Singers Save Die Walküre

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Edward Brain
The Four Season Centre.

The Four Season Centre.

I attended the February 13th, 2015 performance of Richard Wagner‘s Die Walküre currently being performed by the Canadian Opera Company at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

The performance starred Christine Goerke as Brünnhilde, in her first staged version of the work; Issachah Savage as Siegmund;  Heidi Melton as Sieglinde;  Dimitry Ivashchenko as Hunding; Johan Reuter as Wotan; and Janina Baechle as Fricka.  The performance was conducted by COC Music Director Johannes Debus, with sets by Michael Levine.  The production is directed by Atom Egoyan. Continue reading →

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2015 Inductees to Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Edward Brain

The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame has announced its 2015 inductees.

The inductees are as follows:

Carlos Delgado:  Delgado has appeared once on the ballot for Cooperstown and will not be on the ballot again due to not meeting the threshold for remaining on the ballot going forward.  However, the player who leads the Toronto Blue Jays in many categories (homeruns, slugging percentage, walks, runs, total bases, doubles , and intentional walks to name only a few), and was a popular player with the Blue Jays.  He spent most of his career with the Blue Jays and is one of only six players to hit at least 30 homeruns in 10 consecutive years. Continue reading →

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Canadian Opera Company Announces 2015-2016 Season

Posted on January 24, 2015 by Edward Brain
English: Four Seasons Centre in Toronto

Four Seasons Centre in Toronto (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Canadian Opera Company (COC) has announced its 2015-2016 season.  All performances will take place at their opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

The season is a mix of familiar works, along with some less familiar works, and a world première.  A total of six operas are being performed over the course of the season.

The season breaks down as follows: Continue reading →

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Broadway and The Met take on The Merry Widow

Posted on January 18, 2015 by Edward Brain

The Metropolitan Opera performed Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow as part of its Live in HD broadcast series on January 17th, 2015.  This performance was stunning from start to finish and saw the teaming up of the best of Broadway and opera to pull it off.

The production, directed and choreographed by Broadway director Susan Stroman, starred Renée Fleming (Hanna Glawari, aka ‘The Merry Widow’), Sir Thomas Allen (Baron Mirko Zeta), Kelli O’Hara (Valencienne, the Baron’s wife), Nathan Gunn (Danilo), Alek Shrader (Camille de Rosillon, Valencienne’s admirer), and Carson Elrod (Njegus.)  The sets are by Julian Crouch, and was conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. Continue reading →

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Sir John A. MacDonald’s Bicentenary

Posted on January 11, 2015 by Edward Brain
English: Sir. John A. Macdonald

Sir John A. Macdonald (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On January 11th 2015, Canada celebrates the 200th birthday of its first Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald.

Sir John A. was a Father of Confederation, and had been Premier of the Province of Canada prior to Confederation.

Sir John A. was born John Alexander Macdonald on January 11th 1815 in Glasgow, Scotland.  His parents were Hugh Macdonald and Helen Shaw, who moved to Kingston, in what is now Ontario, in 1820 when John A. was only five years old. Continue reading →

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2015 Inductees into Cooperstown

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Edward Brain

The Baseball Hall of Fame (Cooperstown) has announced the inductees for the 2015 induction ceremony.  For the first time since 1955, four players received sufficient votes to be inducted.

The four inductiees are Randy Johnson (97.3%), Pedro Martinez (91.1%), John Smoltz (82.9%), and Craig Biggio (82.7%)

Let’s take a look at the inductees: Continue reading →

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Happy New Year

Posted on January 1, 2015 by Edward Brain

I would like to welcome everyone to 2015.  2014 was an eventful year, as everyone knows.

Now that we are in 2015, I would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year, and thank you for reading my blog.  I hope to keep up with my writing and bring to discuss many interesting and diverse topics and ideas throughout the year.

So, Happy New Year, and all the best for the future!

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2014: A Year in Review

Posted on December 31, 2014 by Edward Brain

Now that we are closing in on the last hours of 2014, let’s look back on some of the highlights of 2014:

January:

In January, Cooperstown announced the Class of 2014: Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, and Frank Thomas.  Alex Rodriguez was suspended for one year of baseball for use of performance enhancing drugs. Continue reading →

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Merry Christmas

Posted on December 24, 2014 by Edward Brain

Christmas Tree at Nathan Phillips SquareI just want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

I hope you get to spend time with your family and friends.

May all the blessings of Christmas be found for you and your family.  Continue reading →

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Jeremy Lloyd has Passed Away

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Edward Brain

Jeremy Lloyd, OBE, has passed away at the age of 84.  Mr. Lloyd was a well known comedy writer.  his agent announced that he passed away of pneumonia in hospital.

Mr. Lloyd, along with David Croft, wrote such famous comedy series as Are You Being Served? and ‘Allo, ‘Allo!.

Prior to becoming a successful writer of comedy series, Mr. Lloyd was an actor, appearing for a season in Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, as well as a few movie appearances – such as A Hard Day’s Night, and The Magic Christian. Continue reading →

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