All stories by Arthur Kaptainis on BroadwayStars

Monday, May 7, 2012

Toronto Symphony Review: Sci-fi Spectacular by Arthur Kaptainis

Sci-fi Spectacular: It sounds like an entertaining night in Roy Thomson Hall, and it surely was last week, as the TSO presented an array of themes and excerpts from movies and television sho…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 05:03PM
Monday, April 30, 2012

Concert review: Itzhak Perlman and Peter Oundjian by Arthur Kaptainis

There was a meeting of violinist-conductors Saturday night at Roy Thomson Hall, although Itzhak Perlman is still more violinist than conductor, and Peter Oundjian has long been more conducto…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 01:26PM
Friday, April 27, 2012

Opera review: A Florentine Tragedy and Gianni Schicchi at the COC by Arthur Kaptainis

Double bills come in a few flavours: contrasting, coordinating, heavy and light. The COC pairing of Alexander Zemlinsky’s A Florentine Tragedy and Giacomo Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi manag…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 04:40PM
Thursday, April 26, 2012

Concert review: Itzhak Perlman with the TSO by Arthur Kaptainis

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra has called on some good friends to celebrate its 90th season, including Itzhak Perlman, a violinist who was around for the 44th. Just like old times is not a b…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 06:27PM
Sunday, April 15, 2012

Opera reivew: Armide by Opera Atelier by Arthur Kaptainis

Superintendent of music for Louis XIV, Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-87) has a secure place in music history. Some might question his stature as a composer of viable operas, but the production o…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 11:27PM
Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Opera review: The Tales of Hoffmann at the COC by Arthur Kaptainis

Can you hum the Barcarolle from The Tales of Hoffmann? Of course you can, even if you think you cannot. Can you provide a synopsis of the plot? Of course not, even if you suppose that you ca…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 02:04PM
Thursday, April 5, 2012

Concert review: TSO and Yefim Bronfman by Arthur Kaptainis

Bruckner-Schalk? You mean like Bach-Busoni (or Lennon-McCartney)? Everybody knows that Bruckner’s not-so-well-meaning students Franz and Josef Schalk prevailed on the master to make unnece…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 03:05PM
Monday, April 2, 2012

Concert review: Jukka-Pekka Saraste conducts the TSO by Arthur Kaptainis

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra has asked some former music directors back to mark the 90th season. Most recent among the returnees: Jukka-Pekka Saraste, who left under a cloud in 2001. Labou…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 06:57PM
Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Pianist Goodyear plans one-day cycle of Beethoven Sonatas by Arthur Kaptainis

Playing all 32 of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas is a major undertaking, usually parceled out over a few weeks or even an entire season. Canadian pianist Stewart Goodyear plans to dispatch the …

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 11:13AM
Friday, March 9, 2012

Concert review: TSO and the New Creations Festival by Arthur Kaptainis

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra always brings a fair balance of domestic and international content to its annual New Creations Festival. This year the principal import attraction was Peter E�…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 04:02PM
Friday, March 2, 2012

Concert review: Ontario Philharmonic at Koerner Hall by Arthur Kaptainis

From the Berlin to the Ontario Philharmonic, from Carnegie to Koerner Hall. This should be my cue to reflect on how the differences are not at vast as all that. But the plucky orchestra from…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 12:22AM
Monday, October 24, 2011

Symphony review: Gergiev and Mariinsky in Montreal by Arthur Kaptainis

Some wonderful things happened during Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique) as performed Saturday night in the Maison symphonique. Among the longest-awaited and most miraculous: I…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 12:02PM
Saturday, October 22, 2011

Symphony review: TSO, Denève and Vogt at Roy Thomson Hall by Arthur Kaptainis

Suspense grew steadily in the opening minutes of the concert Thursday night at Roy Thomson Hall. Would the Toronto Symphony Orchestra accomplish what it had lately failed so often to do, by …

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 01:45AM
Monday, October 3, 2011

Concert review: Oundjian, Ax, Crow and the TSO at Roy Thomson Hall by Arthur Kaptainis

Stop the presses: The Toronto Symphony plays Brahms’s First Symphony. Not a likely reaction a few years ago, but Peter Oundjian is now getting into such a groove with his hometown band tha…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 01:12AM
Friday, September 30, 2011

Opera review: Rigoletto at the COC by Arthur Kaptainis

There is no press release, but consider it official: The Canadian Opera Company is a European house. All the hallmarks are there: good soloists, a reliable orchestra, a sturdy chorus, intell…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 07:37PM
Monday, September 26, 2011

Concert review: Ofra Harnoy and Anton Kuerti by Arthur Kaptainis

All these years later, she can still pack them in. I mean Ofra Harnoy, the Israeli-born Toronto cellist who rose as high as the cover of Gramophone in the 1980s, then gave up her career for …

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 06:37PM
Sunday, September 25, 2011

Opera review: Iphigénie en Tauride at the COC by Arthur Kaptainis

Exiled from his hometown opera house for 20 years, Robert Carsen has made a serious comeback, directing Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice at the end of last season and opening the 2011-2012 COC ca…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 02:20PM
Thursday, September 8, 2011

Concert review: New hall in Montreal by Arthur Kaptainis

Shall I dispense with — or at least defer — the normally mandatory yak-yak about how long we have waited for it, how badly we need it, how much Kent Nagano and the MSO deserve it…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 02:20PM
Sunday, August 28, 2011

BlackCreek review: Lorin Maazel and the London Symphony by Arthur Kaptainis

The Blackcreek Summer Music Festival came to a close on Saturday night, well ahead of schedule, and with less than a full crowd in the Rexall Centre, even after three concerts with the Londo…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 02:30PM
Saturday, August 13, 2011

Classical review: Gryphon Trio by Arthur Kaptainis

Has the Gryphon Trio hit the big time? A full house greeted these Canadians on Thursday for the first of two Beethoven concerts in Walter Hall. Further evidence came from the energetic yet n…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 03:34PM
Saturday, August 6, 2011

Classical review: Duffy and Phan by Arthur Kaptainis

Big cancellations can occasion big debuts. The loss of headline soprano Christine Brewer to Toronto Summer Music created an occasion on Thursday to hear two up-and-coming American singers in…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 12:07PM
Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Classical review: Pressler at 87 by Arthur Kaptainis

The combined ages of the young string players assembled to play Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in Walter Hall – “fellows” in the parlance Toronto Summer Music and its adjacent Academy– mig…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 10:32AM
Thursday, July 28, 2011

BlackCreek Festival: London Symphony series gets a haircut by Arthur Kaptainis

The London Symphony Orchestra’s three-concert visit to the Rexall Centre at York University is down to one, the BlackCreek Summer Music Festival confirmed on Thursday. Only the concert of …

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 08:33PM
Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Classical review: Sir Thomas Allen by Arthur Kaptainis

“Beethoven and the Romantics” is less a theme for Toronto Summer Music than a pretext for great programming. On Tuesday the festival took full advantage of the opportunity by matching so…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 04:21PM
Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Classical review: Kirill Gerstein at Toronto Summer Music by Arthur Kaptainis

Toronto Summer Music this year is dedicated to Beethoven and the Romantics, a broad theme that handily encompasses most of the music that pianists in particular love to play. How, then, to a…

SOURCE: National Post (Canada) at 12:18PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards