EDITOR’S CORNER
by David Olds
Through
the long and
lazy days of
summer I found myself drawn to a number of vocal discs which on the
surface
have very little in common with each other. The first is the new album
by
Toronto’s own darlings of “punk baroque” I Furiosi, their first
for the
prestigious Dorian Sono Luminous label. Crazy (DSL-90902)
features the pure tone of soprano Gabrielle McLaughlin in a variety of
settings
by Jonathan Eccles, G.F. Handel, Godfrey Finger, Thomas Arne,
Alessandro
Stradella and John Blow which all seem to explore some aspect of
madness
(although it’s hard to be sure as the “eco-friendly” program notes –
i.e. no
paper used - to be available only on-line at the Dorian website after
the
September release were not yet posted at time of writing). While these
songs
involve fairly sparse accompaniment, they are interspersed with
instrumental
selections in which Furiosi violinists Julia Wedman and Aisslinn Nosky
and
cellist/gambist Felix Deak are joined by James Johnstone (harpsichord),
Stephanie Martin (organ) and Lucas Harris (theorbo and guitar). The
full and
energetic sound achieved at times belies the size of the ensemble.
Highlights
for me include an aria from Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Arne’s
To Fair
Fidele’s Grassy Tomb, an aria “con violines” from
Stradella’s Susanna,
Vivaldi’s trio sonata “La Folia” and the viol da gamba solo Deth
by
Tobias Hume. One unexpected treasure is the final selection, an
intriguing
arrangement of Leonard Cohen’s Suzanne. I must confess I
cringed when I
saw it on the track list thinking this was not something I was going to
want
hear in “period style” but from the opening plucked arpeggios on the
cello
through the entry of the oh-so-unlike Leonard Cohen high and
crystalline
soprano voice and the long haunting violin lines, I was drawn in and
convinced.
I’m left wondering what they would do with Cohen’s Halleluiah.
Concert note: I Furiosi’s
concert season begins on October 4 with “The T-Word”, a drag show with
guests
Matthew White and Stephanie Martin at Calvin Presbyterian Church. www.ifuriosi.com .
Phoenix
Edition is
a new
European label being distributed by Naxos and one of its first releases
is the
world premiere recording of four secular cantatas by Joseph Martin
Kraus.
Kraus, a contemporary of Mozart (they were born in 1756 and Kraus only
outlived
Mozart by one year, dying of consumption at the age of 36 in 1792), was
born
and educated in Germany but spent most of his career in Stockholm where
he
served as court conductor to Gustav III, became very interested in the
culture
of his adopted home and established a high standard for Swedish music.
His
broad output included a wealth of instrumental music and he composed
operas in
Swedish, but it is four of his Italian cantatas which are presented on
the CD La
Primavera (Phoenix Edition 101). We are told that the main reason
that
these works fell into obscurity is that their particularly difficult
soprano
lines were written for a specific singer, Lovisa (Sofia) Augusti, also
born in
1756, whose death in 1790 devastated the composer. On this recording we
are
treated to the extreme facility of soprano Simone Kermes whose
technical
abilities and comfort in the stratospheric upper range make it all
sound simple
(and musical). The soloist is required to employ what I would call
“machine-gun
tremolo” over extended phrases. In lesser hands this technique can be
simply
abrasive and unpleasant, but Kermes’ control and warm tone, even in the
highest
register, makes it an exhilarating experience. Although the booklet
notes are
in German, English and French, the cantatas’ lyrics – Anacreonic poems
by
Pietro Metastasio entitled “La Gelosia” (Jealousy), “La Primavera”
(Spring),
“La Scusa” (The Apology) and “La Pesca” (Fishing) – are given only in
the
original Italian and in German translation. Another seeming oversight
in the
otherwise thorough liner notes is lack of biographical information
about the
composer, although there is an essay about the cantatas which puts them
into
the context of his career in Sweden. That quibble aside this excellent
release
which features L’Arte del Mondo – a youthful offspring of Concerto Köln
under
the direction of the Concerto’s founder Werner Ehrhardt - should go a
long way
towards bringing the music of this important and under-recognized
composer of
the classical era into the light of day.
The next CD also
features Swedish music,
but it could not be more different. One morning in late July I was
surprised to
see what appeared to be a punked-up version of the Dixie Chicks on
Breakfast TV
- three young blond women playing a kind of hard-edged country music
and really
rockin’ out. What really surprised me was that the (six string) banjo
player
was using a “bottle neck” slide while also playing a kick drum, snare
and
tambourine with her feet and singing lead lines along with her sisters
(who
play slap-style upright bass and resonator guitar respectively).
Although their
family name is Bondesson, the group is called Baskery and their
debut
album Fall Among Thieves (Veranda Records VERCD001) is being
launched
with an international tour that included 16 stops across Canada over
the
summer. I must say I was impressed enough by what I saw on TV that
morning to
head out to the Dakota Tavern to catch their Toronto club date that
evening.
Baskery’s live show is amazing and the CD reflects this energy. As a
matter of
fact it was recorded live at Decibel Studios in Stockholm – “nothing
hidden,
nothing added” they say – where they constructed a stage on sound floor
to
create a concert-like setting. Although not all of the songs are
masterpieces,
there is enough craft and energy here to recommend the group as more
than a
curiosity. Check them out at www.Baskery.com
or have a look at their introductory
video on You Tube.
The
final disc seems to have been lost in
the shuffle when it appeared last February. Reading Tiina Kiik’s review
of
Mitch Smolkin’s “A Song is Born” (see Pot Pourri on page 60)
reminded me
that Aviva Chernick who sings on that release put out her own
debut CD
recently. In the Sea (www.avivachernick.com
) is an eclectic collection of Ladino and Yiddish/Hebrew folk
songs
interspersed with such gems as Kurt Weil’s Pirate Jenny, Randy
Newman’s I
Think It’s Going To Rain Today and a particularly effective
version of
Leonard Cohen’s Dance Me To The End of Love. It’s funny how Mr.
Cohen
keeps popping up this month. You’ll find another reference in Ori
Dagan’s
review of DK Ibomeka’s new CD “I’m Your Man” in the Jazz
reviews on page
59. But back to Ms. Chernick. The first time I heard this young
singer’s
powerful voice was as the alto soloist in “Mother Was Standing”, an
amateur
production of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater that I had the pleasure
to be
involved in about a decade ago. Since that time her voice has matured
and her
technique has developed and focussed. In the trio setting here with
pianist/music director Tania Gill and cello/bass player Andrew Downing
she
shines with confidence and style. But most important, she is obviously
having
the time of her life.
Concert notes: The Labour Day
weekend will be a busy time for Aviva Chernick at the Ashkenaz Festival
at
Harbourfront. In addition to performing at Mitch Smolkin’s CD launch at
7:00 on
August 30, she will also be celebrating Havdala (the end of the
Sabbath)
with Rabbi Aaron Levy at 9:00 on the outside stage and participating in
the
late night Sephardic Cabaret at the Lakeside Terrace. On August 31 at
6:30 her
Huppa Project launches their “Under the Canopy – Music of the Jewish
Wedding
Ceremony” CD at the Lakeside Terrace and on September 1 her band Jaffa
Road
(formerly Shakshuka) performs a free concert at the Brigantine Room at
7:00.
David Olds
DISCoveries Editor
discoveries@thewholenote.com
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