Vancouver Recital Society Tickets

Tata Erraught's performance on Wednesday night was mesmerizing. This young singer will surely be one of the operatic superstars of the future. The first part of the program was primarily devoted to Germain Lieder. Miss Erraught's Irish personality enabled her to bring great emotional interpretation to this genre which contributed greatly to the enjoyment of these pieces. She truly shone in the second half of the program with excerpts from Handel's "Dopo Note" and the absolutely beautiful "Lascia Ch'io Pianga". The program finished with a a memorable encore rendition of "Danny Boy". Kudos to Leila Getz and the Vancouver Recital Society for bringing this wonderful performer to Vancouver. All who were there will watch her burgeoning career with great interest.

wonderful playing. subtle and original. transparent sound.

Marc Andre Hamelin's recital was simply OK, a bit impassioned, but had some contemplative moments and inspiring sounds. I preferred his rendition of Faure ( Impromptu and Barcarolle ), Debussy ( Images Bk. 1 ) and Rachmaninoff Preludes, all subdued and atmospheric, than the bigger works in the program like Berg Sonata ( which I know well ), Debussy L'isle Joyeuse, Rachmaninoff Sonata #2 : virtuoustic but no "magic".

Gorgeous music, wonderful playing! The tragedy is that the concert wasn't sold out.

An unforgettable evening! Breathtaking performances of a carefully selected programme from Bach to Knussen, ending with a staggering version of Gershwin's 'I've Got Rhythm'. A superb musician with an amazing technique playing the Vancouver Recital Society's gorgeous new Steinway - who could possibly ask for more?!

The Elias String Quartet are excellent, exact, cerebral, quietly dry in the martini sense. The Mozart and Mendelssohn were magnificently played. The Janacek Kreutzer quartet was done very well, movingly, but Janacek's ardour, even anger, didn't quite surface enough. The Elias are relatively young. I would love to hear them play the Janacek again 20 years from now when they've had a chance to feel more.

We were not too thrilled of having Shostakovich's Preludes and Fugues in the program. Playing Shostakovich, despite it's highly complex technical works, in the second half of the performance was definitely not memorable in my opinion. We really enjoyed Schubert and Brahms as they have a beautiful "melody". In contrast, Shostakovich's preludes and fugues have no melody and only sounded like "chromatic scales". It may sound great to the connoisseurs of classical piano; but for the general public who purely want to listen to beautiful melody and tones, it might be 'overly' too technical. Thanks to Melnikov's brilliant playing (some of the tones were so beautiful it almost did not even sound like the piano!), Shostakovich's works were slightly more exciting. Without this, it would have been unbearable.

This concert was the conclusion of the Silk Road Ensemble Tour. They promised to "Let it Rip" and they certainly did. The original compositions were moving, evocative, energizing and meditative in turn. Wonderful musicianship and a collection of unusual instruments provided a wonderful experience from beginning to end.

the whole evening was so moving, all the musicians shone in their own special way, I loved how each piece was introduced and explained to the audience....

Such a great group of performers in a breathtaking theatre. Unforgettable.