Q&A: Heather Flemming, Contralto
This is how I first heard of Heather Flemming: the Belgian public radio station has been live-commenting the Queen Elisabeth singing competition back in May (Camille de Rijck was behind the Musiq3...
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My interview with the great Margaret Drabble now online over on The Believer web exclusives: The Believer: The golden baby of your novel has a mother who decided to give up a lot. The mother in The Ice...
View ArticleJohn Eliot Gardiner: Bach – Music in the Castle of Heaven
By Kerry Wall “The author talks about himself in the biography?!”, a friend asked incredulously after I summarized for him the first chapter of Music in the Castle of Heaven: A Portrait of Johann...
View ArticleThe Human Passions
The 15-16 season opener The Human Passions with Tafelmusik under the returning guest director Rodolfo Richter was a good mix: a Francesco Maria Veracini overture in four movements, two Handel arias for...
View ArticleHave you heard the one about an atheist walking into a Messiah performance
As somebody who doesn’t believe in the Trinitarian God, the resurrection, and the Judgment Day, I’ve sometimes struggled to feel close to or give meaning to the texts of many of my favourite musical...
View ArticleI have seen the future of the baroque concert, and it is programmed by Alison...
I’ve read good things about Tafelmusik’s multi-media, through-themed concerts, but did not know how special they are until I finally went to one this Friday. Safe Haven, programmed again by...
View ArticleSongs pastoral, songs nocturnal
Toronto Masque Theatre is playing its third last show ever at the historical Enoch Turner House Feb 8-10 and I was there last night. (There’s still the Shaftesbury Avenue salon on April 23 and the...
View ArticleArt song recital in Toronto, AD 2100?
Here’s my March art song column in this month’s Whole Note. It looks better in print, as always, so do grab a copy somewhere. It is, as usual, free and priceless. + + + On a pleasantly cold February...
View ArticleLeipzig and Damascus Meet Again
Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House, one of Alison Mackay’s most popular and talked about programs for Tafelmusik, is about to travel to the US and I wonder what Americans will take...
View ArticleAngela Hewitt in Goldberg Variations
There is a scene in Ian McEwan’s Saturday in which Angela Hewitt makes an appearance — indirectly, in a recording. The protagonist, an haute bourgeois surgeon Dr Perowne, likes listening to classical...
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Fugue State
the printed program The Happenstancers strike again. A shape-shifting ensemble of musicians formed around clarinetist (not to mention visual artist) Brad Cherwin recently concluded their first proper...
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