Otto Tausk and the VSO deliver big with Harmonielehre
A great performance of John Adams’ most famous major work provides hope for future adventurous programming. It’s almost hard to believe, given how integral his work is to the west coast classical music scene, that John Adams’ most famous major work Harmonielehre is only just making its BC debut this weekend (April 26/27). It’s a…
At the OSM: Rafael Payare is the real deal
A brilliant season closing Mahler 3 cements The OSM and Payare as one of the most exciting conductor orchestra pairings in the world. 2023 is turning into the year of Rafael Payare. His first year as music director of the Orchesre Symphonique de Montreal seemed from the outside to be a sterling success. Rave reviews…
At The VSO: Lack of Chorus Hollows Otherwise Great Daphnis and Chloe
Puzzling decisions lead to a frustrating start to the 2022/23 Vancouver Symphony Orchestra season
Live Blogging the Oscars 2022
It’s the Oscars! Again…. In a kind of last minute decision I have decided, as a masochist, to once again Live blog them! This time on a different platform! Nice fresh start, same stale Oscars. Follow along on my 3-5 hour journey to insanity! 4:50pst: Quickly, while I am out of the loop and can’t…
VIFF 2021 Day 3: Danish Frances Ha
I do not love comparative film criticism. It feels sometimes like a cheep way not to take the film you are discussing on its own terms, instead reducing it to a copy of something that has come before. All that being said it can be useful at times, especially in the rare subgenre in which…
VIFF 2021 Day 1 and 2: Memoria, Azor, Compartment No. 6 and The Hollywood Theater
The Hollywood theater is an interesting beast. It’s a newly renovated theater in Kitsilano and it has a kind of retro revival look to it. As you walk into the main hall you are met with a giant bar on either side that ends up taking half of the seating area and it leaves quite…
VIFF 2021 Pre-Game Show: Expectations and Titane
Happy first day of VIFF everybody! Before I see my first film of the festival I have a couple things to cover including what films you can expect me to write about and a big out of festival film. All this coming up as soon as I take the ice pick out of my hair……
A Brief Introduction
Welcome to The VIFF Diaries a small personal blog for the 2021 Vancouver International Film Festival. My name is Fred I have been writing off and on about film since my early teens. You probably have not read my writing, the blog I had throughout high-school and university got the traffic of a very small…
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