Dr. Colin Eatock, composer
  • Home
  • About Colin Eatock
  • Composing
  • Catalogue of works
  • Writing about music
  • Eatock Daily (blog)
  • New and upcoming
  • Contact me

Christian Gerhaher at Koerner Hall

2/27/2015

0 Comments

 
PictureBaritone Christian Gerhaher.
This article was originally written for the Musical Toronto website (here).

Once in a blue moon, I hear a song recital that makes me question the purpose of all other forms and genres of music.

As I sit, mesmerized and delighted by what I’m hearing, I may say to myself, “What is the purpose of elaborate scenery, costumes and lighting? And what do we need with a phalanx of strings, or a barrage of brass, or a conductor flailing around on a podium? All that’s needed to achieve the full breadth and depth of musical expression is a singer and a piano.”



Read More
0 Comments

Die Walküre at the COC

2/22/2015

0 Comments

 
PictureA scene from the COC's Die Walküre Photo: Michael Cooper.
It’s hard to believe that almost a decade has passed since the Canadian Opera Company opened the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. And what an opening it was! – with Canada’s first fully staged production of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen.

The COC’s current production of Die Walküre is the first we’ve seen of the company’s Ring since the 2006 cycle. And, after seeing the revival on Thursday evening (Feb. 19), I’m pleased to say that it has returned in grand style.



Read More
0 Comments

East Meets West at New Music Concerts

2/19/2015

3 Comments

 
PictureChinese composers Fuoung Shi.
This review was originally written for the Classical Voice North America website (here).

Toronto certainly doesn’t lack for contemporary music presenters. One of the oldest is New Music Concerts, a chamber music series now in its 44th season under the artistic direction of flutist, conductor, and composer Robert Aitken.

Back in the early 1970s, New Music Concerts was all about modernism. Prominent figures in the European avant-garde were brought to Toronto for its events: Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Iannis Xenakis, Witold Lutosławski, and many others. A few Americans showed up, including John Cage and George Crumb. Canadian modernists were also featured, such as Bruce Mather, Gilles Tremblay and R. Murray Schafer.



Read More
3 Comments

A Composer's Life: Claude Vivier

2/18/2015

2 Comments

 
PictureClaude Vivier.
This book review originally appeared on the website Wolfgang’s Tonic (here).

It’s not surprising to see that a biography of the Canadian composer Claude Vivier has finally appeared. What is surprising, perhaps, is that it was written by an Irish musicologist based in England, the late Bob Gilmore (who sadly passed away in January) – and that it was brought out by an American publisher, the University of Rochester Press.



Read More
2 Comments

Tcherniakov's Don Giovanni at the COC

2/13/2015

0 Comments

 
PictureA scene from the COC's Don Giovanni. Photo: Michael Cooper.
So here’s the thing about “Konzept” opera productions. Sometimes they are brilliantly insightful flights of imagination, offering a fresh and apt look at an old masterwork. And sometimes they are train-wrecks.

The Canadian Opera Company’s current production of Don Giovanni is a train-wreck. And like any good train-wreck, it’s disastrous in a spectacular way.



Read More
0 Comments

The Maestro and the Master: Premiere Screening

2/12/2015

0 Comments

 
PictureJack Diamond and Valery Gergiev.
This review was originally written for the Musical Toronto website.

Jack Diamond isn’t a musician – but he’s been a big influence on the classical music scene in Toronto. Many opera fans will recognize him as the architect of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, where the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet of Canada perform.



Read More
0 Comments

Toronto Consort, under Lucas Harris

2/9/2015

0 Comments

 
PictureLucas Harris, with his theorbo.
This review was originally written for the Musical Toronto website.

So what was music like in the Austrian court, back in the 1600s? Turns out, it was really quite marvellous – according to the evidence presented in the Toronto Consort’s program at Trinity-St. Paul’s United Church on Friday night (Feb. 6)
.


Read More
0 Comments

    Eatock Daily

    I'm a composer based in Toronto – and this is my classical music blog, Eatock Daily.

    When I first started blogging, Eatock Daily was a place to re-post the articles I wrote for Toronto’s Globe and Mail and National Post newspapers, the Houston Chronicle, the Kansas City Star and other publications.

    But now I have stepped back from professional music journalism, and I'm spending more time composing.

    These days, my blog posts are infrequent, and are mostly concerned with my own music. However, I do still occasionally post comments on musical topics, including works I've discovered, enjoyed, and wish to share with others.


    – CE

    Archives

    March 2022
    July 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    June 2020
    September 2019
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011

    Index

    Click here for an alphabetical list of blog entries.

    RSS Feed

    Follow colineatock on Twitter
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.