From London, March 2007
(Click on titles to download)
The
Daily Telegraph, March 8, 2007
Time
Out London, March 21-27, 2007
Other selected past reviews
(Click on titles to download)
Musicalamerica.com,
June 14, 2005
New
Haven Register, June 5, 2005
The
Toronto Sun, November 12, 2004
Toronto
Star, November 11, 2004
Rocky
Mountain Outlook, August 5, 2004
Calgary
Herald, July 31, 2004
Quotes
“The 90-minute multimedia piece weaves a bold and richly
emotional tapestry of sound and image that clearly represents a
stunning triumph in the marriage of music with digital technology.
Toronto composer Christos Hatzis’ score is an artful and
frequently arresting blend of western classical, liturgical and
Middle Eastern tradition with infusions from more contemporary styles,
such as jazz and pop. It is performed flawlessly and miraculously
by the Gryphon Trio – pianist Jamie Parker, violinist Annalee
Patipatanakoon and cellist Roman Borys – and singers Maryem
Tollar and Patricia O’Callaghan. It’s a complex multi-layered
work in eight movements, each a ritual point of departure on an
imagined journey towards spiritual convergence between East and
West.”
Bob Clark, Calgary Herald (July 31,
2004)
“Constantinople is a winning, passionate work…It is
a multi-layered, multicultural piece of musical theatre that continues
Hatzis’s long-standing interest in the various spiritual influences
that make up the modern world.”
“It is one of the most ambitious works in the Canadian repertory...a
work impossible to resist.”
Robert Harris, The Globe and Mail
(October 19, 2000)
“Hatzis, true to his goal of ‘cultural convergence,’
was blending East and West and bringing so many kinds of music together
that the word ‘cross-over’ seemed totally inadequate
to describe it. Yet the work remained coherent and moving…The
performers deserve as much praise as the work itself.”
John Lehr, Toronto Star (October
18, 2000)
“…composer Christos Hatzis’ fascinating multi-media
collaboration Constantinople was the music event of the season….Constantinople
is the kind of new music that opens itself up to cross-over audiences.
Written for piano, violin, cello, an operatic mezzo-soprano, a folk
singer alto, and digital audio – it can be all things to all
people. Hatzis’ premise was to create an homage to cultural
and religious multi-culturalism represented by the crossroads city
of Constantinople. Thus the piece has a world beat feel to it, and
Hatzis brilliantly fused Arab, Christian and Jewish musical idioms
as well as introducing Western and Middle Eastern classical pop
and folk contrasts…the piece was an exciting historical musical
tour.”
Paula Citron, Classical 96 FM (October
19, 2000)
“This is an ambitious and rich work, combining Western and
Arabic musical traditions, with a bit of Greek orthodox chant thrown
in for good measure, commissioned and held together by the fine
Gryphon Trio.”
“…the extraordinarily potent voice of Maryem Tollar
was the highlight of the work, but soprano Patricia O’Callaghan
and the Gryphons added their talents to it as well to make the performance
very intense.”
Robert Harris, The Globe and Mail
(March 24, 2003)
“In this new work, Hatzis openly embraces eclecticism: He’s
quite capable of beginning a movement with Beethovenian solemnity
and switching halfway through into a crazy Piazzolla-esque tango.
The result is a style of music that seems to defy categorization.
Or, more precisely, it’s impossible to categorize because
it draws on a multitude of influences to produce an electro-acoustic
blend of Latin, Middle-Eastern, Celtic, medieval, classical and
even jazz elements, among others.”
Colin Eatock, The Globe and Mail (October
18, 2000) |
