Dr. Colin Eatock, composer
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Opera Atelier's Return of Ulysses

4/29/2018

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PicturePenelope (Mireille Lebel) is beset with suitors in the Return of Ulysses.
For most of its 35 years, Opera Atelier has maintained a remarkable consistency in its high artistic standards. And a happy by-product of this state of affairs is the fact that the Toronto’s “period” baroque opera company has built up a substantial repertoire of productions worthy of re-mounting.
 
One of these is Monteverdi’s Return of Ulysses, which returned to the Elgin Theatre this month, eleven years after it received its OA premiere. And while eleven years may seem like a long time to wait, it’s worth remembering that poor Penelope had to wait much longer for her Ulysses to return to her. That, of course, is the kernel of the story that composer Claudio Monteverdi and his librettist Giacomo Badoaro told in their opera of 1640: Ulysse’s struggles to find his way back to Ithaca from the Trojan War, and Penelope’s struggles to fend off an increasingly bold gang of suitors until he does.



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Esprit's "Taiko Plus"

4/19/2018

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PictureCanadian composer Chris Paul Harman.
Toronto’s Esprit Orchestra’s 35th season certainly ended with a bang on Sunday evening (Apr. 15) – with the new-music ensemble sharing the stage of Koerner Hall with nine taiko drummers, in a program called “Taiko Plus.” To be sure, a piece like Maki Ishii’s furiously percussive Mono-Prism for taiko ensemble and orchestra can’t fail to make a big impression – but first, I want to talk about another piece on the program.
 
The world premiere of Chris Paul Harman’s … with silver bells and cockle shells … wasn’t nearly as loud as Mono-Prism, but it was impressive in many other ways. The piece is a song-cycle, sung by soprano Shannon Mercer, based on such familiar nursery rhymes as “Hush Little Baby,” and “Jack and Jill.” They are short – sometimes arrestingly so, as with “Hickory Dickory Dock,” which felt about 30 seconds long.



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The Pulitzer, and what classical music needs to do

4/18/2018

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PictureLamar's album won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Among the many “breakthroughs” that have followed in the wake of Kendrick Lamar’s 2018 Pulitzer Prize for the album Damn is the fact that a hip-hop artist is now being discussed in classical music circles. “What are we to make of this development?”, various classical-music commentators, practitioners and enthusiasts are asking. Is this a good thing? Or a bad thing? Or what?
 
I’ve noticed that some classical types have been careful to sound respectful and inclusive when discussing this issue. Perhaps fearful of being labelled “elitist,” or hoping that just a little bit of hip-hop’s coolness might rub off on them, they praise Damn for its musical craft, sophistication and cultural authenticity, and say supportive things about Lamar’s prize-win. (See here, here or here.)



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Elmer Iseler remembered, after two decades

4/17/2018

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PictureElmer Iseler, with his choir.
It was a worthy idea to present a concert to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death Canadian choral conductor Elmer Iseler. And Saturday (Apr. 14) night’s concert, at Toronto’s Eglinton St. George’s United Church, had all the ingredients of a glowing acknowledgement of the man founded the first professional choir in Canada: the Elmer Iseler Singers.
 
The Iseler Singers were there, as the musical foundation of the evening, led by Lydia Adams, the EIS’s music director since 1998. And also present were several composers who wrote choral music for the choir, David Jaeger (formerly of CBC Radio) who acted as emcee, and members of the Iseler family. As well, there was a slide-show up on a big screen throughout the evening, showing photos of Iseler (young, with lots of hair; older, with not so much) leading choirs large and small.



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    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

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