“Since its premiere in 1988 by the Kronos Quartet, Steve Reich’s Different Trains became an instant favourite. Its rhythmic drive and hypnotic movement are immediately relatable, and the spoken fragments and train horns quickly create a vignette of the past. However, as we get comfortable with the tableau of the first movement, we are abruptly… Read More
“Soundstreams’ presentation of the Latvian Radio Choir (LRC) with artistic director Sigvards Klava, in concert at Metropolitan United Church on November 17 at 8pm, has significance in a number of ways. Founded in 1940, the 24-voice LRC is one of the few professional choirs that owes its existence to a national public broadcaster. It was… Read More
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For a typical classical piano concert, one would imagine a single grand piano with its lid open, its brilliant inside encased in silky, heavy blackness. Sometimes, there are two pianos — there are a handful of orchestral and chamber two-piano favourites that are programmed regularly. But six pianos? Yes, please! On October 12, 2018, 6… Read More
From the article: “To Soundstreams fell the distinction of presenting a program of new music from North America, relatively little of which has been performed at this week-long event over the years – a reflection, its artistic director [Wen Deqing] admits, of his background. His own advanced training as a composer took place mostly in… Read More
From the Article: “The singers were excellent. Soundstreams had recruited four of Canada’s best: soprano Vania Chan, mezzo-soprano Andrea Ludwig, tenor Colin Ainsworth and bass-baritone Stephen Hegedus. Not only did they deftly navigate Lang’s treacherous vocal shoals, they also ably accompanied themselves on various percussion instruments. John Hess conducted from a discreet corner aisle. Susie… Read More
From the article: Canada continues to produce some of the finest composers in the world, but they merit greater recognition at home and abroad. Lawrence Cherney has dedicated an entire career to providing a national and international platform for their talents as a means of creating a lasting legacy for their work. For these efforts,… Read More
From the article: “Musicians in general are prone to adapt new technology. Beethoven was so taken with Johann Nepomuk Maelzel’s new invention, the metronome, that the composer himself came up with a marketing plan to help sell the thing. It was Frederick’s collection of newfangled “forte-pianos” that lured Bach senior to the royal court in… Read More
“The world renowned Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan once said that, as a young singer, she was transported and changed by the “unique soundworld” of the Quebec composer, Claude Vivier. He has been described as the most important Canadian composer in the second half of the twentieth century. From the early 1970s until the early 80s, Vivier’s compositions were… Read More
From the article: “You can’t pin violinist and producer Jesse Zubot to one genre. “I just love all kinds of music and I always have,” he says. Zubot has been playing with Tanya Tagaq for over 10 years. Along with percussionist Jean Martin, Zubot’s musical explorations form a foundation for Tagaq’s throat singing. Fluttering tones… Read More
From the Article: “Something New Handel wrote Messiah for a traditional ensemble of orchestra and chorus, but not everyone wants to hear that style of classically-performed classical music. For those who like their mulled wine old and their bottles new, here’s the Messiah for you. Who: Soundstreams When: December 4 to 6, 8pm” Read the… Read More
From the article: “Returning for the third year, Ashelie Corcoran (Stage Direction) and Adam Scime (Music Director) will lead Soundstream’s immensely popular Electric Messiah with Adanya Dunn, Elizabeth Shepard, Jonathan MacArthur and Justin Welsh. The accompanying ensemble of guitar, electronics, electric harpsichord+organ and turntables, will explore selected popular Messiah tunes with fresh sound and context,… Read More
“Soundstreams is presenting the first-ever staged performance of Musik für das Ende by Claude Vivier (1948-83). Written in 1971 as a ceremony to be staged, the work did not have its first concert performance until 2012. After seeing director Chris Abraham’s beautiful, extraordinarily moving production of the the piece for Soundstreams, it is impossible to… Read More
“TORONTO — Death-haunted, drawn to danger and desperate for connection, with his ceremonies in sound charting transitions from life to something beyond it, the Canadian composer Claude Vivier should be the great downer of modern music. But so shimmering are Vivier’s drones, so sweetly childlike his invented languages and mystical geographies, so energetic his need… Read More
“La première mondiale de Musik für das Ende de la compagnie de théâtre Crow’s Nest a eu lieu à Toronto le 26 octobre. La musique de Claude Vivier, un compositeur québécois tué à Paris en 1983, est au coeur du spectacle. C’est la première fois que l’oeuvre Musik für das Ende est jouée et chantée… Read More
L’univers du compositeur québécois Claude Vivier au @crowstheatre de TTO. On en parle avec Alex Ivanovici. #icito #rc_arts pic.twitter.com/Agkk8IcvVG — Kevin Sweet (@sweetonarts) November 1, 2017
“The Canadian contemporary music company Soundstreams, known for difficult and cerebral works, has mounted a music and theatre production about the life and ideas of admired Quebecois composer Claude Vivier (1948-1983), whose life was rough and tumultuous and whose music was cold, luminous and haunting. The production, titled Musik Für das Ende (which is the… Read More
“Claude Vivier’s Musik für das Ende had to wait until 35 years after the composer’s death for its first fully staged performance. That happened last night at Crow’s Theatre under the auspices of Soundstreams. It forms the main and concluding part of a really interesting show directed by Chris Abraham. The first part of the… Read More
In 1983, at the age of 34, French–Canadian composer Claude Vivier was stabbed to death in his Paris apartment by a man he had picked up. When Vivier’s body was discovered a few days later, another discovery was made: the manuscript on his desk was an unfinished work called Do You Believe in the Immortality… Read More
10 singers are currently deep into rehearsals with stage director Chris Abraham and music director John Hess for what will be the premiere staged performance of Claude Vivier’s 1971 work, Musik für das Ende (Music of the End). Presented by Soundstreams, October 27 to November 4, Musik für das Ende is programmed along with the… Read More