Concerts

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18January

SCRUTINY | Lucas Debargue Dazzles Sold-Out Audience In His Toronto Recital Debut

Lucas Debargue, piano. Scarlatti, six Sonatas; Ravel, Gaspard de la nuit; Nicolai Medtner, Sonata in G Minor, Op. 22; Liszt’s After a Reading of Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata, S.109. Koerner Hall, Jan. 16, 2020. Every once in a while a young pianist emerges who can challenge established ideas of performance and interpretation. It is usually […]

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05November

SCRUTINY | Diva Hibla Gerzmava Makes A Grand Entrance In Toronto Solo Recital Debut

Songs by Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Hahn, and Faure; arias by Donizetti, Verdi, and Bellini. Hibla Gerzmava, soprano; Ekaterina Ganelina, piano. Show One Productions. 7 p.m. Koerner Hall, Toronto, November 3, 2019. “She came, she sang, she conquered” may sound a bit like the PR hyperbole of an artist agency, but to those of us […]

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18October

SCRUTINY | Russian Pianist Denis Matsuev Dazzles In Impressive Program Of Liszt And Tchaikovsky

Liszt: Sonata in B minor; Liszt: Mephisto Waltz; Tchaikovsky: Dumka “Scenes from a Russian Village” opus 59; Tchaikovsky: Grand Sonata in G major, opus 37. Denis Matsuev, piano. Koerner Hall, 8 p.m., Oct. 17, 2019. Renowned Russian pianist Denis Matsuev was back in Toronto Thursday night, but instead of coming to conquer the audience, as he so […]

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06May

Boris Eifman delves into another Russian artist’s torment in Tchaikovsky. PRO et CONTRA

Ballet and opera fans, be forewarned. You may never be able to look at such classics as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades quite the same way after witnessing celebrated Boris Eifman’s searing dance psychodrama, Tchaikovsky. PRO et CONTRA. But that’s no reason to deny yourselves the thrill of experiencing the celebrated Russian choreographer’s unique blend of […]

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02May

Eifman’s Ballet – Symphony of Passion

И снова – Чайковский… Tрудно представить себе человека, которому не было бы знакомо имя Петра Ильича Чайковского. Музыкальные произведения, созданные гением великого русского композитора, стали частью мировой культуры. Но дано ли нам, живущим ныне, понять, что творилось в его мятущейся душе? Как пытался он выразить это в музыке, почти два столетия поражающей воображение слушателей? Ответ на […]

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12November

SCRUTINY | Mariinsky Orchestra Invades Toronto In A Night To Remember

The Mariinsky Orchestra with Valery Gergiev (conductor) Denis Matsuev (soloist) at Roy Thomson Hall on Friday. Many of us had waited for months anticipating conductor Valery Gergiev’s return to Roy Thomson Hall Friday night to pilot the sleek-engined Mariinsky Orchestra through an all-Russian program.  Gergiev is not only arguably the foremost Russian conductor of our time, with […]

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24March

What does Dmitry Masleev sound like? Brilliant: review

Winner of Tchaikovsky Competition gold makes Canadian debut with a piano recital master class. Dmitry Masleev At Koerner Hall on March 22 A little bit of history was made at Koerner Hall on Wednesday, with the Canadian debut of 28-year-old Russian pianist Dmitry Masleev. Since winning gold at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2015, audiences […]

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23January

Buried Soviet-Era Yiddish Tunes Come to Life

Thousands of Yiddish song lyrics, stored for decades in sealed boxes in the basement of the Ukrainian National Library, have given us the rare opportunity to look into the world of Yiddish-speaking Soviet Jewry during the Holocaust era. Some 2.7 million Soviet Jews died during the Holocaust years, but until the boxes were discovered in […]

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21January

Re-discovered Yiddish songs performed in Richmond Hill

Premiere of all-star singers is Jan. 27 Richmond Hill Liberal In a dramatic discovery, fit for Hollywood, University of Toronto professor Anna Shternshis found thousands of long-lost Yiddish songs buried deep in the archives. None have been performed in nearly 70 years. Until now. These songs dated to 1947, all composed or sung during the […]

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02May

Renowned Russian Violinist to Perform in Toronto

In honour of Toronto-based impresario Svetlana Dvoretsky’s 10th year showcasing mainly Russian artists, violinist Vladimir Spivakov and the Moscow Virtuosi chamber orchestra will be in concert May 9 at Roy Thomson Hall. Spivakov and the Moscow Virtosi will perform classical works by Mozart, Shostakovich, Piazzolla and Tchaikovsky. After a chance meeting with Spivakov in downtown […]

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