The Vancouver Recital Society Presents Piano and Cello Winterlude Concerts

Jean Guihen Queyras
Photo: Marco Borggreve

The difficult task of making resolutions for 2017 has begun for me. Exercising more and sleeping in less figure on the growing list.

However, certain resolutions are going to be much easier to keep since they’re actually going to add more joy and entertainment to my life. One resolution involves my boyfriend and me forgoing the television watching, and instead taking increased advantage of the vibrant arts and culture scene in Vancouver. On the top of the list is checking out the Vancouver Recital Society’s 2017 concert line-up.

If you’re not familiar with the Vancouver Recital Society (VRS), they truly are one of the gems of the city. Launched nearly forty years ago by Founder and Artistic Director Leila Getz, the VRS organizes concerts that showcase not only well-known and highly acclaimed performance artists, but also up-and-coming musicians. Previous performers include Kathleen Battle, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and Cecilia Bartoli, as well as Canadians, such as John Kimura and Scott St. John. They are the only series in Canada that presents only recitalists.

Over the years, I have attended many of their concerts. What I particularly enjoy about them is the intense connections that are created between the artist, the music, and the audience. Smaller venues, like the Vancouver Playhouse, allow for an intimacy different from a larger concert hall experience. Oftentimes you’ll be treated to a performance by a single artist, allowing you to marvel at their talent, as well as the unique sound of their instrument.

A pre-concert pic at the Chan Centre with Behzod Abduraimov; Photo Sourced from VRS Twitter

Here is a taste of what’s to come this month (the 2016/17 season will end in May):

Winterlude: Suite Saturday with Jean-Guihen Queyras, Cello
Saturday, January 21, 2017, 3pm
Orpheum Annex

Queryas performs Bach: 6 Cello Suites BMV 1007-1012.
Note: previously sold out, some new seats have been released.

Winterlude: Super Sunday with Alexander Melnikov, Piano
Sunday, January 22, 2017, 3pm
Vancouver Playhouse

Soured from VRS Website

Celebrated Russian pianist, Melknikov plays:
Rachmaninov: Variations on a theme of Chopin, Op. 22
Rachmaninov: Variations on a theme of Corelli, Op. 42
Debussy: Preludes for Piano, Book 2, L12

Winterlude: Super Sunday with Jean-Guihen Queyras, Cello,
and Alexander Melkinov, Piano
Sunday, January 22, 2017, 7:30pm
Vancouver Playhouse

Melkinov and Queyras perform:
Schumann: 5 Stücke im Volkston for Cello and Piano in A minor, Op. 102
Beethoven: Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 3 in A major, Op. 69
Webern: 3 Little Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op. 11 (1914)
Chopin: Cello Sonata, Op. 65

Other upcoming 2017 performances include

The Dover String Quartet with Avi Avital, Mandolin
Sunday, February 19, 3pm, Vancouver Playhouse