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Responding to a request for your “most memorable cultural experience, anywhere, anytime,” it didn’t come as any surprise that our readers are cultural omnivores with wide-ranging interests and experiences. It was no more surprising that many of the respondents recognized … Continue reading
It seems only appropriate to highlight the dynamic skills of Kirill Gerstein in a performance of Rachmaninoff’s 3rd Piano Concerto with the Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra and conductor Gustavo Dudamel. And while we are considering virtuoso performances, we could … Continue reading
I read with interest a New York Times article (found here) about the plethora of virtuosi currently found on the concert stages. According to the author, Anthony Tommasini, there are perhaps more technically gifted pianists now than at any other … Continue reading
Maxim Rysanov describes how he was introduced to the viola. It didn’t take long for this “prince among violists” to achieve success and acclaim. In September 2010 he performed Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations at the Last Night of the Proms with conductor Jiri Belohlavek and the BBC … Continue reading
I had the privilege of presenting Alfred Brendel three times during the past ten years and each experience was memorable for a myriad of different reasons. The first time he came to Vancouver, I remember distinctly sitting in a state of … Continue reading
Four years ago the Vancouver Recital Society launched a new venture – an annual ‘surprise gift concert’. The concerts have been held in the intimate and acoustically superb Telus Theatre in the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. It is … Continue reading
I regularly receive e-newsletters from the Borletti-Buitoni Trust in London, and this most recent one contains a blog by Ramon Ortega Quero, the young Spanish oboist who will be gracing our stage at the Playhouse on Sunday, April 25. If … Continue reading
Each season, as we prepare our new brochure, I stew over the concept of concerts we list therein as ‘special’ concerts. These so-called ‘special’ concerts are generally performed by artists who are well known, who will attract larger audiences (we … Continue reading
Renée Fleming was recently on a short tour of South Africa, and as luck would have it, I was in Johannesburg on the weekend she sang in Pretoria at the Opera House. The two cities are less than an hour … Continue reading
When Javier Perianes dedicated his first encore to me (Chopin Nocturne in c sharp minor, Op. 20) at the Vancouver Playhouse I was rendered speechless for at least 20 minutes. What an extraordinarily wonderful thing to have happened. There’s actually … Continue reading
