WAR, PEACE and BAROQUE OPERA The lust for war, the longing for peace: emotions such as these lie at the extremes of human experience. What better place to explore them than in the luridly violent, yet touchingly pathos- filled world … Continue reading
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"A prescient bit of musical matchmaking."
The Z.E.N. Trio's concert at the Playhouse this Sunday is previewed by The Vancouver Sun.
Tickets for the trio's only Canadian performance are still available — call our box office at 604-602-0363.
Classical music: Impressive Z.E.N Trio make Vancouver their only Canadian concert
Cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan, pianist Zhang Zuo and violinist Esther Yoo all have impressive musical pedigrees.The fabulous Z.E.N. Trio will makes their Vancouver debut this Sunday. Plus, BIG congratulations to the Danish String Quartet on being named Ensemble of the Year by Musical America Worldwide. Read these stories and more in this week's e-news: bit.ly/2BiOt80
Don't miss the Vancouver debut of the Z.E.N. Trio
This Sunday, the fabulous Z.E.N. Trio will make their Vancouver debut on our stage at the Playhouse (the only Canadian performance on their first ever concert tour). The Z.E.N. Trio (pianist Zhang Zuo, violinist Esther Yoo, and cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan) met in 2015 as BBC Radio 3 New Generation Ar...Gobble Gobble!
The VRS will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday from 5pm today and will reopen at 9am on Tuesday, October 15.
All the best for a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Program Notes: Behzod Abduraimov
Posted onAntonio Vivaldi Siciliana in D minor (arr. J. S. Bach and Alfred Cortot) Nothing could be more Baroque than an arrangement of an arrangement. The Baroque was a period in music history in which music travelled freely between instruments … Continue reading
Program Notes: Anna Fedorova
Posted onWolfgang Amadeus Mozart Fantasia in D minor K. 397 Mozart’s D minor Fantasia is a bundle of mysteries; an intriguing sound-puzzle for the listener but a labyrinthine minefield of interpretive choices for the pianist. Mere slavish attention to the details of … Continue reading
Program Notes: István Várdai
Posted onFelix Mendelssohn Variations Concertantes Op. 17 Felix was not the only musician in the Mendelssohn family. His older sister Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847) was a prodigiously talented pianist and composer, although she chose marriage over a public career, and his … Continue reading
Program Notes: The Danish String Quartet
Posted onJohann Sebastian Bach Well-Tempered Clavier II Fugue No. 7 in E-flat major BWV 876 (arr. Mozart) In 1782 Mozart’s patron, Baron Gottfried van Swieten, showed the composer a number of manuscripts of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and encouraged … Continue reading
Program Notes: Ksenija Sidorova
Posted onThe Concert Accordion Early Beginnings The accordion has for centuries been associated with music of a light or popular nature. Its portability, full harmonic texture and penetrating, reedy timbre have made it the ideal mini-orchestra for country dances and … Continue reading
Program Notes: Ian Bostridge with Wenwen Du
Posted onGustave Mahler Three Des Knaben Wunderhorn Songs The collection of German folk poetry published between 1805 and 1808 under the title Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth’s Magic Horn) had an enormous influence on the development of German lyric poetry and … Continue reading
Program Notes: Bryn Terfel
Posted onIdris Lewis Cân yr arad goch (Ceiriog) The Welsh poet John Hughes (1832-1887), who took the bardic name Ceiriog, is known as the “Robert Burns of Wales.” Like the great Scottish poet, he sought to express his love for his … Continue reading
Program Notes: Schubertiade Performance Three
Posted onSonata in A major D959 Schubert’s penultimate piano sonata was one of three written in the summer of 1828, just months before his death. This is a pianistically challenging work of unusually wide emotional range. Its moods run the gamut … Continue reading
Program Notes: Schubertiade Perfomance Two
Posted onFantasie in F minor for piano four hands D940 Schubert’s Fantasie in F minor for piano duet, composed in 1828, is similar in structure to the composer’s ‘Wanderer’ Fantasy of 1822. Both are laid out in one continuous movement of … Continue reading