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The Urban Jungle
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Urban Shocker's Neighbourhood Watch

It was quite busy last Sunday. My mother and I finally gave up trying to see the Book of the Dead - too many people around it. The only decent visuals are in the middle section, anyway. Also - to use one of my favourite lines - I was expecting something bigger.

Perhaps if they search the vaults long enough they'll solve the mystery of where Ambrose Small disappeared to?
 
Urban Shocker said:
It was quite busy last Sunday. My mother and I finally gave up trying to see the Book of the Dead - too many people around it. The only decent visuals are in the middle section, anyway. Also - to use one of my favourite lines - I was expecting something bigger.

Perhaps if they search the vaults long enough they'll solve the mystery of where Ambrose Small disappeared to?
Click to expand...

You're right about the only decent visuals being confined to the centre section. However, I find that it's this sort of artefact, where I can see those long-ago hands writing on the papyrus, that resonates with me the most. Even in its sorry state, this Book of the Dead communicates across the centuries. Yesterday, there were few people about so I got to take a good look. I couldn't quite figure out why there had been such a queue at the entrance desk; staff cut backs? Zoomed right past them anyway; membership DOES have its privileges.

And speaking of staff, I asked after Mr. Small on your behalf; they thought he might be a part of the janitorial crew, but when they looked, all they could find was a reference to a Ms. Amelia Earhart, employed in the catering department. They're putting her on display next month, in their "From the Kitchens" exhibit.;)
 
Hi all.

I've been far too busy lately to post anything, lately. I, like some others here, am concerned with an elderly (and very dear) mother who needs my time lately. Oh, and I've also got some in-laws who need attention (I hope you can appreciate the way I have written this paragraph ;) ).

I think the best of the culture season is yet to come for me. I get to hear my favourite work, Bruckner's 8th, near the end of April, and Mahler's 6th in May. Oundjian and TSO acquitted themselves beautifully in Bruckner's 4th (international critics praised the recording while the Toronto critic found a way to trash it) and Oundjian will conduct Bruckner's 8th. Now, as for the Mahler, well, Herbig will conduct. It is true that I haven't liked Herbig's two most recent efforts over the TSO, but Mahler 6th is his best piece, so I expect better this time around. At the opera, honestly, I am looking forward to La Boheme, I can't begin to say how much, and yes, it is a chestnut I know, I know.

Will hear Yannick Nezet-Sequin this coming Thursday. Does he have to choose Prokofiev's 5th? It's a great piece, a race horse, and a show-off piece to be sure, but there are other really excellent Prokofiev symphonies, like the 3rd and the 6th. I love the conductor but honestly, chestnuts chestnuts, give me something new. Oh, well, a young conductor shows off his stuff by doing the party pieces.

Just an observation about the two conductors Yannick Nezet-Sequin and Peter Oundjian: young YNS does Brahms (an older person's forte) better than Oundjian; Oundjian's Bruckner surpasses that of YNS. YNS will do some Bruckner next season with TSO -- let's see how fast he grows.
 
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You can borrow my Mum for a few months, if you want.

I do wish Oundjian would stop pronouncing Nezet as "Nezzett" on those radio ads.

I'm off to see my man Yannick on Saturday night - and on Sunday at the church. He could conduct the phone book as far as I'm concerned - a couple of seasons back he got the TSO to do some loopy bwahaha! Scriabin thing and it sounded as plausible as all get-out. His recording of Bruckner's 9th is pretty good, I think.

Tomorrow night I'm seeing Grupo Corpo at the Fleck Dance Theatre. That ought to kick old man winter out the door.
 
... and it sure did!

The first half was 1994's Seven or Eight Pieces for a Ballet - loose and limber and sensual and mindlessly bobble-headedly happy at times, mechanical and repetitive at others - with the 16 dancers in body-fitting leotards in bright green, and yellow, and purple, and ochre, and stripes ... and cheery music, and plenty of humour, and bright spotlights in colours that echoed the costumes.

The second half was 2007's Breu - dark and antagonistic, with a shiny black set and the dancers in black-and-white leotards, writhing on the floor, one tangled couple crawling around between other standing couples and trying to break free of one-another, another group in a heap on the floor and struggling upwards, supporting one-another, collapsing - exhausting for the audience to watch let alone for the dancers to perform.
 
If you have tickets to Saturday night's Toronto Symphony Orchestra concert you are in for a totally fabulous evening out.

How do I begin to count the ways that Thursday's was a fabulous concert? For starters, all participants (conductor, pianist and orchestra) showed a total mastery of the music at hand.

The best of it (for me) was listening to Louie Lortie work magic in the two Ravel piano concertos, the G Major one and the 'Left Hand' D Major one. I've used the word "mastery" here already but it bears repeating. And Lortie is playing a Fazioli piano, possibly the best sounding piano I've ever heard in my life. The first half of the concert was for me the sublime part of the evening.

After intermission came the powerhouse Prokofiev Symphony 5, well executed all around. I've heard this thing live countless times and YNS provided a "probing" interpretation; I believe he really appreciates the disonance that is written into this work, and he seemed to bring that aspect out more than other conductors do, or at least the ones I've heard. A gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous effort from the TSO in this; the orchestra seems to have a Russian soul when they need it and that was really on show on Thursday night.

I loved the starting piece, Alborada del gracioso (Ravel) also.

How does this concert rate against others? For me, this concert is up there with the Mahler 3rd that opened the current season -- a "wonderful whopper".

Special note to US -- we don't like the Bach St. Johns Passion so we won't be going to hear YNS conduct it on Sunday. If it were the St. Matthew, now that would be something else. Do enjoy your TSO Saturday night, and the Bach also.
 
Thanks for the review, Tony!

Yannick conducted their St. Matthew Passion last year ( Russell Braun was replaced ) to great audience acclaim.

http://www.yannicknezetseguin.com/concert_bach.pdf

Elizabeth Turnbull, in the St. Matthew, was also tremendous as the mean, murderous Mom in the Queen of Puddings's recent Inez at Harbourfront. They were a small cast, in a short run, in a smallish venue - I saw the closing concert - and they gave it everything, and were obviously quite moved by being part of this gem of a production, when they took their bows.
 
You're welcome, Urban Shocker. I meant to add that the hall was 100%, which felt nice. Of course, during the Prokofiev symphony, a little old couple seated in the very front row walked out during the pause between the 2nd and 3rd movements -- they looked shaken by what was going on. I guess "this Prokofiev Stuff" isn't for everyone. So, it wasn't a 100% hall after that, was it? (YNS paused long enough to allow them to exit, nice of him don't you think?).

I sat up in 2nd tier, off to the side, for this concert, and I think I'll treat myself to better seats in future. The sound was okay up there, however it had lost some its meat by the time it reached my ears. I will stick to orchestra or mezzanine locations in future, especially for premium concerts like this one.
 
Robert Everett-Green in the Globe mildly trashed this concert in today's Globe, same performance I attended. Hard to believe we were there same night, actually.
 
I should've paid more attention when I booked my season - we didn't get the G Major on Saturday, though the Left Hand was swell. Jean-Yves Thibaudet is also doing it next February when Yannick returns with his Rotterdam band. The opening Ravel - Alborada del gracioso - was a lovely little treat, too. Then, without intermission, we went straight into the Prokofiev. A great evening, though not a transcendently rare one.

Sunday afternoon at St. George's was, for me, the high point of the weekend. Though soprano Monica Whicher had the flu, her replacement - young Agnes Zsigovics - was magical, with a crystal clear sound that floated and soared. Norine Burgess had a cold, apparently, though you wouldn't know it. Young tenor Antonio Figueroa was also a revelation. Dennis Giesbrecht and Giles Tomkins ( recently in Ines ) were faultless. The choir, the TSO players and the soloists worked a spell over the full house, thanks to Yannick's conducting sorcery. The weather perked up, too, and the stained glass windows glowed as the afternoon progressed.

edit: spelling!
 
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Renée Fleming -Roy Thomson Hall

I will admit that I'd listen to Renée Fleming sing from the phone book and I got a lot of that last night. She opened with a selection of arias from Handel (lovely),then went into a series of songs by Henri Dutilleux, a composer still at work in his 93rd year. She has a close relationship with this man; the songs were written especially for her. I can only hope that, at his age, he won't be able to write too many more of them. Then she sang another group of songs by Olivier Messiaen, followed (after the intermission) by "A Letter from Sullivan Ballou", a an American Civil War soldier who wrote the letter to his wife just before dying on the battle field. I remembered this famous letter from the Ken Burns series on the Civil War and thought it suffered from being put to music. The last part of the concert was devoted to songs by Richard Strauss; Fleming is a rightly famous interpreter of his music and showed us why she's regarded so highly.

The moment that stands out for me took place during one of her encores. She asked if there were any singers in the audience and was answered by loud applause. She instructed us to sing along with her during "I Could Have Danced All Night"; she was going to do all "the soprano bits". To my delight,the Mendelssohn Choir must have been in the audience, it sure sounded like it. They audience was amazing, finally filling that hollow hall with glorious sound. There is a prodigious amount of talent in this city.

Renée Fleming has one of the most beautiful and powerful voices anywhere, and it was a privilege to hear her, regardless of the problems I had with some of the material she chose and with the bloody hall in which she sang.She is, by far, the most relaxed and amiable of the four women I've heard in concert this season. She used her microphone frequently to converse with us on the music she was about to sing and she has quite the sense of humour. No haughty diva here.
 
Simon Boccanegra-COC

I saw this yesterday. A thick, rich, textured and utterly satisfying meal. YUM!:)
 
Simon Boccanegra @ Four Seasons Centre For Performing Arts

Overall, it was a very enjoyable performance. The singing was spectacular, particularly Italian baritone Paolo Gavanelli. I could have listened to him all night. There weren't any obvious weak links in the rest of the cast. It should always be a must to complement Verdi with competent singers.

The set was super. It had enough creativity to avoid appearing too literal, and it also did not attempt to be a piece of pure abstraction. The set, in combination with historically inaccurate, yet pleasing costumes, definitely complemented the performance.

This piece is rarely performed, and has a pretty complex plot, so I didn't feel bad when I had to feverioushly study the program during the intermission. The ending drags, which has nothing to do with the COC. You can definitely see the fascist undertones to this opera, as it champions a united Italy over a divided one. It would have provided the audience with quite a strong message at the time.

Don't miss out.
 
Yes, Gavanelli inhabited the role and commanded the stage whenever he was on. Considering how intense the part is, he put in plenty of breathing space and lightness where needed, too. I went on opening night and the audience was very appreciative. I thought the soprano was excellent too.

I should have read up on the plot beforehand, though. And the woman sitting next to me started rustling candies from the get-go. A "Can you stop making all that noise?" shut her up though, and she was good from then on. At intermission, chatting to a nice couple from Ottawa in the City Room, I mentioned her ... and one of them pointed her out in the crowd below; she'd been doing the same thing during the pre-concert talk apparently.

Trius Brut is now $12 a glass. I don't really care, though the bar staff were very sheepish about it.

Nobody famous in the fancy lounge.
 
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