Author Archives: Stanley Fefferman

Excitement at the Symphony with Yuja Wang and Kevin Lau reviewed by Stanley Fefferman

June 12, 2013. Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto. The music and the musicians at this Symphony concert were exciting.  Tiny twenty-something Yuja Wang in a rocking frock with silver killer heels dominated Prokofiev’s massive Piano Concerto No. 2. The TSO’s affiliate … Continue reading

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Centrediscs’ CD War of the Angels reviewed by Stanley Fefferman

Centrediscs’ CD War of the Angels presents orchestral music composed by T.Patrick Carrabré between 1996-2003, and performed by The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bramwell Tovey and Andrey Boreyko. Carrabré’s music, written in an accessible style, is vividly imaginative. Although … Continue reading

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Malkovich Being Casanova is Convincing: a review by Stanley Fefferman

June 7, 2013. Elgin Theatre, Toronto. The Giacomo Variations takes its time really getting down to business—the business Giacomo Casanova was in—the business of love.This eccentric hybrid of Eighteenth Century Erotica, Hollywood Californication and Star Power, with Mozart’s Greatest Hits is … Continue reading

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Joshua Bell,Edgar Meyer,Peter Oundjian and the TSO All-Stars reviewed by Stanley Fefferman

June 5, 2013. Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto.                                                   Photo: Josh Clavir It was a starry, starry … Continue reading

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The Oceanic Terrace of Philip Glass’s Cello Concerto No. 2. A review by Stanley Fefferman

Philip Glass. Cello Concerto No.2 “Naqoyqatsi”. Matt Haimowitz–Denis Russell Davies. Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Orange Mountain Music. Philip Glass makes music that mostly sounds like Philip Glass. His motifs replicate identically, like stem cells that each possess within a tiny tendency … Continue reading

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Cécile McLorin Salvant. WOMAN CHILD, reviewed by Stanley Fefferman

Cécile McLorin Salvant. WOMAN CHILD. JustinTime. W What a voice! Range goes low and dusky to high, thin and sweet, all without effort and always trailing a tender vibrato. Her timbre goes from clear glass through whisper and down to … Continue reading

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James Ehnes and the Classical Blues Brothers: a CD review by Stanley Fefferman

James Ehnes. Britten and Shostakovich. Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Kiril Karabits. ONYX. Distributed by Harmonia Mundi. From the moment they met in London, 1960, Britten and Shostakovich felt close as brothers. Musically, they occupied the same zone—where the borders of atonality … Continue reading

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First Laureate Pianist Pavel Kolesnikov Live at Honens 2012: CD review by Stanley Fefferman

Pavel Kolesnikov, a Russian pianist in his early twenties, is the 2012 winner of Canada’s Honens International Piano Competition. The world’s richest purse ($100,000 cash) includes three-year, world-wide recital/recording contracts (with Hyperion) worth roughly $500,000. The two-CD set is entitled … Continue reading

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