Few things are as delightful as accomplished, stylish drag performance, and in an uncertain world, it’s a considerable relief that we can still count on Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo to deliver a flawless, high tone, high-test performance every time. With a well-established repertoire of ballet classics, the venerable all-male comic ballet troupe remains in excellent […]
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, founded by aficionados in 1974, has become a veritable institution. Established in New York, the company is only Monegasque by name; the offbeat, comical version of the classical ballet it offers, in parody and in drag, quickly found an echo in the media and among the public. Imagine a […]
One of the art world’s most iconic geniuses is getting a huge digital exhibit in Toronto dedicated to his work. In three months’ time, the sprawling installation Immersive Van Gogh will hit the city—an abandoned five-storey building in downtown Toronto, to be precise. Inspired by the artworks of the prolific post-impressionist Dutch painter, Immersive Van Gogh will take visitors […]
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 […]
“I never thought of music as a job,” says pianist Lucas Debargue. Job? No. Glittering career? Most certainly, for the 29-year-old French pianist who is something of a media sensation. He’s kicking off 2020 with concert dates in Toronto, Montreal, and New York City, bouncing across the Atlantic from Boston to France and Italy, and […]
It was one of a few surprising comments. Lucas Debargue, speaking from his home in Paris, said he was not particularly disappointed by his failure to win the International Tchaikovsky Competition of 2015. He was, indeed, rather happy with his fourth-place finish – behind five other contestants, keeping in mind the ex-aequo results – regardless of the […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
