April in Vancouver: Yo-Yo Ma, La Bohème and a world premiere about the Lytton fire

April brings the concert most of the city will be talking about: Yo-Yo Ma plays Elgar's Cello Concerto with the VSO and Maestro Tausk at the Orpheum on the 24th. If you want to go, don't wait.

The month has more than that, though. Vancouver Opera stages a new production of Puccini's La Bohème at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre — probably the most reliable opera to recommend to someone who has never been to one. And the Vancouver Chamber Choir opens the month with Voices from the Earth, built around the world premiere of Andrew Staniland's Songs from the Lytton Fire, which is the kind of programme that only gets written in this province.

For a first orchestral concert, Jaeden Izik-Dzurko playing Rachmaninoff's Third with VAMSO at the Orpheum is hard to beat: a famously difficult piece, played by someone very good at it, in a room built for it.

This is the same lineup that went out in this month's newsletter, adapted here in case you'd rather browse than scroll an inbox. If you're new here, Discover is the editorial side of Allegro — a little more opinionated than the full listings. Subscribe below and I'll send the next one straight to your inbox.