artists engage in a North American tour to smaller, less high-profile, venues. For the past few months, that has been the case for cellist Johannes Moser and pianist Marc-André Hamelin, who arrived in Vancouver for a pre-lunch recital of Debussy, Franck and Nadia Boulanger, courtesy of the city’s Music-in-the-Morning organization. Immediately apparent at this concert was how well these musicians play together, and just how much they enjoy playing with each other. In general, they offered bolder performances than one typically finds within the French tradition, but also thoughtful ones, and stylistic concerns did not impede enjoyment. The structural cogency brought to the modernist Debussy Cello Sonata was rewarding, and there were genuine revelations in the sonata of César Franck, differentiating its cello version from its popular violin rendering more distinctly…See more.

REVIEW: AUGUSTIN HADELICH AND GEMMA NEW GIVE A COMPELLING PERFORMANCE OF THE BRITTEN CONCERTO IN AN ALL-ENGLISH CONCERT

Augustin Hadelich (violin), Elektra Women’s Choir, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra/ Gemma New (conductor): Music of Britten, Holst and Firsova, Orpheum, April 12, 2024.

Violinist Augustin Hadelich’s appearances with the VSO over the past decade have been a delight, including a wonderful reading of the Tchaikovsky concerto with John Storgårds and a penetrating Bernstein Serenade with Bramwell Tovey. On this occasion, Hadelich moved to the Violin Concerto of Benjamin Britten, and it was his best effort yet: a wonderfully integrated and deeply moving reading, superbly articulated throughout. His collaborator was the excellent young New Zealand-born conductor Gemma New, currently presiding over both the New Zealand Symphony and Canada’s Hamilton Philharmonic, who matched the violinist every step of the way. In carrying on a ‘British’ evening, New also gave a good account of herself in Holst’s ever-popular The Planets and a contemporary piece by young British/Russian composer Alissa Firsova…See more.

REVIEW: ANOTHER STUNNING RECITAL FROM RAFAL BLECHACZ

Rafal Blechacz (piano): Works by Chopin, Debussy, Mozart, and Szymanowski, Vancouver Playhouse, March 13, 2024.

Since winning the 2005 Warsaw Chopin Competition in resounding fashion, Rafal Blechacz slowly but surely has developed into one of the most distinguished pianists of his generation, and possibly a worthy successor to his compatriot Krystian Zimerman. His keyboard command is prodigious, and in terms of tonal beauty, clarity and rhythmic élan, there are few that can equal him. As we have witnessed in his previous visits to the Vancouver Chopin Society – the last in 2018 for the 20th anniversary of the organization – his best interpretations are absolutely stunning and glowing in romantic involvement. The great successes in the current recital were his Chopin, Debussy and Szymanowski, composers he has already recorded for Deutsche Grammophon and two of which share the artist’s Polish roots…See more.

REVIEW: LEONARD SLATKIN AND THE VSO BRING STRONG ILLUMINATION TO MASON BATES AND RICHARD STRAUSS

Hung-Wei Huang (viola), Henry Shapard (cello), Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin (conductor): Works by Albeniz, Mason Bates and Richard Strauss, Orpheum, March 8, 2024.

This concert was the Vancouver debut of distinguished American maestro Leonard Slatkin. Now in his 80th year, one might regard this as somewhat overdue but, indeed, worth the wait. The program was intriguing, pairing Mason Bates’ contemporary Anthology of Fantastic Zoology – a whimsical, yet telling, musical representation of a host of mythical creatures created by Jorge Luis Borges – with the equally ‘fantastical’ variations comprising Don Quixote by Richard Strauss. By highlighting the striking instrumental effects and theatrical elements in both works, Slatkin’s readings seemingly brought them closer together, even if they are from two vastly different compositional traditions. The orchestra was well up to the task, achieving precision and as big a sound as I have heard, while the VSO’s principal cello Henry Shapard negotiated his part in the Strauss with both eloquence and understanding…See more.

REVIEW: ERIC LU AND EARL LEE: A LOVELY COLLABORATION OF YOUNG ARTISTS IN SCHUMANN AND BEETHOVEN

Eric Lu (piano); Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Earl Lee (conductor): Music of Di Castri, Schumann and Beethoven, Chan Centre, February 24, 2024.

There are few young pianists that have taken the world by storm as much as has 2018 Leeds Piano Competition winner Eric Lu. Now 26, he has already produced two widely praised recordings of Schubert and Beethoven/Schumann for Warner, and has received consistent ‘superlatives’ in the highest critical circles. The pianist’s command and wonderful clarity of articulation were certainly on display in this performance of the Schumann concerto, where his collaborator was the energetic young Korean/Canadian conductor Earl Lee. This performance was bigger and more robust than usual, with the orchestral forces driving hard in the outer movements, but it achieved unusual integration. Lu never faltered in moving the work forward with elegance, strength and precision, even if less room was left for poetic repose. Lee’s performance of Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral Symphony’ had something of the same energy and strength of line, and emerged as pleasant and entertaining but not particularly deep…See more.

REVIEW: A DELIGHTFUL EXPLORATION OF MUSIC OF THE COURT OF LOUIS XIV FROM THE SALISH SEA EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL

Jeffrey Cohan (baroque flute), Susie Napper (viola da gamba), Stephen Stubbs (baroque guitar): Music of Couperin, Morel, Corbetta, De Visée, Sainte-Colombe, Marais, de la Barre and J. S. Bach, St Mary’s Kerrisdale, February 19, 2024.

This concert was part of the Salish Sea Early Music Festival, a project that has been championed in recent years by American flutist Jeffrey Cohan. It now plays a series of concerts in a number of Pacific Northwest cities, and Cohan invites different early music specialists each time. The programme was adventurous, showcasing some little known, but inspired, music from the court of Louis XIV. The invited participants were of the highest order: lutenist/conductor Stephen Stubbs, the long-time director of the Boston Early Music Festival and founder of Seattle’s Pacific Music Works; and Susie Napper, viola da gamba, founder and director emeritus of the Montreal Baroque Festival and currently a member of Ensemble Caprice. This was a lovely ensemble performing in an almost perfect sonic acoustic, and the results were exceptional…See more.

REVIEW: A RICH AND INVOLVING RECITAL FROM JAVIER PERIANES

Javier Perianes (piano): Works by Clara Schumann, Brahms and Granados, Vancouver Playhouse, February 11, 2024.

It is always a special occasion when Enrique Granados’ Goyescas appears on a recital program.  Alongside Albeniz’s Iberia, it is one of the greatest Spanish piano compositions of the 20th century. It is also a tremendous challenge for any pianist, being written in six movements and running to over 50 minutes in length. Javier Perianes has delighted us in the Spanish repertoire before, and has all the credentials for the undertaking, including a rich and beautiful tone and estimable agility. He has just recorded the workfor Harmonia Mundi. His performance on this occasion was perhaps bolder and more direct than one is used to, but it still added up to an enrichening tour-de-force, less lyrically penetrating, but possibly finding a greater weight and reach in the work’s overall concept…See more.

REVIEW: WONDERFUL ELGAR FROM STEVEN ISSERLIS IN A WIDE-RANGING VSO CONCERT

Steven Isserlis (cello), VSO/ Otto Tausk: Music by Elgar, Bruckner and Miller, Orpheum, November 24, 2023.

Esteemed British cellist Steven Isserlis last appeared in Vancouver in 2015, when he gave penetrating accounts of the complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas with fortepianist Robert Levin. The current visit featured the Elgar Cello concerto, and Isserlis’ performance was quite stunning: vital and animated, yet full of tender repose, possibly finding a greater range of feelings than previously. The Elgar might have also fit well with the radiant tenderness and grandeur of the Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony. However, Maestro Tausk failed to be wooed by this prospect, and tended to settle for a fast, streamlined approach to the symphony, mainly showcasing the discipline of the orchestra and the power of the brass in climaxes. The opening experimental piece ‘La Donna’ (2021) by local composer Cassandra Miller (now living in London) was a more interesting adventure…See more.

REVIEW: TIMOTHY RIDOUT AND JONATHAN WARE PROVIDE A FESTIVAL OF UNFAMILIAR VIOLA WORKS

Timothy Ridout (viola), Jonathan Ware (piano): Works by Brahms, Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann and Franck, Vancouver Playhouse, November 5, 2023.

Just a week after a visit from young British superstar cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, another young British rising star arrives: violist Timothy Ridout. Now 28, Ridout won the Cecil Aronowitz and Lionel Tertis Viola Competitions in 2014 and 2016 respectively, and has moved from strength to strength, culminating in a 2023 Gramophone Award for his recording of the Tertis arrangement of the Elgar Cello Concerto. Here the violist was joined by the attentive Jonathan Ware to play an enticing mix of 19th century compositions and arrangements for viola and piano that few would have heard in live performance. On the current showing, one can only admire the strength and virtuosity of Ridout’s playing – which is disarming – and his complete tonal command over all ranges of the instrument. The performances of the Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann works were a great success, but the young duo’s strongly dramatic approach to arrangements of the better-known Brahms Clarinet Sonata Op.120 No.1 and the Franck Violin Sonata were short on lyrical feeling and continuity…See more.

REVIEW: KAREN GOMYO AND GERARD SCHWARZ COMBINE FOR A SUPERB ‘AMERICAN’ CONCERT

Karen Gomyo (violin), Vancouver Symphony Orchestra/Gerard Schwarz (conductor): Music of Diamond, Barber and Brahms, Orpheum, October 1, 2023.

It was a great idea to invite Gerard Schwarz to conduct an American program with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. He has championed modern American music for 5 decades, and has produced a resplendent catalogue of recordings of often-forgotten composers with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. At this concert, Schwarz gave one of the best performances of David Diamond’s Symphony No. 4 I have heard and, alongside sparkling violinist Karen Gomyo, collaborated in a wonderfully rich and involving account of Samuel Barber’s more popular Violin Concerto. If the closing performance of Brahms Symphony No. 1 ran at somewhat lower level of inspiration, it did not detract from the sheer joy of this concert. The orchestra participated magnificently…See more.

THE DISTINGUISHED AMERICAN MAESTROS

GERARD SCHWARZ

The career of conductor Gerard Schwarz stretches for five very productive decades. He currently serves as Music Director of the Palm Beach Symphony, the Mozart Orchestra of New York, and the Eastern Music Festival, and is Distinguished Professor at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. He is best known for his tenure as Music Director of the Seattle Symphony (1985-2011) and New York's Mostly Mozart Festival (1982-2001), where he currently holds honorary titles. Schwarz’s recordings are voluminous (numbering around 350 CDs total) and the conductor’s most significant contributions have been in fostering and recording modern American music. This interview picks up on a number of dimensions of this commitment. It was undertaken alongside the conductor’s October 2023 appearance with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, where David Diamond’s rarely-performed 4th Symphony was played…See more.

REVIEW: OTTO TAUSK OPENS THE VSO SEASON WITH A MAHLER SIXTH OF CONVICTION

VSO/Otto Tausk (conductor), Music of Mahler and Thorvaldsdottir: Orpheum Theatre, September 15, 2023.

One might think that an orchestra should wade gently into a new season, but this opening VSO concert was hardly that. It featured both Mahler’s testing 6th Symphony and the recently-premiered, 20-minute piece ‘Catamorphosis’ by Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir. Given the circumstances, the orchestra performed remarkably well, with notable contributions from the winds and brass. Otto Tausk took the symphony to heart, and gave a tight-knit reading of considerable dramatic reach, achieving a strong natural momentum in the difficult finale. The performance of Thorvaldsdottir’s piece left a more mixed impression…See more.

THE FALL 2023 CLASSICAL CONCERT SEASON PREVIEW

After the challenging pandemic years, the 2023-2024 concert season appears set to reinforce the same sense of normality that magically came to be last season. As time has crept by, however, things do feel slightly different. While the core of ‘traditional’ artist programming certainly remains, one cannot help but notice the transition from a reliance on many much-loved artists of the 20th century (who can now be rightly honoured for their past contributions) to a new generation of vital young soloists, conductors and ensembles which capture the spirit of this century. What is unquestionable is that Vancouver maintains a range and variety in classical music offerings that are enviable by any international standard and which will fully satisfy both traditional and younger audiences. In what follows, we appraise the concerts for this fall season…See more.

REVIEW: A MAGNETIC BRAHMS CONCERTO FROM STEFAN JACKIW TO CLOSE OUT THE VSO SEASON

Stefan Jackiw (violin), VSO/ Otto Tausk, Works by Chang, Brahms, Vaughan Williams and Respighi, Orpheum, June 2, 2023.

For all the difficulties of the preceding years, it is nice to be able to say that the current VSO season proceeded essentially without interruption or, a few artist cancellations aside, incident. This closing concert offered a fine tribute: New York-based Stefan Jackiw provided a truly involving account of the Brahms Violin Concerto, while Maestro Otto Tausk offered well-appointed accounts of Vaughan Williams’ Tallis Fantasia and Respighi’s Pines of Rome. Closing the season with the latter work carries on a long VSO tradition, initiated by Conductor Laureate Kazuyoshi Akiyama as far back as the 1970s…See more.

REVIEW: COMMANDING KORNGOLD AND BARTOK FROM JAMES EHNES

James Ehnes (violin and viola), VSO/ Katharina Wincor, Music of Korngold, Bartók, Liszt and Johann Strauss, Orpheum, May 12, 2023

For all his international commitments, James Ehnes has always been very good about returning to Canadian concert halls to display his many talents. He showed Vancouver his conducting and play/direct skills in a 2017 VSO festival that also included an excellent rendering of Walton’s Viola Concerto. Inspired performances of the Tchaikovsky, Bach and Beethoven violin concertos have come forth in more recent years. Ehnes perhaps outdid himself at the current concert, bringing both Korngold’s Violin Concerto and Bartók’s Viola Concerto. These performances turned out as fully commanding, two of the best I have seen from him. They also highlighted the strength of Ehnes’ collaboration with young Austrian conductor, Katharina Wincor, who is still only in her 20s…See more.

REVIEW: CONDUCTOR HAN-NA CHANG DISPLAYS GREAT MUSICAL INVOLVEMENT AND SUPERB ORCHESTRAL CONTROL

Nicholas Wright (violin), Vancouver Symphony Orchestra/Han-Na Chang (conductor): Works by Borisova-Ollas, Prokofiev and Beethoven, Orpheum, March 3, 2023.

Korean conductor Han-Na Chang has been on the radar for at least two decades now. Her story is well known: starting as an exceptional cellist from her earliest youth – taught by Mischa Maisky and Mstislav Rostropovich – she recorded 8 widely-praised CDs for EMI from her late teens onward. She was deemed a ‘classical superstar of tomorrow’ by Gramophone in 2006. But the cellist was not satisfied. She wanted to be a conductor and to share more completely in the passion of music-making – and to bring that passion to the young. Chang made her conducting debut in South Korea in 2007, graduating to the London orchestras by 2012, and is now Chief Conductor of the Trondheim Symfoniorkester in Norway. As was evident at the current VSO concert, highlighted by Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, Han-Na Chang has matured into a conductor who exhibits the strongest orchestral control, and has remarkable energy and commitment…See more.

FROM WAR-TORN KHARKIV TO THE UBC CONCERT STAGE:

AN INTERVIEW WITH UKRAINIAN PIANIST ANNA SAGALOVA

Wartime has always been exceptionally cruel to artists and musicians. One painfully recalls the mass exodus of Jewish musicians and conductors from Germany, Austria and Hungary in the threatening years leading up to World War II, settling mainly in London and New York. Then, there was the flight of Czech musicians in the Soviet-induced Prague Spring invasion of 1968. And now, as we reach the first anniversary of the Ukraine war, we have the same thing. Anna Sagalova is a concert pianist who arrived in Vancouver with her son last June after a spine-chilling journey to flee the war in Ukraine. She is a distinguished artist: an Associate Professor at Kharkiv National University of Arts and awarded the title of Honored Artist of Ukraine. She had a busy concert schedule before the war began, and dozens of students; only three remain. Fortunately, she was able to perform in the UBC School of Music's Wednesday Noon Hour concert series in November 2022, with a subsequent appearance in Toronto. She has committed herself to playing Ukrainian classical programs to raise funds in support of her university. In this interview, we explore the pianist’s struggle, its relation to the music she wants to play, and her initial reactions to being in Canada…See more.

REVIEW: VIOLINIST HENNING KRAGGERUD DELIGHTS WITH A GRIEG ARRANGEMENT AND MOZART

Henning Kraggerud (violin/director), Vancouver Symphony Orchestra: Music of Grieg, Beach and Mozart, Chan Centre, January 8, 2023.

In recent years, Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud has shown a great fondness for play/direct concerts that feature string orchestra arrangements of well-known violin and chamber pieces. Doubtlessly, this gives any orchestra he encounters a sense of challenge: not only does the ensemble have to accommodate the format but they have to gain familiarity with orchestral transcriptions not previously seen. Yet Kraggerud always seems to elicit inspired results from an orchestra, quite consistent with the effervescence and magic in his own playing. On his last visit to Vancouver, we were offered Bernt Simen Lund’s orchestration of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. This time, it was Simen Lund’s arrangement of Grieg’s popular 3rd Violin Sonata and an orchestral version of Amy Beach’s Romance for Violin and Piano Op. 23. So, there was a nice sense of discovery here, and even the more familiar Mozart Symphony No. 29 that ended the concert offered a feeling of experiment too…See more.

FIRST PRIZE WINNER’S CONCERT AT THE WARSAW CHOPIN COMPETITION: CANADIAN BRUCE (XIAOYU) LIU

THE 2021-2022 CONCERT SEASON COURAGEOUSLY MOVES FORWARD

For all music lovers who have spent the last 1.5 years in relative hibernation, the possibility of returning to live concerts again in Vancouver is a fully inspiring prospect for audiences and performers alike. Nonetheless, given how fluid the Covid situation is, this courageous effort by the city’s music organizations must still proceed on almost a week-by-week basis. With current social distancing requirements, only 50% capacity is permitted at events, and one can only hope this number moves up rather than down in the coming months. The number of live concert offerings is understandably reduced from pre-Covid levels, and some organizations are presenting a mix of live and digital concerts. Other presenters are admirably attempting to increase attendance by utilizing larger venues than originally planned. The VSO has started to add additional concerts to the same effect. One can only give these organizations the greatest support in what, in many ways, remains a fight for their survival.

In the above slideshow, we link to the concert seasons for some of Vancouver’s principal music presenters; fuller information is available under ‘affiliates’ on the righthand side of this page. Given the uncertainty of the current situation, we will not attempt to present our full calendar of events until we see how things move forward. Planned events/artists will likely be subject to short-notice changes, and there is still the issue of entering Canada for international performers. Let’s hope for the best of luck as we proceed!

REVIEW: CONSTANTINOPLE FINDS ENCHANTMENT IN THE MUSIC OF DIMITRIE CANTEMIR

Ensemble Constantinople (Kiya Tabassian, setar; Didem Başar, kanun; Tanya LaPerrière, viola d’amore & Baroque violin; Kianoush Khalilian, ney; Patrick Graham, percussion; Hamin Honari, tombak & daf), Music of Dimitrie Cantemir, Salle Bourgie, Montreal, April 21, 2021.

Originally formed in 1998 by setarist Kiya Tabassian and his brother Ziya, Montreal-based Constantinople has now achieved international recognition as an inspired and vibrant ensemble exploring musical traditions beyond the standard classical canon. The current concert, ‘The Crossroads of Cantemir’, revealed one of the many byways they have travelled, bringing a captivating taste of music from the Ottoman Empire to Early Music Vancouver’s digital stage. The program consisted of pieces by Dimitrie Cantemir (1673-1723), a remarkable Moldavian polymath, prince, and composer, whose lifespan paralleled those of Western contemporaries such as Antonio Vivaldi and François Couperin. Influenced by Turkish, Persian, and Byzantine idioms, Cantemir’s output represents a fascinating encapsulation of Eastern and Western musicmaking at the turn of the 18th century. Performing on Middle Eastern instruments as well as Baroque strings, Constantinople found a rich colour and vitality in Cantemir’s works that flowed seamlessly throughout the evening…See more.

REVIEW: LA MODESTINE UNCOVERS SOME LITTLE 17TH CENTURY GEMS FROM ITALY AND AUSTRIA

La Modestine (Marc Destrubé and Kathryn Wiebe, violins: Jeremy Berkman, sackbut; Natalie Mackie, viola da gamba; Katrina Russell, dulcian; Michael Jarvis, organ), Music of Bertali, Castello, Frescobaldi, Schmelzer and Biber, Chan Centre, February 24, 2021.

One must give great praise to Early Music Vancouver for constructing such a high-quality and extended digital concert series this year. Moreover, it has all been achieved with distinguished ‘authentic’ instrumentalists who live close by, many of whom have connections with the Pacific Baroque Orchestra. A hallmark of this series has been its variety – and this late February concert was no exception. Performed by La Modestine, the program featured a refreshing exploration of works by lesser-known composers of 17th-century Italy and Austria, with Girolamo Frescobaldi being perhaps the most recognizable name. The ensemble, formed in 2016 by violinist Marc Destrubé and friends, was augmented here by the sackbut of Jeremy Berkman and the dulcian of Katrina Russell, two instruments that often brought a special character and energy to the proceedings…See more.

REVIEW: AN INTIMATE AND SPONTANEOUS LA VOIX HUMAINE FOR VANCOUVER OPERA’S DIGITAL DEBUT

Francis Poulenc, LA VOIX HUMAINE: Mireille Lebel (Elle), Kinza Tyrrell (piano), Rachel Peake (director), Amir Ofek (set & costume designer), Jeremy Baxter (lighting designer), Chan Centre, October 24, 2020.

It was a sensible idea for Vancouver Opera to begin their 2020-2021 digital season with Francis Poulenc’s La voix humaine, a 40-minute monodrama in one act requiring only a single female singer and one set. Given the current constraints of the performing arts world, this work has the inestimable advantage that, in the right artistic hands, it can deliver a maximal emotional payoff with a minimum of resources and personal risk. Indeed, when Poulenc’s full orchestra is replaced with a piano – as in the present performance – La voix humaine can achieve the intimacy and immediacy of a miniature chamber opera. All this worked very successfully here: Canadian-born mezzo-soprano Mireille Lebel was fully equal to the demands of her role, finding subtlety, range and emotional gravity, while pianist Kinza Tyrell accompanied her with the greatest sensitivity…See more.

REVIEW: JAMES EHNES BRINGS THE VSO BACK INTO ACTION WITH BACH AND BEETHOVEN

James Ehnes (violin), VSO/ Otto Tausk: Music of Bach and Beethoven, Orpheum and Christ Church Cathedral, October 16, 2020.

Unlike the orchestras of the world’s musical capitals which have many celebrated musicians to draw upon, it has been more challenging for Canadian orchestras to come up with an interesting digital concert season as travel restrictions have blocked the appearance of most international soloists. Fortunately, there are great artists within Canada, and it was a cause for celebration that violinist James Ehnes could lead things off in the first of his two play/direct appearances with the Vancouver Symphony this fall. He contributed Bach’s A-minor Violin Concerto while Music Director Otto Tausk resumed the orchestra’s Beethoven celebration that was so abruptly terminated in March, offering Beethoven’s 7th Symphony. The constraint of social distancing was dramatically evident in the Beethoven: new construction had extended the stage of the Orpheum Theatre over the first rows of seats to facilitate the protocol. Even then, there was room for only about 40 players. The blown instruments performed on one side of a large circle, with masked string players on the other, with (masked) conductor standing in the middle of it all, having to turn in both directions. Nonetheless, there was something special about the presentation beyond all the planning involved. Just like one might recall descriptions of 1940s wartime concerts – where emotions were so clearly on the line – so one felt a similar spirit here: the musicians were demonstratively grateful to be able to play together again and to perform music they loved so much…See more.

THREE DIGITAL CONCERT SEASONS ARRIVE FOR THE FALL

It goes without saying that the sudden onset of COVID-19 in the spring dealt a devastating blow to live music performance throughout the world. Music organizations have been put in jeopardy, artist agencies have folded but, most important, the lives and livelihood of musicians have been put almost completely on hold. This situation is of the gravest financial concern – musicians face financial vulnerabilities at the best of times – and it doubtlessly makes it more difficult for performers and ensembles to keep their skills and artistry honed at pre-existing levels. Following the world’s emerging new ‘normal’, three Vancouver music organizations have now created digital concert/opera seasons utilizing Canadian artists alone.

The VSO has announced 5 concerts thus far with Maestro Tausk and members of the orchestra: iconic violinist James Ehnes joins for 2 of them. Early Music Vancouver has now pre-recorded over 20 concerts, drawing on the services of the many excellent ‘authentic’ instrumentalists available locally and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra under Alexander Weimann. Seven of these will be presented this fall. The Vancouver Opera has also announced its full 4-opera season through Spring 2021. Some of the productions are shorter one-act operas, but absolutely enterprising nonetheless. In general, all the announced concerts are shorter in duration than normal, lasting about an hour. If the current situation persists, more digital offerings will doubtlessly come forth from other organizations. UBC’s School of Music is also livestreaming its concerts, and there are a number of exciting events programmed.

Many are still keeping their fingers crossed that January 2021 will allow a reopening of some types of live performance, but one thing that all arts lovers must recognize is that donations to the city’s music organizations have never had such importance as at this moment.

REVIEW: THE JOYS OF ANGELA HEWITT’S ‘BACH ODYSSEY’ AT UBC

Angela Hewitt (piano): Works of J. S. Bach, Roy Barnett Recital Hall, UBC, February 26, 2020.

In many respects, Angela Hewitt has been on a Bach Odyssey her entire lifetime. She played, danced and sung Bach throughout her childhood, and has carried her inspiration forward unremittingly from her victory in the Toronto International Bach Competition in 1985. In 1994, she began her massive project to record all Bach’s keyboard works for Hyperion, finishing up with Art of the Fugue in 2014. Her current Bach Odyssey began promptly in 2016, when she started the entire traversal again, planning 12 concerts of the complete keyboard compositions in five major cities, including London, New York and Tokyo. The target endpoint is June 2020, where she returns to the Art of the Fugue, at which time she will receive medals from both Wigmore Hall, London and the City of Leipzig. Vancouver has already seen two installments of her current project: the Goldberg Variations and Book I of the Well-Tempered Clavier. This very fine concert assembled a variety of smaller pieces and formed part of the pianist’s visit to the University of British Columbia – to give the Dal Grauer Memorial Lectures and masterclasses…See more.

REVIEW: PAUL LEWIS AND STEVEN OSBORNE SPARKLE IN THE FRENCH 4-HAND REPERTOIRE

Paul Lewis, Steven Osborne (piano four hands): Music of Fauré, Poulenc, Debussy, Stravinsky and Ravel, Playhouse, February 23, 2020.

This concert was an absolute delight. Paul Lewis and Steven Osborne have given Vancouver memorable concerts on their own, but putting them together in a piano four-hands recital of French music was certainly a new idea. With Osborne’s commitment to the modern repertoire, a French programme seemed right up his alley. Not necessarily for Lewis, whose explorations have seldom ventured beyond Beethoven and the German masters. Yet their collaboration turned out as pure magic, the softer lyrical sensitivity of the latter meshing with the sharper, more jeweled articulation of the former. Results were astonishingly idiomatic. Fauré’s Dolly Suite and Ravel’s suite from Ma Mère l'Oye were beautifully delivered, full of concentration and feeling. The smaller makeweights provided exactly the right balance in the recital, exhibiting the artists’ ingenuity and coordination in a more playful way. For both pianists, it was a great way to move forward from their inspired Schubert CD collaboration of a decade ago…See more.

REVIEW: NEW ADVENTURES FOR MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN AND THE DORIC STRING QUARTET

Marc-André Hamelin (piano); Doric String Quartet [Alex Redington and Ying Xue (violins), Hélène Clément (viola), John Myerscough (cello)]: Music of Sibelius, Hamelin and Dvořák, Playhouse, February 16, 2020.

The 40th anniversary season of the Vancouver Recital Society has already brought back many esteemed artists who have appeared in the organization’s past. This time, it was Marc-André Hamelin and the Doric String Quartet, who have visited frequently on their own but never together. The Doric’s wonderfully clean tonal blend and transparency have served repertoire from Haydn to Schubert extremely well, and they’ve recently moved forward to composers such as Janáček, Walton and Britten. They also added new second violin, Ying Xue, in 2018. Here they gave a tightly-etched and insightful performance of the Sibelius quartet ‘Voces Intimae’. Unusually warm and flowing pianism from Hamelin joined with the quartet’s energy in the famous Dvořák Piano Quintet, a performance of contrast and dramatic power though not one that fully realized the composer’s special lyricism. The big surprise was Hamelin’s own Piano Quintet, a half-hour piece that resembled more of a rhapsodie-fantasie than a conventional tight-knit exercise in this genre…See more.

THE GREAT CANADIAN ARTISTS:

AN INTERVIEW WITH PIANIST LOUIS LORTIE

There are few Canadian musicians who have exhibited such consistency, versatility and high standards in performance as Montréal-born pianist Louis Lortie. After teenage debuts with both the Montréal and Toronto Symphonies in the 1970s, followed by prize-winning finishes in both the 1984 Busoni and Leeds Competitions, Lortie has now released almost 50 CDs for Chandos Records, covering repertoire from the Classics to the Moderns. His pianism has always stood as poetic, elegant, and tonally-beautiful, with a capacity for both refinement on one hand and virtuoso strength and weight on the other. Early recording highlights include the complete Ravel piano works, a complete cycle of Beethoven Sonatas and some very fine discs of Chopin and Liszt. He has now recorded all Liszt’s Works for Piano and Orchestra and has released a much acclaimed reading of the complete Années de pèlerinage. He is also finishing off an extended project devoted to Chopin’s complete piano works. Recent recordings include the five Saint-Saëns Piano Concertos with Edward Gardner and BBC Philharmonic, and the start on a new Fauré series. As well, there are two recordings with long-time piano duo partner Hélène Mercier: Vaughan Williams’ Concerto for Two Pianos and Rachmaninov’s complete works for two pianos. Lortie was named named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1992. He celebrated his 60th birthday in 2019 and last appeared with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in May 2019, playing Beethoven Concerto No. 2…See more.

REVIEW: A BARBER OF SEVILLE PROPELLED BY THE SINGING OF ITS LEADS

Rossini, THE BARBER OF SEVILLE: Edward Nelson (Figaro), Julie Boulianne (Rosina), Isaiah Bell (Count Almaviva), Thomas Goerz (Dr. Bartolo), Taehyun Jun (Don Basilio), Vancouver Opera Chorus (dir. By Leslie Dala), Vancouver Opera Orchestra, Nathan Brock (conductor), Ashlie Corcoran (director), Ken MacDonald (set design), Kimberley Putrell (lighting design), Dana Osborne (costume design), Queen Elizabeth Theatre, February 13, 2020.

A successful performance of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville demands beautiful singing grounded in evenness of tone and impeccable delivery of text, coupled with a light-handed comedic sensibility that eschews gratuitous buffoonery and slapstick. Vancouver Opera’s new production of this Italian comic masterpiece satisfied both requirements, benefitting strongly from the dark-toned and agile voices of baritone Edward Nelson as Figaro and mezzo-soprano Julie Boulianne as Rosina. It carefully avoided the puerile humor and abject clowning that marred the company’s Hollywood backlot Barber of 2012. Director Ashlie Corcoran delivered fast-paced and uncluttered storytelling that focused on the relationships between the principal characters and allowed the singers to develop a natural, unforced chemistry. One limitation was that the subsidiary cast was variable in quality, but there were plenty of coloratura fireworks from the two leads to keep the audience satisfied and the Vancouver Opera Chorus and Orchestra performed with sparkle and enthusiasm…See more.

REVIEW: THE FAUST-QUEYRAS-MELNIKOV TRIO’S BEETHOVEN BRINGS MIXED RESULTS

Isabelle Faust (violin), Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello), Alexander Melnikov (piano): An All-Beethoven Concert, Playhouse, February 9, 2020.

One would be hard pressed to think of more illustrious musicians than German violinist Isabelle Faust, French-Canadian cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras and Russian pianist Alexander Melnikov. Bonded by their Harmonia Mundi roots, they already have a distinguished collection of chamber music recordings, and each enjoys an enviable performing and recording career as a soloist. This All-Beethoven concert is the first time all three artists have appeared here together. The ‘authentic’ style of this piano trio was distinctive: vibrato was employed sparingly, yet there was great beauty and transparency in execution, as well as a strong consistency of method. It was the dominance of method that seemed to unite the interpretations: quieter passages were almost automatically given a stark gravity while more purposive material received strong rhythmic emphasis and edge. There are tangible rewards here, not least in terms of transparency, but the results at this concert were variable: the opening Variations were impressive yet the famous ‘Archduke’ Trio came off as too unyielding, failing to find much of its natural flow…See more.

REVIEW: PATRICIAN INSIGHT FROM GIDON KREMER IN A WIDE-RANGING VSO CONCERT

Gidon Kremer (violin), Michael Abramovich (piano), VSO/ Otto Tausk: Music of Moussa, Schumann and Bruckner, Orpheum, February 1, 2020.

There was quite a bit of excitement over the arrival of exalted Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer for this VSO concert. The violinist has always championed Schumann, especially his Violin Concerto, yet this time he played a violin transcription of the composer’s Cello Concerto, with orchestration sanctioned by the composer. Though few might advocate this version in preference to its original cello incarnation, Kremer has played it for a long time, making a recording for Deutsche Grammophon as long ago as 1994. His reading is special both in the way he penetrates Schumann’s emotional world and in the distinctive character he brings to the shaping of phrases, giving them additional plasticity and length. Up and coming Canadian composer/ conductor Samy Moussa, just named Composer-In-Residence for the Toronto Symphony and having great success in Europe, also contributed his own beguiling concertante work Orpheus. Otto Tausk rounded out the programme with a (sometimes) powerful performance of Bruckner’s ‘Romantic’ Symphony, but one which did not show mastery of the composer’s stop-go style, nor find much of the work’s lyrical contemplation or sense of mystery…See more.

REVIEW: A PATHBREAKING AND SPLENDID ‘THE PASSENGER’ FROM UBC OPERA

Mieczysław Weinberg, THE PASSENGER: David Gibbons (Walter), Leila Kirves (Lisa), Catherine Thornsley (Marta), Luka Kawabata (Tadeusz), UBC Opera Ensemble, members of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, David Agler (conductor), Nancy Hermiston (director), Alessia Carpoca (set design), Chan Centre, January 30, 2020.

There are few neglected modern composers whose star has risen more in recent years than Polish/Russian composer Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1996), a friend of Dmitri Shostakovich. Yet many opera companies would probably wish to stick to safer productions than to delve into the little-known world of the composer’s operatic ventures. Hats off therefore to the courage and vision of Nancy Hermiston and her fine UBC opera troupe in staging the composer’s powerful and original The Passenger (1967/68). The setting examined is both brutally painful and poignant: the concentration camps of World War II, where the ‘passenger’ embodies the haunting memories that everyone carries with them into the future, whether they be survivor or captor. Weinberg’s masterpiece has begun slowly making the rounds of international operatic stages and should take its rightful place alongside Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Prokofiev’s War and Peace as one of the great Soviet operas of the twentieth century. The commitment and intelligence of the present UBC student production served the composer admirably: the work emerges as positively shattering in its emotional force…See more.

REVIEW: AN EVENING OF FRENCH VARIETY WITH JUN MÄRKL

István Várdai (cello), VSO/ Jun Märkl: Music of Boulez, Ravel, Saint-Saens and Berlioz, Orpheum, January 26, 2020

Conductor Jun Märkl has been a frequent visitor to the VSO, and has previously given us a sample of his talents in French repertoire with Debussy’s Images pour Orchestre. He recorded the complete Debussy orchestral works for Naxos and, more recently, has carried on with Saint-Saëns. This time, it was an all-French programme, ranging from Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique through Saint-Saëns, including short pieces by Ravel and Pierre Boulez. The Fantastique was naturally the big item, and the conductor did not disappoint, offering an interpretation that was cogent, powerful and individual in its focus on the work’s darker elements. Beautifully-toned Hungarian cellist István Várdai displayed his skills in Saint-Saens’ popular Cello Concerto No. 1…See more.

REVIEW: THE 2020 VSO NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL FINDS RANGE AND CINEMATIC VARIETY

Viviane Hagner (violin), Kari Kriiku (clarinet), Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Otto Tausk/ Bramwell Tovey (conductors): Music of Chin, Saariaho, Lizée, Adès and Richter, Chan Centre and Orpheum Theatre, January 11/16, 2020.

This year’s New Music Festival happened to coincide with a (rare) snow week in the city but, fortunately, the opening and closing orchestral concerts were little affected. One interesting feature of the festival’s design was the appearance of current VSO conductor Otto Tausk alongside his long-standing predecessor Bramwell Tovey: Tovey originally founded the festival in 2014. The general theme was ‘re-creation’ and, in the first concert, German violinist Viviane Hagner and Finnish clarinetist Kari Kriiku returned, respectively, to Unsuk Chin’s Violin Concerto (2001) and Kaija Saariaho’s D’om Le Vrais Sens (2010) – works they had originally premiered. In Tovey’s closing concert, it was Thomas Adès’s 2017 (re)constitution of an orchestral suite from his opera Powder Her Face joining hands with Max Richter’s 2012 (re)composition of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. Canadian Nicole Lizée had an outing to herself in the festival but also contributed her own (re)imagining of The Sound of Music in the first concert. Overall, it was an interesting combination of pieces where a cinematic component, either musical or visual, often came into play…See more.

BEST MUSICAL EVENTS OF 2019

Vancouver’s classical music in 2019 saw a unique combination of anniversaries: the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra finished its centenary season, and both Early Music Vancouver’s 50th anniversary and the Vancouver Recital Society’s 40th are in progress. Here’s some of the best concerts from the year…See more.

REVIEW: BRUCE DICKEY AND HIS SOLOISTS FIND A RICH VENETIAN SPLENDOUR

Arwen Myers and Danielle Sampson (sopranos), Vicki St. Pierre and Nicholas Burns (altos), Ross Hauck and Colin Balzer (tenors); Sumner Thompson (baritone), Martin Auclair (bass), Instrumental Ensemble, Bruce Dickey (director and cornetto): Music of Giovanni and Andrea Gabrieli, Bassano, Grandi, Fergusio and Marini, Chan Centre, December 22, 2019.

In recent years, Vancouver has heard Bruce Dickey’s wonderful cornetto in Monteverdi’s Vespers and in the delectable ‘entwining’ of voice and cornetto featuring soprano Hana Blažíková. The current Venetian Christmas programme naturally centered around the works of Giovanni Gabrieli, but it was the decision to mix his canzoni and vocal writing with those of other Venetian composers that created appealing variety. It was the first time we’ve seen Dickey formally conduct a larger troupe. As evidenced here, his conducting aims at a rich instrumental and vocal solidity, carefully coloured and balanced, and his consistency of approach allows the music to move forward with both spiritual strength and inexorability. The additional ingredient for success on this occasion was the contribution of the vocal soloists, who were terrific…See more.

REVIEW: SHEKU KANNEH-MASON CONTINUES TO AWE AND DELIGHT IN HIS RETURN VISIT

Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello), Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano): Works by Beethoven, Lutoslawski, Barber and Rachmaninoff, Orpheum, December 8, 2019.

One owes a large debt to the Vancouver Recital Society for inviting cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and his pianist sister Isata to play here in 2017, the year after the former had won BBC's Young Musician of the Year award. If Sheku’s star was dramatically rising then, it is well beyond that now – and he just reached the age of 20. The cellist has reached full celebrity status, which has meant invitations to perform at innumerable important festivals and galas and, as has been well documented, Prince Harry and Meghan’s royal wedding. His first Decca album Inspirations received a phenomenal response and he is on the verge of releasing a second one, Elgar. Sheku impressed last time not only for his technical and tonal splendour but also his emotional sensitivity and, in this Canadian stop on his current 9-concert North American tour, he revealed an even greater maturity. His sister also displayed more character at the piano. The programme was imaginative and engaging, running from Beethoven to Lutoslawski, with the Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata being the principal work. Setting the concert in the massive Orpheum served the wonderful purpose of allowing many diverse groups to share Sheku's inspiration, though there were understandably some sonic limitations… See more.

INTERVIEW: TOUCHING BASE WITH RUSSIAN PIANIST ZLATA CHOCHIEVA

Following the release of her Piano Classics discs of Chopin and Rachmaninoff about five years ago, 34-year old Moscow-born Zlata Chochieva has climbed strongly into the international spotlight. In 2016, Gramophone named her Chopin Études among the Top 50 Chopin recordings ever, moving it into the Top 10 a year later. Chochieva made her Moscow concert debut at age 8, and has previously won ten international piano competitions. Her teachers include Mikhail Pletnev, Pavel Nersessian and, more recently, Jacques Rouvier. She has performed in the Herkulessaal (Munich), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Philharmonie de Paris, Vienna Konzerthaus, and made her debut in London’s Wigmore Hall in March 2019. She has also given concerto performances with the top Russian orchestras. This interview concentrates on her training with Pletnev, the evolution of her interests in Chopin and Rachmaninoff, and how she feels about moving into the spotlight these days. It was an outgrowth of her splendid Vancouver Chopin Society recital in November 2019, where she played Chopin’s Études Op.25 and Rachmaninoff’s Corelli Variations…See more.

REVIEW: CONSTANTIN TRINKS AND THE VSO WELCOME THE CHRISTMAS SEASON IN STYLE

Kallie Claxton and Barb Towell (sopranos), VSO/ Constantin Trinks: Music of Humperdinck and Tchaikovsky, Orpheum, December 7, 2019.

Young German conductor Constantin Trinks impressed greatly in his previous two visits with the VSO, coaxing the orchestra to play with unusual cohesion, attack and dramatic range. His current concert – conceived as a European Christmas celebration – was no exception. Excerpts from Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel led off, featuring an orchestral contribution full of warm and evocative spirits and effective vocal contributions from the two sopranos. Tchaikovsky’s Christmas contribution is perennially The Nutcracker, but here the composer’s more somber Fifth Symphony got the nod. It received a refreshingly ‘classical’ reading, finely appointed and powerful, though perhaps light on Tchaikovskian fragrance…See more.

REVIEW: OTTO TAUSK’S QUEST FOR AUTHENTIC STYLE PAYS DIVIDENDS IN MOZART’S REQUIEM AND SCHUBERT 

Nathalie Paulin (soprano), Krisztina Szabó (mezzo-soprano), Josh Lovell (tenor), Philippe Sly (bass-baritone), UBC Choirs (dir. Graeme Langager), Vancouver Symphony Orchestra/ Otto Tausk: Music of Schubert and Mozart, Orpheum, November 23, 2019.

Otto Tausk has shown a definite affinity for the Viennese Classics in his short tenure with the VSO, giving well-disciplined and historically-informed readings of Mozart’s last three symphonies and Beethoven’s 7th. To these must now be added Mozart’s Requiem and Schubert’s ‘Unfinished’ Symphony, both of which received precise, articulate performances that aimed at an authentic instrumental scale. The Requiem turned out to be a bit of a hybrid though: rather than using a period choir of 20-40 voices alongside the reduced orchestration, the estimable UBC chorus of a full 150 members was enlisted, giving a glimpse of the 19th century too. Nonetheless, the excellence of the soloists and the flexible, responsive contribution from the orchestra turned out to be major virtues, with the large choir at its best when adding weight and visceral charge at key moments. The orchestra also seemed to relish the lyricism and warmth of the Schubert symphony, offering passages of considerable beauty, though dramatic contrasts were relatively understated. The performance was a creditable one, perhaps stressing the classical side of Schubert’s character more than his romantic side…See more.

REVIEW: TON KOOPMAN: FULL OF ENERGY AND SPIRIT AT 75

Ton Koopman (harpsichord and director), Vancouver Symphony Orchestra: Music by J. S. Bach, Handel, Froberger, Fiocco and others, Christ Church Cathedral and Chan Centre, November 12/15, 2019

Ton Koopman is celebrating his 75th year in 2019 and he has been actively giving concerts throughout the world. This time round, he arrives in Vancouver for an orchestral concert (sponsored by the VSO) and a solo harpsichord recital (sponsored by Early Music Vancouver). A student of Gustav Leonhardt, Koopman has been an exalted pioneer of authentic performance for over four decades, moving the Dutch tradition forward from its original roots but always maintaining his own individuality in style and performance. These concerts showed that Koopman has lost little of his energy, zeal or interpretative cunning: he was thoroughly bracing at points in his Bach and Handel with the VSO, and eagerly adventurous in the solo recital, in spite of some hand issues which emerged during the concert…See more.

REVIEW: ZLATA CHOCHIEVA SHOWCASES HER STUNNING CHOPIN AND RACHMANINOFF

Zlata Chochieva (piano): Music of Chopin and Rachmaninoff, Playhouse, November 10, 2019.

Ever since the release of her Piano Classics discs of Chopin and Rachmaninoff about five years ago, Zlata Chochieva has climbed strongly into the spotlight, not least since Gramophone named her Chopin Etudes among the Top 50 Chopin recordings ever. Perhaps this shouldn’t be a surprise: she made her Moscow concert debut at age 8, received inspired guidance from Mikhail Pletnev, and has previously won ten international piano competitions. The current concert of the Etudes Op. 25 and Rachmaninoff’s Corelli Variations did not disappoint: the pianistic strength, thoughtfulness and individuality of this 34-year-old Russian artist are exceptional by any standard. But it was not just her strong technical capabilities that impressed; more the immediacy of her grasp of the meaning and significance of the music being played, and the human face she gives to it. While always faithful to the score, the sense of absorption in her playing suspends one very quickly, and never lets go, weaving narrative lines that add up to a striking emotional whole. This is pianism of great character, and the concentration Chochieva achieves over the longer span is magnetic…See more.

REVIEW: THE ‘MAGIC’ OF ALBRECHT MAYER’S OBOE

Albrecht Mayer (oboe, English horn and director), Vancouver Symphony Orchestra: Music of Haydn, Mozart and Fiala, Chan Centre, October 25, 2019.

Following on the leads of legendary flutist James Galway and clarinetist Karl Leister, oboist Albrecht Mayer is the latest member of the Berlin Philharmonic’s wind section to pursue a full-fledged career as a soloist. Over the past decade, he has recorded five theme-based CDs for Deutsche Grammophon, highlighting oboe compositions on the classical/ baroque boundary, mingling with more delectable shorter pieces. In the current VSO concert, he also added his skills as a conductor. There is always an abiding pleasantness to an oboe concert, and that is what one felt here. As witnessed in the Haydn (attr.) and Fiala concertos, Mayer is a wonderfully refined and tonally pleasing exponent of both the oboe and English horn, wrapping his effortless virtuosity in great beauty. Alongside his purity of line and crisp agility, it is the creamy, mellifluous quality of Mayer’s tone which frequently stands out, possibly registering some debt to his Berlin Phil predecessor Lothar Koch and his teacher Maurice Bourgue…See more.

REVIEW: THE Z.E.N. TRIO: SEEKERS OF MUSICAL TRUTH

The Z.E.N. Trio (Esther Yoo, violin; Narek Hakhnazaryan, cello; Zhang Zuo, piano): Works by Schubert, Brahms and Shostakovich, Playhouse, October 20, 2019.

Given the number of young and untested piano trios and string quartets that spring up these days, it was natural to have some trepidation about the Z.E.N. Trio, who first came together as BBC New Generation artists in 2015 and recorded their first CD for Deutsche Grammophon within only a year. Vancouver had already seen each of the exceptional artists on their own, and recognized their quality – but might it not take a little more time for the group to achieve full synergy? Yet the early praise for this ensemble is completely warranted: they play gorgeously, really think with one mind and already provide readings of striking thoughtfulness and sensitivity. Pianist Zhang Zuo is possibly the brains of the group, always bringing home structural contrasts and changes in mood through adventurous accents and varied dynamics. Violinist Esther Yoo and cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan listen to each other intently, and the former’s resilience of line superbly plays off the latter’s plasticity and tenderness. These performances of Schubert, Brahms and Shostakovich trios were special, demonstrating a natural absorption of each composer’s emotional world and revealing obvious thought in achieving balance and continuity of line in each work. Since it is always a source of intrigue, the trio’s name is based on the initials of the member’s first names, and to add even more colour, Zhang Zuo plays the piano barefoot…See more.

REVIEW: A LA TRAVIATA THAT ENTICES AND SPARKLES AS IT SHOULD

VERDI, LA TRAVIATA: Emily Dorn (Violetta Valéry), Nicholas Borg (Baron Douphol), Andrew Haji (Alfredo Germont), Chenye Yuan (Giorgio Germont), Gena van Oosten (Flora Bervoix), Angus Bell (Doctor Grenvil), Irina Medvedeva (Annina), Willy Miles-Grenzberg (Marchese d’Obign), Daevyd Pepper (Gastone de Letorières), Vancouver Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Yves Abel (conductor), Leslie Dala (chorus director), Alain Gauthier (director), Tracey Power (assistant director and choreographer), Christina Poddubiuk (scenic & costume designer), Kevin Lamotte (lighting designer), Queen Elizabeth Theatre, October 17, 2019.

Given the popularity of Verdi’s La Traviata, it is still relatively rare to come across a production that satisfies the average operagoer’s desire for traditional staging while managing to inject vitality and emotional resonance into the piece. Recent interpretations at The Met have failed to steer a safe course between the Scylla of unfettered experimentation and the Charybdis of museum-piece boredom. Vancouver audiences may also remember Sir Jonathan Miller’s 2011 production which, despite its meticulously faithful period trappings, left a rather chilly and anemic impression. What a relief, then, that Vancouver Opera’s latest Traviata managed to crackle with youthful energy without in the least sacrificing the letter or the spirit of Francesco Maria Piave’s libretto or Verdi’s music. Alain Gauthier and Christina Poddubiuk’s Roaring-Twenties-Paris-inspired production, with its mix of chandeliers, scarlet curtains and curving staircase and flapper costumes was breathtaking to behold, while the casting boasted a vivid Violetta and an expressive Alfredo. Add on a refreshingly unbuttoned performance from the Vancouver Opera Chorus, and supportive playing from the Vancouver Opera Orchestra under experienced maestro Yves Abel, and all the right ingredients were there. This was a most encouraging outcome from a collaborative project involving five Canadian opera companies…See more.

Review: THE BEAUTIFULLY-TONED BENNEWITZ QUARTET CARRY ON A CZECH TRADITION

Bennewitz Quartet (Jakub Fišer and Štěpán Ježek, violins, Jiří Pinkas, viola, Štěpán Doležal, cello): Works by Janáček, Schumann, and Dvořák, Playhouse, October 13, 2019.

Vancouver’s Friends of Chamber Music has long sponsored the finest Czech string quartets: the legendary Smetana and Talich Quartets appeared in earlier days, and the venerable Pražák Quartet has now visited for three decades. Of the younger ensembles, the celebrated Pavel Haas Quartet makes its fourth visit this season while the young Zemlinsky Quartet appeared last year. Which leaves the Bennewitz Quartet, who made their debut on this occasion. This ensemble was formed in 1998 and, initially, won two important string quartet competitions: the Osaka in 2005 and Prémio Paolo Borciani in 2008. This quartet exhibits all the trademark rhythmic address and strong accents of Czech string playing, but distinguishes itself as considerably warmer and more fulsome than many of its predecessors. Overall, the ensemble produces a most beautiful sound. Janáček’s String Quartet No. 2 received the most striking reading here, wedding luxuriant textures with a strong expressive flow. Schumann’s Quartet No. 2 had fine motion and architecture, while the ever-popular Dvořák ‘American’ Quartet completed the programme with Czech writing at its most characteristic…See more.

REVIEW: DANIIL TRIFONOV LEADS THE VSO FORWARD INTO ITS 101ST SEASON

Adrianne Pieczonka (soprano); Daniil Trifonov (piano); VSO/ Otto Tausk: Works by Simms, Schubert, Mahler, Rachmaninoff and Scriabin, Orpheum, September 20 and 27, 2019.

Superstar 28-year-old pianist Daniil Trifonov was the big draw as the VSO moved into its first  concerts of its next 100 years. I am sure no one was disappointed with the lovely, clean touch, bristling intelligence and commanding bravura the pianist brought to Rachmaninoff’s towering 3rd Piano Concerto, except that the orchestra had some difficulties in keeping up with him. The preceding Rachmaninoff Isle of the Dead and Scriabin’s The Poem of Ecstasy saw Maestro Tausk and the orchestra on surer footing, yielding performances of strength and cohesion. The star of the preceding concert was probably soprano Adrianne Pieczonka, drawing out ravishing legato lines in orchestrations of Schubert’s lieder. The closing Mahler’s First Symphony was definitely a crowd-pleaser, but was otherwise rather small scale and wanting in both lyrical penetration and Mahlerian ardour…See more.

REVIEW: SUPERB PURCELL AND HANDEL CLOSE OUT THE 2019 BACH FESTIVAL

Amanda Forsythe, Suzie LeBlanc and Dorothee Mields (soprano), Alex Potter and Nicolas Burns (alto), Samuel Boden and Jonathan Quick (tenor), Sumner Thompson (baritone), Matthew Brook (bass-baritone), Pacific Baroque Orchestra (dir. Alexander Weimann), Pacific MusicWorks (dir. Stephen Stubbs): Music of Locke, Purcell, and Handel, Christ Church Cathedral and Chan Centre, August 7/9, 2019.

The first week of the 2019 EMV Bach Festival saw some magnificent singing, but the second week was even finer. The closing Purcell ‘Hail, Bright Cecilia’ placed a memorable seal on this sequence of 14 concerts, gathering together many of the celebrated singers from previous outings, and featuring inspirational playing from the Pacific Baroque Orchestra under Alexander Weimann. Two days earlier, soprano Amanda Forsythe put on an equally stunning show in dramatic works of early Handel, accompanied most artfully by Stephen Stubbs and the instrumentalists of Seattle’s Pacific MusicWorks…See more.

REVIEW: RADIANT SINGING IN THE CANTATAS TAKES THE FIRST WEEK OF THE 2019 VANCOUVER BACH FESTIVAL TO ITS HEIGHTS

THE 2019 VANCOUVER BACH FESTIVAL: Dorothee Mields (soprano), Alex Potter (alto), Samuel Boden (tenor), Matthew Brook (bass-baritone), Les Boréades de Montréal (dir. Francis Colpron): Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos/Cantatas, Chan Centre and Christ Church Cathedral, July 30 – August 2, 2019.

The 2019 Vancouver Bach Festival ushers in Early Music Vancouver’s 50th Anniversary season and stands as fine testimony to the historical evolution of both authentic performance and the organization itself. Historically-informed performance originally started as a grassroots inspiration of the 1960s, where enthusiasts often had to both build and learn to play their reconstructed historical instruments from scratch. The fever for assembling early music troupes became contagious and the Vancouver Society for Early Music was founded in 1969. José Verstappen became the executive director in 1979 and built the organization to the strongest international stature, further carried on by Matthew White from 2013. It was Nicolaus Harnoncourt’s 1964 recording of the Brandenburg Concertos that set the standards for this new world of authentic instrumentation and, aptly, this festival started with these exalted works, performed by Les Boréades de Montréal. Their interpretation had a noticeably Gallic accent and plenty of joie de vivre but the ensemble did not seek the last ounce of contrapuntal synergy or refinement; the performances of Nos. 3-5 worked best. A second monument of those times was the massive project (initiated in 1971) to record the integral Bach Cantatas with Harnoncourt and Gustav Leonhardt. The subsequent concert of three famous Cantatas paid homage, where esteemed soprano Dorothee Mields and alto Alex Potter showed just how far authentic vocal style has come and how stunning it can be…See more.

THE UP-AND-COMING CANADIAN ARTISTS:

AN INTERVIEW WITH PIANIST CHARLES RICHARD-HAMELIN

The name ‘Hamelin’ has certainly become synonymous with the highest-quality Canadian pianism. Earlier in the year, we interviewed the celebrated Marc-André Hamelin; now we turn to fellow (but not related) Montreal pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin, just 30 this year, who moved strongly into public attention since winning the Silver Medal at the 2015 Warsaw Chopin Competition. Gramophone has noted that ‘Richard-Hamelin is a supremely artistic, highly sensitive yet thoroughly masculine young pianist, whose strikingly original ideas remain true to the spirit of Chopin’. In his Vancouver debut concert in November 2016, I wrote: ‘What we saw was wonderfully-concentrated inward playing that aimed at the soul of the composer and exuded great intelligence and architectural strength.’  The pianist has now released 4 CDs for Analekta, including the just-released Chopin Piano Concertos and the first disc of an integral set of Beethoven Violin Sonatas with Andrew Wan. Gramophone has lauded the interpretation of the Chopin concertos as one of ‘extraordinary originality and distinction.’ The pianist studied with Paul Surdulescu, Sara Laimon, Boris Berman, André Laplante, and Jean Saulnier, and is a graduate of McGill University, the Yale School of Music and the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal. Since it has been almost four years since Richard-Hamelin’s conquest at the Chopin Competition, it seemed very worthwhile catch up with him to find out how his artistic life has evolved. We thank the Vancouver Chopin Society for this opportunity…See more.

THE GREAT CANADIAN ARTISTS:

AN INTERVIEW WITH CELLIST JOHANNES MOSER

It is becoming increasingly rare for today’s young artists to come from a long musical lineage. For 40-year-old German/Canadian cellist Johannes Moser, however, music has been in his bones from birth – and indeed much before that. His Canadian mother is soprano Edith Wiens, who grew up in the Vancouver area and had a very celebrated international vocal career; his German father Kai Moser was a long-standing cellist in the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Johannes Moser originally won Second Prize in the Tchaikovsky Competition in 2002 and his early collection of CDs for Hänssler Classic did a superb job of bringing more obscure cello sonatas and concertos to light. In 2015, he signed a contract with Pentatone Records, which has yielded widely heralded readings of the Dvorak and Elgar concertos. Two more discs have appeared in 2019: Bernard Rands’ Chains Like the Sea and Works for Cello and Piano by Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn. Moser regularly appears with the world’s finest orchestras and chamber musicians and has been uniformly praised for his tonal precision, range of technique, and the faithfulness of his interpretative judgement. Gramophone deemed him as ‘one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists’. Moser plays a 1694 Andrea Guarneri and is currently Professor at Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln. This interview was an outgrowth of an adventurous morning recital in March 2019 with pianist Chiharu Iinuma, sponsored by Vancouver’s Music in the Morning…See more.

ALEXANDRE KANTOROW – GOLD MEDAL WINNER IN THE 2019 TCHAIKOVSKY INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION

REVIEW: THE VSO100 CLOSING CONCERTS AFFIRM A SPECIAL LEGACY

James Ehnes, Lucy Wang and Nicolas Wright (violin); Peter Wispelwey and Tate Zawadiuk (cello); Ben Heppner (narrator), Vancouver Symphony Orchestra/ Otto Tausk (conductor): Music of Van Der AA, R. Strauss, Schipizky, Coulthard, Bernstein, Morlock, Tchaikovsky and others, Orpheum, June 8 and 11, 2019.

After celebrations at the beginning of the season and even bigger events including the VSO’s ‘Day of Music’ in January 2019, the closing two concerts of the VSO’s centenary year are upon us. The events also marked the successful completion of Music Director Otto Tausk’s initial season with the orchestra. His influence on programming was apparent in the first of these concerts, featuring the North American premiere of Dutch composer Michel van der AA’s akin for solo violin, solo cello and orchestra, as coupled with Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra. The second event was perhaps more important: a splendid ‘gala’ that showcased the orchestra’s history in music and visuals (narrated by the celebrated tenor Ben Heppner), with James Ehnes contributing a scintillating Tchaikovsky concerto at the end…See more.

‘MUSICAL MAGIC’: AN INTERVIEW WITH NORWEGIAN VIOLINIST HENNING KRAGGERUD

There are few artists that convey a greater sense of communication and discovery in the concert hall than Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud. While there is a life-enhancing glow in his appearances, one surmises that his bountiful inspiration must come from somewhere – perhaps from a tradition that stresses experimentation and an almost Renaissance diversity in musical reach. Not only is Kraggerud a beautifully fine-toned and sensitive violin soloist and chamber musician, but also a devoted educator, a play/direct specialist, a (sometimes) violist, and a composer. One might tangentially note some of the same inspiration and independence of purpose in other Norwegian artists, such as pianists Leif Ove Andsnes and Håvard Gimse, violist Lars Anders Tomter, and more recently, violinist Vilde Frang. A prime motivation for this this interview is to understand, first, where this freedom of spirit comes from – and the educational components that may have spawned it – and, second, its implications for a more innovative approach to concert performances and programming. Kraggerud’s more recent compositional projects are also discussed. This interview took place in conjunction with the violinist’s Vancouver Symphony Orchestra appearance in late February 2019, a concert highlighted by Kraggerud and Bernt Simen Lund’s new arrangement of Bach’s Goldberg Variations…See more.

FEATURED INTERVIEW

THE GREAT CANADIAN ARTISTS: AN INTERVIEW WITH MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN

Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin has emerged as one of the marvels of the twenty-first century. There are few living pianists who can match his transparency of articulation, rhythmic and tonal control, and cunning virtuoso strength, and these characteristics have been resoundingly illustrated in his recordings and concert performances of a vast range of 19th and 20th century repertoire. His early – and indeed enduring – contribution lay in bringing technically-challenging works of lesser known and often forgotten composers to public attention, placing them on the world stage in the best light for others to absorb and study. In more recent years, he has brought his interpretative and technical acumen to the more mainline literature  with great success. Hamelin was born in Montreal, and originally studied at the École de Musique Vincent-d'Indy, then at Temple University in Philadelphia. The first turning point in his career was winning the Carnegie Hall International Competition for American Music in 1985. The second, in 1995, was the start of his association with Hyperion Records, which has spawned to date well over 50 esteemed recordings and established him within the world’s élite pianists.  In 2003, Hamelin became an Officer of the Order of Canada and, in 2004, a Chevalier de l'Ordre du Québec…See more.

VANCLASSICAL GOES INTERNATIONAL

In 2014, Vancouver Classical Music established a reciprocal relationship with Seen and Heard International, a division of MusicWeb International – one of the premier classical music review sites in the world.  What this has meant for Vancouver is that all our local reviews and interviews appear world-wide, and are featured alongside those of London, New York, and other music capitals.  For reviews and interviews already published on Seen and Heard, go to this link.

Scroll down to bottom of any review to find to the site’s home page.   Seen and Heard provides a valuable information resource for anyone interested in the international concert scene, international music festivals (such as the BBC Proms) and also provides a direct and up-to-date link to reviews, and breaking news, published in leading newspapers and other online media sites.

AN INTERVIEW WITH RAFAL BLECHACZ

Few pianists have won the Warsaw Chopin Competition as resoundingly as Rafal Blechacz did in 2005. While the pianist’s early Deutsche Grammophon recordings were naturally of Chopin (with some Debussy and Szymanowski), his latest CD (February 2017) is entirely devoted to Bach, and his concert explorations now run the full gamut from Mozart, through Beethoven and Schumann, to Brahms. The pianist received the prestigious Gilmore Artist Award in 2014. These are a most productive developments, and this brief interview attempts to give insight into them. What is apparent in talking with Blechacz is how considered and philosophical an artist he is – not surprising, since he is completing his doctorate in Philosophy. Also, how much he has in common with his friend and celebrated countryman Krystian Zimerman in terms of thinking about piano performance…See more.

INTERVIEW: THE MULTI-TASKED BARRY DOUGLAS AND THE SPIRIT OF IRELAND

Winner of the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in 1986, Barry Douglas has toured the world for the last three decades, bringing distinction and splendour to the wide range of concertos he plays, and taking on innumerable institutional responsibilities as well. That is to be expected from any major competition-winner, but perhaps one of the things which turned out to be closest to the artist’s heart is the founding of his orchestra, the Camerata Ireland, and overseeing his annual Clandeboye Festival, both of which serve as a meeting place for Irish artists in general and young Irish musicians in particular. The other notable happening for the pianist is his recording of the complete solo piano music of Brahms and (in progress) Schubert for Chandos. We sat down to investigate these developments, as well as the pianist’s current inspirations, as part of his visit to Vancouver in November 2017, where he gave a structurally-cogent and often glowing account of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto with conductor Lawrence Renes. Douglas was honoured with the title of ‘Cherniavsky Laureate’ at this appearance with the VSO. He was awarded an OBE in 2002...See more.

JIRI BELOHLAVEK, THE CZECH CONDUCTING TRADITION AND THE CANADIAN LINK

One mourns the very recent passing of Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek (24 February 1946 – 31 May 2017) not only because he was wonderfully discerning musician, but also because he perpetuated a conducting legacy that linked back to the greatest Czech composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.  This tradition fundamentally derived from Václav Talich’s long reign with the Czech Philharmonic up to about 1950, spawning principal successors Karel Ančerl and Václav Neumann.   These maestros distinguished themselves by their natural insight into Czech rhythms and colour, and the lean, pointed and often pungent character of Czech orchestral sound.  This was true of the younger Bělohlávek too but, in my estimation, he eventually communicated something more: the lyrical reach and telling atmosphere in Czech music that coexists with its sharply-etched dramatic profile. Ancerl was Music Director of the Toronto Symphony from 1969-1973, and Bělohlávek was one of the promising Czech conductors who followed him to the city, visiting the TSO with remarkable consistency all the way from 1980 to 2017. He led both the BBC Symphony and the Czech Philharmonic with great aplomb in the last decade...See more.

INTERVIEW: CATCHING UP WITH THE BRITISH PIANO SENSATION BENJAMIN GROSVENOR

British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor has been in the spotlight for over half of his lifetime, having won the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2004 at the age of 10. He was already demonstrating profound maturity in his interpretations and command of the piano at that young age, and Grosvenor has continued to develop over the years. The first British pianist in 40 years to be signed to the Decca label, Grosvenor has now released four albums and continues to tour worldwide with solo recitals, chamber music collaborations, and concerto appearances. Vancouver-based writer Mark Ainley of ‘The Piano Files’ has followed the pianist’s career with special interest, taking in both New York and Vancouver concerts in Grosvenor’s 2017 North American Tour.  His new interview attempts to bring us up to date on the artist’s current thoughts and preoccupations, and his recollection of his experiences growing up with so much acclaim. Benjamin Grosvenor has now made three Vancouver appearances with the Vancouver Recital Society; his debut concert was April 2013....See more.

FEATURED INTERVIEW

THE GREAT CANADIAN ARTISTS: AN INTERVIEW WITH VIOLINIST JAMES EHNES

There are few more celebrated musicians in the world right now than Manitoba-born violinist James Ehnes, and few have failed to succumb to his wonderful tonal luster, silken lyrical lines, and insightful virtuosity. After initial training with Francis Chaplin, the violinist made his solo debut with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal at age 13, following this up with studies with Sally Thomas at Meadowmount and Juilliard (1993-97).  Ehnes won the Peter Mennin Prize upon his Juilliard graduation, and subsequently received the first-ever Ivan Galamian Memorial Award and an Avery Fisher Career Grant (2005), in addition to the highest Canadian honours.  The turning point in Ehnes’ recording career likely came in 2006-2007 when his ‘homegrown’ recording of the Barber, Korngold and Walton concertos with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (under Bramwell Tovey) won both Juno and Grammy awards. This was followed up by the widely-praised Onyx recording of the Elgar Violin Concerto with Sir Andrew Davis.

The past decade has seen a remarkable flood of recordings: the Complete Works for Violin of both Bartok and Prokofiev for Chandos, and the Tchaikovsky, Khachaturian, Shostakovich and Britten concertos, plus a number of violin sonatas and the Paganini Caprices, for Onyx.  The Beethoven Violin Concerto with conductor Andrew Manze is forthcoming.  Alongside the many duo recordings with long-time partner Andrew Armstrong, still more new releases come from the Seattle Chamber Music Society and from the Ehnes Quartet, bringing his total to almost 50 recordings as he approaches his 41st year.  On the occasion of the 2017 Vancouver Symphony Spring Festival, the adventures continued: Ehnes appeared as conductor and violinist in one concert and the violist in the Walton Viola Concerto in another.  With such a bewildering array of talents and accomplishments, one can hardly run out of things to talk about! See more.

FEATURED INTERVIEW: ‘GOING DEEP’ WITH PIANIST KIRILL GERSTEIN

Pianist Kirill Gerstein has become an increasingly esteemed visitor to North American and European concert halls these days, moving quite a distance from his original Gilmore Young Artist’s Award in 2002, his debut recording for Oehms Classics, and the initial intrigue over his jazz training. Gerstein was awarded the coveted Gilmore Artist Award in 2010 and subsequently has produced an enviable string of CD’s for the German company Myrios.  Virtually all of these have received strong acclaim, and include the Brahms Viola Sonatas with Tabea Zimmermann, the 1879 version of the Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto, the Liszt Sonata, and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. His recording of Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes has just been released. Very much in the spotlight, we thought it was time to sit down and really examine the artist’s development. In this interview, we spare niceties and move to some depth in revealing Gerstein’s perspective on his own progress, his repertoire choices and recording experiences, and his personal response to some current tendencies in the culture of classical music and performance.  The interview took place in conjunction with his performance of the Brahms First Piano Concerto with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra under conductor Lahav Shani...See more.

CELEBRATING THE WEST COAST COMPOSERS: JEAN COULTHARD (1908-2000)

By David Gordon Duke (with critical notes by Geoffrey Newman)

This is the first in a series of portraits of West Coast composers, featuring Vancouver composer and former UBC professor Jean Coulthard.  While her work rightly achieved strong and widespread appreciation during her lifetime, she is perhaps gaining even more reverence now. Just a year ago, BBC Radio 3 added Coulthard to its long-running series Composer of the Week – the first Canadian to be so chosen. The BBC has been currently interested in showcasing female composers, but one must presume that it was the sheer scope and quality of her compositions that was ultimately persuasive. Here was a 20th century woman from distant British Columbia who wrote in all the great classical genres, a composer who developed a unique (if conservative) voice, and whose best music has stood the test of time and critical scrutiny.  This article examines Coulthard’s musical background, the distinctive features of her musical voice, and discusses a number of her works performed at an inspired concert at the Canadian Music Centre in Vancouver in early February...See more.

THE REJUVENATION OF THE CANADIAN MUSIC CENTRE: AN INTERVIEW WITH BC REGIONAL DIRECTOR SEAN BICKERTON

The Canadian Music Centre (CMC) has been a most valuable resource for Canadian composers, musicians, and educators ever since it formed in 1959.  It has archived scores and recordings of Canada’s finest compositional efforts, and (since 1981) documented these through its ‘Centrediscs’ recordings, which now total just under 200 releases. It is a cause for celebration that the local CMC-BC has moved forward proactively this year by opening a  40-seat concert hall in downtown Vancouver – the Murray Adaskin Salon – and presenting a four-concert season.  The organization has also furthered educational initiatives and located another B.C. ‘Creative Hub’ in Victoria. All of this is very adventurous, so it seemed worthwhile to sit down with British Columbia Director Sean Bickerton and find out where all the new ‘fire’ came from, how it was all made possible, and how it is progressing so far...See more.

FOUR DECADES OF HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE: AN INTERVIEW WITH VIOLINIST MONICA HUGGETT

If one wanted a broad picture of the evolution of historical performance, with intriguing little nuances revealed along the way, there would be few better musicians to talk to than Monica Huggett.  She has been an unremitting force for four decades, well known early on from her associations with the Academy of Ancient Music and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and these days as Artistic Director of the Portland and Irish Baroque Orchestras, and Adviser to the Juilliard Historical Program.  This interview traces the violinist’s experiences right from her early days when the authentic movement was just gathering momentum.  Most important are her insights about how historical performance has developed out of a number of contrasting approaches that have cross-fertilized each other.  Equally interesting are her ideas on where historical scholarship and performance practice still have room to grow, what she wants to achieve from an orchestra in interpretation, and how she has maintained an undiminished inspiration all this time. The interview took place in conjunction with the Vancouver Bach Festival in August 2016, where Monica Huggett directed the Pacific Baroque Orchestra in the Complete Bach Orchestral Suites...See more.

IN MEMORIAM: SIR NEVILLE MARRINER (15 April 1924 – 2 October 2016): AN APPRECIATION OF A 20TH CENTURY PIONEER

When a great performer reaches their 90’s, one knows that things cannot go on forever.  But when the end finally comes, it is often interesting to note the reevaluations that one makes of a formidable and enterprising musical life. For many of us early on, Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin’s in the Fields was the prolific performing and recording force that knew no bounds, set estimable standards, and managed to achieve success in virtually any repertoire.  Becoming a household name, it became easy to take the Academy for granted and, even by the 1970’s, some critics began to think that the ensemble’s performances had become a little too expert and polished for their own good. Yet the consistency in performance and recording was disarming and, while one seldom received earth-shaking interpretations from Sir Neville, one always got musicality, balance, and judgement – and a refreshing degree of innovation in repertoire and style. The level of technical execution was enviable. In retrospect, Sir Neville’s original objective to set up a small, conductor-less ‘egalitarian’ orchestra in 1958, flexibly bridging chamber music and the orchestral, turned out to be an a path-breaking template for small orchestral design and flexibility...See more.

THE PURSUIT OF DISCOVERY: AN INTERVIEW WITH CONDUCTOR JOHN STORGARDS

Over the last 5 years or so, Finnish conductor John Storgårds name is seemingly everywhere: his compelling performances with the BBC Philharmonic, his Proms appearances, his recent recordings of the complete Sibelius and Nielsen symphonies for Chandos, and many other recordings on Ondine, including his new Zemlinsky.  Yet Maestro Storgårds, now 52, really only picked up a baton just over 20 years ago, spending most of his early career as a violinist and concertmaster.  Even his early focus as a conductor was hardly standard: he endlessly sought out the scores of hitherto-neglected Finnish and Nordic composers, often premiering their works and putting them on record for the first time.  These projects are still ongoing, perhaps even accelerating, and have been sufficiently extensive that the conductor already has over 50 recordings to his name.  While Storgårds currently continues as Artistic Director of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra – an ensemble that is very close to his heart -- the conductor may be at a minor turning point at this moment.  He has just relinquished his post as Music Director of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and, while carrying on as Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, has now added the same appointment with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. Our discussion began with the latter, but quickly moved to the conductor’s general quest for discovery…See more.

FEATURED INTERVIEW: ENTERING THE ECLECTIC UNIVERSE OF PIANIST STEPHEN HOUGH

Having now recorded more than 50 widely-praised CDs, and known throughout the world for his stimulating concerts and vast repertoire, Stephen Hough has probably gained the status of Britain’s foremost pianist.  He is certainly is its most visible.  A unique winner of a MacArthur Fellowship in 2001, and an unrepentant blogger for the past 6 years, he has forged out almost a personal relationship with the international classical music community, offering perspectives on a myriad of topics, both musical and beyond.  At the same time, one can hardly help but be impressed by his eclectic talents, not only as a pianist, but also a composer, and sometimes painter and novelist as well.  This interview aims, like many of its predecessors, to probe and understand this endless variety of accomplishment – and what impels it -- while engaging on the equally difficult task of finding things that the artist has not already commented on.  What is nice about talking with Stephen Hough is that no matter where you start, you seem to go in directions that you didn’t intend, and this can provide a continuing bounty of insight.  So we started from obvious ‘events’: first, his just-released Hyperion recording of Janacek and Scriabin, and soon-to-be-released Dvorak Piano Concerto and, second, his world premiere of his own Piano Sonata No. 3 only a month or so ago.  The interview took place during rehearsals for the Schumann Piano Concerto in Vancouver in November 2015, performed splendidly indeed...See more.

INTERVIEW: MATTHEW WHITE DISCUSSES THE NEW ENERGY AND INTEGRATION IN ‘EARLY MUSIC’ IN THE NORTHWEST

Over the past two decades, 42-year old Matthew White has been one of Canada’s most celebrated counter-tenors, singing at Glyndebourne, the Boston Early Music Festival, the New York City Opera, and also appearing with the Boston Baroque, Les Violons du Roy, and Tafelmusik.  His over 20 CD’s are highlighted by collaborations with Phillipe Herreweghe, Dorothee Mields, and many other distinguished artists, and include his own Montreal-based ensemble Les Voix Baroques, which he directed from 1999 – 2014.  His recording, Elegeia won a 2004 Cannes Classical Award for best new early music solo recording.

Starting in 2011, the singer started restricting his performance engagements, and moved with increased passion into administration.  He assumed the position of Artistic Director of Early Music Vancouver in 2013, succeeding José Verstappen, who had led the organization with distinction for 35 years.  Matthew White has all the youthful energy needed for such a position, and we were interested in finding out how all his art in singing could be transferred to an administrative calling. Catching up with him after a very successful 2015 Vancouver Summer Early Music Festival , this interview reveals the unflagging work Matthew has done to make early music more vibrant and integrated in the Northwest, as well as identifying some of the important economic challenges to doing so...See more.

FEATURED INTERVIEW: THE BORODIN QUARTET SPEAK ON THE SHOSTAKOVICH QUARTETS AND THEIR LEGACY: A CELEBRATION OF THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR

The Borodin Quartet has always been one of the world’s greatest chamber ensembles.  Formed in 1945 with original members that briefly included the likes of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and violist Rudolph Barshai, the string quartet has now gone through three incarnations.  The linking force was cellist Valentin Berlinsky, who was a member of the quartet for 62 years before his retirement in 2007.  The current group is in some respects relatively recent.  First violin Ruben Aharonian and violist Igor Naidin joined in 1996, while cellist Vladimir Balshin took over for Berlinsky in 2007 and second violin Sergei Lomovsky came later in 2011.   Vancouver was fortunate to be the only city in North America where the ensemble performed the entire quartet cycle: the works were played in consecutive order over five evenings this May. One reason for this celebration was doubtlessly that Eric Wilson, Artistic Director of Vancouver’s Friends of Chamber Music, had also invited the ensemble to perform the 11 then-written quartets in the much tougher times of the late 1960s. We were able to sit down with the Borodin Quartet between their second and third performances and talk all things Shostakovich.  I thought this was a remarkably relaxed and wide ranging interview, and we were fortunate that violist Igor Naidin could communicate the essence of the group’s thoughts in English...See more.

THE GREAT CANADIAN ARTISTS: AN INTERVIEW WITH PIANIST ANGELA HEWITT

Angela Hewitt grew up in Ottawa, beginning her piano studies at the age of three.  She gave her first full-length recital at the age of nine at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where she studied from 1964 to 1973.  She later studied with Jean-Paul Sevilla at the University of Ottawa.  The pianist is now universally recognized for her path-breaking series of recordings of Bach’s keyboard works for Hyperion which began in 1994 and finished in 2005.  She recorded the ultimate masterpiece, The Art of the Fugue, in 2014.  Between those dates, many new discs of Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Debussy, Fauré, and others were also released.  In 2005, Angela Hewitt launched the Trasimeno Music Festival in Umbria near Perugia, of which she is Artistic Director.  A 10th anniversary concert takes place in London this spring.  The pianist is also an Ambassador for The Leading Note Foundation’s ’Orkidstra’: a social engagement and development program in Ottawa’s inner city. Angela Hewitt was named ‘Artist of the Year’ at the 2006 Gramophone Awards and was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of the same year. She was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000...See more.

ARTICLE: THE RISE OF THE FEMALE CONDUCTOR

One of the outstanding trends over the past thirty years is the strides that women have made in gaining education and skills, allowing them to enter many new fields with high qualifications.  With some success, women have been able to penetrate many of the world’s symphony orchestras too.  However, there has long been resistance, especially in Europe, to the idea that female musicians could gain the ultimate prize: an appointment as Principal Conductor and Music Director of a major orchestra.  Indeed, it was not that many years ago that the illustrious Herbert von Karajan resigned from the Berlin Philharmonic over the orchestra’s refusal to allow the appointment of a single female instrumentalist: clarinetist Sabine Meyer.  And up to only a decade ago, the Vienna Philharmonic simply did not accept female appointments at any position...See more.

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2019-2020 Postings

Review: The Joys Of Angela Hewitt’s ‘Bach Odyssey’ At UBC

Review: Paul Lewis And Steven Osborne Sparkle In The French 4-Hand Repertoire

Review: New Adventures For Marc-André Hamelin And The Doric String Quartet

The Great Canadian Artists: An Interview With Pianist Louis Lortie

Review: A Barber Of Seville Propelled By The Singing Of Its Leads

Review: The Faust-Queyras-Melnikov Trio’s Beethoven Brings Mixed Results

Review: Patrician Insight From Gidon Kremer In A Wide-Ranging VSO Concert

Review: A Pathbreaking And Splendid ‘The Passenger’ From UBC Opera

Review: An Evening Of French Variety With Jun Märkl

Review: The 2020 VSO New Music Festival Finds Range And Cinematic Variety

Review: Bruce Dickey And His Soloists Find A Rich Venetian Splendour

Best Musical Events of 2019

Review: Sheku Kanneh-Mason Continues To Awe And Delight In His Return Visit

Interview: Touching Base With Russian Pianist Zlata Chochieva

Review: Constantin Trinks And The VSO Welcome The Christmas Season In Style

Review: Otto Tausk’s Quest For Authentic Style Pays Dividends In Mozart’s Requiem And Schubert

Review: Ton Koopman: Full Of Energy And Spirit At 75

Review: Zlata Chochieva Showcases Her Stunning Chopin And Rachmaninoff

Review: The ‘Magic’ Of Albrecht Mayer’s Oboe

Review: The Z.E.N. Trio: Seekers Of Musical Truth

Review: A La Traviata That Entices And Sparkles As It Should

Review: The Beautifully-Toned Bennewitz Quartet Carry On A Czech Tradition

Review: Daniil Trifonov Leads The VSO Forward Into Its 101st Season

Review: Local Opera To Begin The Season: Beauty’s Beast Offers Another Take On The Classic Fantasy

2019-2020 Concert Season Preview

Review: Superb Purcell And Handel Close Out The 2019 Bach Festival

Review: The Vancouver Bach Choir Adds New Luster To The 2019 EMV Festival

Review: Radiant Singing In The Cantatas Takes The First Week Of The 2019 Vancouver Bach Festival To Its Heights

The Up-and-Coming Canadian Artists: An Interview With Pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin

The Great Canadian Artists: An Interview With Cellist Johannes Moser

2018-2019 POSTINGS

Review: The VSO100 Closing Concerts Affirm A Special Legacy

Review: Kamio And Akiyama’s VSO Concert Mixes Gentleness With Energy

Review: Tchaikovsky And Louis Lortie’s Beethoven Highlight Bramwell Tovey’s Return

‘Musical Magic’: An Interview With Norwegian Violinist Henning Kraggerud

Review: Jonathan Darlington Directs An Inspired Faust True To Its Spirit

Review: A Well-Sung And Entertaining Cenerentola From Vancouver Opera

Review: Pianist Nelson Goerner Returns With A Recital Of Variety And Strength

Review: Jonathan And Jan-Paul Roozeman Display Their Synergies In A Wide-Ranging Cello Recital

Review: Otto Tausk Lives Up To His Mozart Challenge

Review: Sterling Beethoven From David Kadouch

Review: Kristian Bezuidenhout And The Chiaroscuro Quartet Combine For Lovely Mozart And Less Than Satisfying Schubert

Review: VSO New Music: ‘The Resounding Earth’

Review: Paul Lewis Completes His Haydn-Beethoven-Brahms Sojourn With Great Fortitude

Review: The Danish Quartet’s Battle With Beethoven

Review: Henning Kraggerud Gives A Concert Of Great Charm And Innovation

Review: The Astonishing Filippo Gorini Leads Forth The ‘Next Generation’ Pianists

Review: Chad Hoopes And Eivind Gullberg Jensen Find New Magic In The Dvorak Violin Concerto

Review: A Commendable But Not Fully Consuming Bohème From Vancouver Opera

Review: The King’s Singers Delight With Virtuosity And Variety

Review: The Prazak And Zemlinsky Quartets Come Together For A Special Concert

Review: The VSO100 Birthday Celebrations And The 2019 New Music Festival

Review: Visuals Outdo The Music In Tafelmusik’s ‘Circle Of Creation’

Review: A Striking Vancouver Debut For The Ehnes Quartet

The Great Canadian Artists: An Interview With Marc-André Hamelin

Review: Masaaki Suzuki And Bach Collegium Japan Take Us Into Their Private World

Review: Yefim Bronfman Brings Life-Enhancing Strength And Cohesion To Brahms

Review: Baiba Skride And Otto Tausk Find Illumination In Gubaidulina And Tchaikovsky

Review: A Very Special Lieder Recital From Simon Keenlyside And Malcolm Martineau

Review: Music On Main’s Modulus Festival Extends The New Music Bounty Of The Fall

Review: Igor Levit’s Intimate Journey Through ‘Life’

Review: A Very Impressive Showing From Conductor Xian Zhang

Review Article: The Power Of The Contemporary String Quartet: A Splendid Quartetti Festival From Vancouver New Music

Review: Karen Gomyo Brings Striking Coherence And Feeling To The Brahms Violin Concerto

Review: A Vibrant Merry Widow Opens Vancouver Opera’s 2018-2019 Season

Review: Radiant Beauty And Delight From The Jerusalem Quartet And Friends

Review: Evgeny Kissin And The Art Of The Piano

Review: Otto Tausk Finds His Stride With Beethoven’s 7th

Review: Enrico Onofri And Pacific Baroque Bring Wonderful Strength And Feeling To Vivaldi

Review: Renee Fleming, The Jussen Brothers And Otto Tausk Kick Off The VSO’s Centenary Year

Review: A Successful Nigredo Hotel From City Opera Vancouver

Review: Pacific Baroque And Gli Angeli Geneve Close Out The Bach Festival In Style

Review: Gli Angeli Geneve Brings A Rich Red Wine To Inform Bach’s Cantatas

Review: Angela Hewitt Further Distills The Greatness Of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier

‘The Joy And Eagerness Of Youth’: An Interview With The Gesualdo Six

Review: The First Canadian Tour Of ‘The Gesualdo Six’ Yields Ample Delights