Hi all.
I've been far too busy lately to post anything, lately. I, like some others here, am concerned with an elderly (and very dear) mother who needs my time lately. Oh, and I've also got some in-laws who need attention (I hope you can appreciate the way I have written this paragraph
).
I think the best of the culture season is yet to come for me. I get to hear my favourite work, Bruckner's 8th, near the end of April, and Mahler's 6th in May. Oundjian and TSO acquitted themselves beautifully in Bruckner's 4th (international critics praised the recording while the Toronto critic found a way to trash it) and Oundjian will conduct Bruckner's 8th. Now, as for the Mahler, well, Herbig will conduct. It is true that I haven't liked Herbig's two most recent efforts over the TSO, but Mahler 6th is his best piece, so I expect better this time around. At the opera, honestly, I am looking forward to La Boheme, I can't begin to say how much, and yes, it is a chestnut I know, I know.
Will hear Yannick Nezet-Sequin this coming Thursday. Does he have to choose Prokofiev's 5th? It's a great piece, a race horse, and a show-off piece to be sure, but there are other really excellent Prokofiev symphonies, like the 3rd and the 6th. I love the conductor but honestly, chestnuts chestnuts, give me something new. Oh, well, a young conductor shows off his stuff by doing the party pieces.
Just an observation about the two conductors Yannick Nezet-Sequin and Peter Oundjian: young YNS does Brahms (an older person's forte) better than Oundjian; Oundjian's Bruckner surpasses that of YNS. YNS will do some Bruckner next season with TSO -- let's see how fast he grows.