Category: Blog
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NOTICE OF THE VANCOUVER RECITAL SOCIETY’S AGM
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF MEMBERS OF THE VANCOUVER RECITAL SOCIETY (the “Society”) The Board of Directors of the Society hereby gives notice that the Annual General Meeting of the Society will be held on February 4, 2018 at 1pm at the Vancouver Playhouse (in Salon A), for the following purposes: Approval of the…
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A CHANGE TO OUR FIRST CONCERT IN THE 2017-18 SEASON
The Simón Bolívar String Quartet’s scheduled performance at the Vancouver Playhouse on September 17 has been postponed to a future season. The current volatile and violent situation in Venezuela, which has heightened following last week’s election, has made it almost impossible for the quartet to navigate around Caracas to make arrangements for their North American tour.…
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NOTICE OF THE VRS AGM + A CHANCE TO WIN
Notice of AGM All members are welcome and encouraged to attend The Annual General Meeting of the Vancouver Recital Society Sunday, February 21, 2016 at 12:45pm Royal Bank Cinema, Chan Centre, UBC Meeting Business 12:45pm The membership will be asked to consider the following business matters: President’s Report Presentation of the Auditor’s Report and Financial…
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DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR VERY FIRST MUSICAL MEMORY?
When I was a boy my father would sing me to sleep every night. And when he went away on business trips, my mother sang to me at night instead. Now, my mother, whom I love dearly (98 and going strong!) has many wonderful traits and abilities, including playing the piano. But singing perfectly in…
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A SPECIAL OFFER FROM OUR FRIENDS AT VANCITY THEATRE
Our good friends at Vancity Theatre have created this special offer for VRS patrons: Save 15% on tickets to: PARSIFAL FROM THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE, COVENT GARDEN Sun, Jan 26 @ 12:30pm & Wed, Jan 29 @ 6:15pm In the first of a series bringing you opera productions…
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IT TAKES A (GLOBAL) VILLAGE
Visiting New York is like a shot of adrenalin! I spent half my adult life in that city. Half of that was spent working at Columbia Artists when it was at it’s peak, learning the business of managing artists and producing international concert tours for orchestras, dance companies and chamber groups from around the world.…
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NELSON MANDELA’S CLASSICAL PIANIST
The world is a poorer place for Nelson Mandela’s passing. Over the last few days I have read many articles about him and about my native South Africa during the dark days of apartheid. One item, in particular, surprised me. The piece below, by British journalist Norman Lebrecht, was posted on his daily blog…
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CAVORTING AT THE CLIBURN
I returned last Monday from a trip to the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas with a prize winner and a cold! It has been twenty years since I’ve been to a Cliburn Competition and have decided that I’m not waiting another twenty years. The next competition is in four years and…
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THE STORY OF MILOŠ KARADAGLIĆ
An in-depth, personal account on Miloš Karadaglić – spanning his journey from an eight year old learning guitar in Montenegro to how he has become “the hottest property in classical music today.” (West Australian) If you were asked to name classical music’s most legendary guitar players, you’d probably come up with Andres Segovia, Julian…
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A LETTER FROM ANTHONY ROTH COSTANZO
As I enter my 20th year of professional performance, I have been reflecting on the most resonant musical moments throughout my development as a singer. From my beginning as a Broadway baby to my now daily dances with Handel, I have realized that there is a lot of music in between those two poles which…
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THREE VIOLINS AND THE TALENTED TRIO
Imagine my delight when I received an email from Jonathan Chan in London, where he is studying at the Guildhall, telling me that he had been awarded the 1715 Dominicus Montagnana violin on loan from the Canada Council Musical Instrument Bank. Canada’s finest young talents compete for the opportunity to use these instruments for a…
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LEILA GETZ: HATS ‘ON’ TO TWO EXTRAORDINARY MUSICIANS!
Following their incredible journey through the Beethoven Piano and Violin Sonatas in three concerts for the Vancouver Recital Society, Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov were anxious to blow off excess steam and see something of Vancouver before they left for their next engagement in San Francisco. So I, as the tour guide, and Allison…
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GETTING TO KNOW BARITONE CHRISTIAN GERHAHER
Christian Gerhaher on the origins on German Lied (song): The German Lied was born into quite special circumstances. The composer found himself creating something with no pre-existing format, which in practical performance terms was restricted to a quite intimate situation, which will later become the famous Schubertiade. That means it had a more social than…
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LEILA GETZ: ONE OF THE MOST PERFECT CONCERT EXPERIENCES OF MY LIFE
Last night I had one of the most perfect concert experiences of my life. I have been attending a conference of music managers and presenters in Budapest. I discovered that baritone Christian Gerhaher was singing an all-Schubert song recital in the Vienna Konzerthaus. It was sold out, but after 33 years in the concert presenting…
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LEILA GETZ: WHY I LOVE ANDRAS SCHIFF
Yesterday I watched a video on the VRS YouTube channel featuring pianist Shai Wosner playing the concluding portion of Schumann’s “Carnaval”. I enjoyed it very much. As the video concluded, another video on the YouTube sidebar caught my eye: András Schiff playing the Andantino from Schubert’s Sonata in A Major, D959. I clicked on it…
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SAFEGUARDING THE ARTS IN VANCOUVER
By now, many of you have heard the sad news that the Playhouse Theatre Company commenced to wind down operations as of March 10. On the preceding day, Leila and I attended the announcement, which could only be described as a wake for a departed loved-one. An unusual silence fell over the assembled group…
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MURRAY PERAHIA…REMINISCENCES
Murray Perahia first came onto my radar in 1972 when he won the Leeds International Piano Competition. I knew Murray’s playing through his recordings but didn’t have the opportunity to hear him live for the first time until 1983, when on a visit to London I was able to attend a recital he gave at…
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AN INTERVIEW WITH RODION POGOSSOV
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule. Where are you today? I’m in Hamburg right now, singing my first Verdi role in the opera “Don Carlos” at the Hamburgische Staatsoper. When did you realize you wanted a career in music? I was inspired at the age of 17 by my teacher and…