Archive for the ‘Reviews of music’ Category
KW Symphony’s “Edwin’s Final Beethoven”
I attended the KW Symphony’s performance titled “Edwin’s Final Beethoven.” Edwin Outwater, the symphony’s director, has conducted all 9 Beethoven symphonies over the last 10 years. Here’s the program: Ludwig van Beethoven — Symphony No. 2 in D major, op. 36 Erich Wolfgang Korngold — Concerto in D major for Violin & Orchestra, op. 35 […]
DaCapo’s “Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind”
I went to DaCapo Chamber Choir’s concert “Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind.” Like the recent symphony concert I went to, it was an occasion to enjoy beautiful music I hadn’t heard before. The program had a Shakespeare theme, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of his death. Here’s the program: Harry Friedman — Songs from Shakespeare […]
KW Symphony’s “Scheherazade”
I went to the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony’s concert “Scheherazade.” Usually when I go hear an orchestra live I’m going to hear at least one piece that I already know. This time I didn’t know any of the pieces — but with brilliant composers and a terrific orchestra, you can’t go wrong. It was a concert of […]
DaCapo Choir’s “Winding Toward Peace”
I went to DaCapo Chamber Choir’s first concert of the season, “Winding Toward Peace.” Guitarist Kevin Ramessar joined the choir — I think I’ve seen him before, a while ago. It’s a bit unusual for a guitar to be played with a choir but it worked well in this case. The choir and guitarist were […]
KW Symphony’s “James Bond: The Music”
I went to the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony’s performance of “James Bond: The Music.” It was glorious — this is music I absolutely love, and the K-W Symphony never lets you down. The orchestra’s brass and percussion section were beefed up from what they are for playing things like Beethoven. The conductor was John Morris Russell, who […]
KW Symphony’s “Beethoven Marathon”
The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony is celebrating its 70th season. To kick it off, they had 3 Beethoven concerts over this weekend. All of the pieces played during these concerts, except for “O Canada,” were by Ludwig van Beethoven. The symphony is conducted by Edwin Outwater. Beethoven wrote 5 piano concertos — all 5 were played during […]
KW Symphony’s “Superheroes!”
I went to the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony’s performance of “Superheroes!” I didn’t know what the exact lineup would be but I expected it to contain many familiar pieces. The selection of pieces was a bit more eclectic than I expected, but it included some less familiar pieces that I’m glad I got a chance to hear. […]
DaCapo Chamber Choir’s “Sun Light”
I attended DaCapo Chamber Choir’s concert “Sun Light.” It was the last concert of the season, following “Journey Into Night.” The concert was held at Sharon Temple in the village of Sharon, Ontario. The wooden building was built in 1832 by a group known as the Children of Peace and is now a national historic […]
DaCapo Chamber Choir’s “Journey Into Night”
I attended the DaCapo Chamber Choir’s concert “Journey Into Night.” The centrepiece of the concert was the 14-minute “When David Heard” by Eric Whitacre. It’s filled with despair, based on the Bible text that starts “When David heard that Absalom was slain he went up into his chamber over the gate and wept.” As for […]
KW Symphony’s “Pixar in Concert”
I went to hear the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony’s performance of “Pixar in Concert.” The orchestra performed music from all 13 of Pixar’s movies. In addition to making incredible movies, Pixar has uniformly great music. Scenes from the movies were shown above the orchestra. The orchestra was conducted by Evan Mitchell. I liked how he was able […]