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Edward Gardner Conducts the TSO

11/30/2013

Alison Balsom played Hummel with the TSO.

English conductor Edward Gardner is obviously a brave man. Who but the courageous would dare to step before an orchestra he (or she) has never led in concert before, to conduct something as daunting as a Mahler symphony?

Yet as I left Wednesday night’s Toronto Symphony Orchestra concert at Roy Thomson Hall, I couldn’t help thinking that Gardner had once again shown discretion to be the better part of valour.

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Yo-Yo Ma at Roy Thomson Hall

11/24/2013

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Stott and Ma : great musicians who don't always agree.

Toronto’s cavernous Roy Thomson Hall is an unlikely place for something as intimate as a cello-and-piano recital. But on Friday evening, the cellist in question was none other than Yo-Yo Ma – and so RTH was filled to near capacity.

At 58, Ma is a unique figure in the musical world: a cross between Mstislav Rostropovich and the Dali Lama. He’s probably is the most famous classical string player active today (How do all the violinists out there feel about that?) And he’s a showman – smiling broadly to his audience, or leaning back in his chair and gazing into the rafters, to commune with the composer of the moment. He may not always play every note perfectly in tune (he didn’t on this occasion), but every phrase he plays is bursting with its own special, imperative meaning.

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Miró Quartet Plays in Toronto

11/23/2013

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The Miró Quartet.

The Miró Quartet was in town on Thursday night, presented by Music Toronto at the St. Lawrence Centre. And in their gig bags they brought plenty of Schubert.

In case you don’t know, the Mirós are currently celebrating their tenth anniversary in residence at the University of Texas in Austin. They were founded in 1995 at Oberlin College, in Ohio.

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Bernard Labadie in Kansas City

11/22/2013

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Conductor Bernard Labadie.

Here’s a piece I wrote about conductor Bernard Labadie. It appeared in last week’s Kansas City Star, prior to his appearances with the KC Symphony.

Bernard Labadie often lives out of a suitcase, much like a salesman or a consultant or a diplomat. He isn’t in any of those three professions, though as a guest conductor he must do all of them. Stepping in front of an unfamiliar orchestra demands a salesman’s instincts, a consultant’s problem-solving skills and a healthy dose of diplomacy.

“I’d say I spend about 60 percent of my time guest-conducting,” said the 50-year-old French Canadian, in a recent interview from a New York hotel. “I’m on the road close to six months a year.”

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Midori at Koerner Hall

11/12/2013

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Midori played as few can.

There are very few violinists in the world who could pull off the sort of recital that Midori played at Toronto’s Koerner Hall on Friday evening.

It was an eclectic but high-minded evening of music for violin and piano by Mozart, Bloch, Hindemith, Fauré and Schubert. And while the program sometimes placed daunting demands on the soloist, the focus was always on the music itself. There was nothing ostentatious about her performances.

In this, she was well matched by her pianist, Özgür Aydin.
Throughout the evening, Aydin proved to be an ideal accompanist, completely simpatico with Midori’s interpretations. It wasn’t hard to see why Midori chose him as her pianist.

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Edward Gardner Conducts the TSO

Yo-Yo Ma at Roy Thomson Hall

Miró Quartet Plays in Toronto

Bernard Labadie in Kansas City

Midori at Koerner Hall

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