Pianist Janina Fialkowska a supreme interpreter of Frédéric Chopin

Pianist Janina Fialkowska, who studied under one of history’s most perceptive Frédéric Chopin musicians, Arthur Rubinstein, played magically.

Laurie Anderson's Delusion is everything you'd expect

Delusion, then, is the Buddhist artist’s Diamond Sutra: a shining, heartfelt meditation on the ephemeral pleasures and lasting pains of this existence.

Daniel Bernard Roumain all over the shop with Voodoo Violin Concerto No. 1

Despite raves from magazines like Esquire, the Voodoo Concerto was, I have to say, pretty awful and at times, pretty funny.

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Musically Speaking is a beautiful jazz-inspired program

Rhapsody in Blue was the central piece in the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Musically Speaking program, with an emphasis on Gershwin. The pianist was conductor Bramwell Tovey, who showed he’s into jazz for a reason

Tanya Tagaq and the Kronos Quartet made Tundra Songs a masterpiece

Almost four years to the day after the Kronos Quartet’s first-ever performance with Inuit throat-singer Tanya Tagaq, the five musicians returned to the scene of their debut in triumphal fashion.

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra's Gustav Mahler program is bold, brash, and big

Gustav Mahler is one of those composers who couldn’t think on anything less than a cosmic scale, which is why many people have a love-hate relationship with his music.

The Rheingold Curse satisfies anyone’s inner Viking

The Eddic poems from which Bagby so meticulously constructed The Rheingold Curse had all a skald could wish for.

So Percussion brings minimalist music to the masses

The Heritage Hall audience on Sunday night was much more appreciative of what was probably the program’s most challenging music.

Violinist Jennifer Koh relaxed and poised with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

There are few conductors more sympathetic to a soloist than Kazuyoshi Akiyama, and they made beautiful music together, with violinist Jennifer Koh playing with the relaxation and poise of an aristocrat and the orchestra creating sounds redolent of a Slavonic forest.

Musica intima ushers in the holiday season with a radiant Noël

Simplicity seemed to be the guiding principle, as though elaboration were anathema to the spirit of Christmas, and maybe it is.

Poignancy permeates Vancouver Chamber Choir’s Baroque Christmas

There’s a lot of Christmas music around, and the VCC had no problem coming up with some, though most of it wasn’t well-known.

Vancouver Opera produces a stunning Norma

This opening production of Vancouver Opera’s 50th anniversary season is a tremendous gesture.

Cellist Daniel Müller-Schott and pianist Angela Hewitt produce great “chamberly” synergy

Playing in a rare partnership for the Vancouver Recital Society, cellist Daniel Müller-Schott and pianist Angela Hewitt, each a well-known soloist, divided Beethoven’s output into two separate programs.

French pianist Lise de la Salle shows talent beyond her years

French pianist Lise de la Salle is an artist of astonishing maturity. Everything she played seemed to grip the audience, and not because it was flashy.

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Vancouver Bach Choir make the most of Mozart's Requiem

Some people think that, because its authenticity is in question, the number of performances Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem gets is inexcusable.