Articles for tag: analysis, canada, classical, countertenor, critics, festival, Handel, Purcell, review, voice

November 30, 2025

Editorial Team

Orliński Returns to Montreal: Redefining the Countertenor

There was an unmistakable sense of anticipation in Salle Pierre-Mercure on Monday evening as Jakub Józef Orliński took the stage alongside pianist Michał Biel at the early dates of the Festival International Bach Montreal 2025. Seven years had passed since the Polish countertenor’s first Montreal appearance in 2018—a performance that had left audiences mesmerized at the Church of Andrew and St. Paul. Yet the artist returning to us this November was not simply repeating past glories. Instead, Orliński presented something more ambitious: a recital designed to dismantle, once and for all, the narrow expectations placed on the countertenor voice. The

December 28, 2024

Editorial Team

Festival Bach Montréal 2024: Highlights, Surprises, and Reflections

When the Festival Bach Montréal 2024 concluded this December, it left behind a tapestry of sounds and experiences as intricately woven as the composer’s most elaborate fugues. For nearly a month, the city— and indeed beyond stretching to Québec and Ottawa—reverberated with the legacy of Johann Sebastian Bach, reimagined through a rich program that mixed time-honored traditions with contemporary approaches. This year’s edition offered a remarkable journey that began with open-armed accessibility and culminated in moments of shimmering grandeur. The festival, which has become a touchstone for Bach aficionados in North America since its modest six-day inception in 2005, has