Phil Ehrensaft

Concert Note: Lucille Chung performs Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Korean-Canadian Symphony Orchestra at the Toronto Centre for the Arts on March 29.

NEW AND RECENT RELEASES
 

Chants sacrés et profanes  Tafelmusik Chamber Choir CBC Records MVCD 1155

This recording marks a bold departure from the baroque and early classical repertoire that the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir is known for, performing French repertoire written between 1865 and 1952 with compositions by Poulenc, Messiaen, Fauré, Debussy and Saint-Saëns. However, the choir continues its mandate of observing performance practice relevant to the period. First, they incorporate the French vernacular pronunciation for the Latin texts in the selections by Poulenc. Secondly, for the accompanied pieces, Stephen Ralls plays a 1901, Model "B" Bechstein piano, with an action and sound similar to one that would have been used by Gabriel Fauré.

Most of the selections on this recording are sacred works, with a mystical quality typical of the French Catholic focus on meditative prayer and contemplation on the suffering of Christ. Tafelmusik's clarity and precision of tone demonstrate their skillful art in these often angular and dissonant a capella pieces, but one can't help but feel a certain lack of passion and angst in the interpretation that some of this repertoire cries out for, especially Poulenc's Quatre motets pour un temps de penitance. On the other hand, the style works extremely well in other pieces, such as Saint-Saëns Calme des nuits where the stillness of night is beautifully evoked in the choir's even tone during long-held notes, never quavering. In the charming Madrigal by Fauré, the choir sings a Venus-Mars type duel between the sexes, finally coming together to agree on the impossibility of love.

This is a varied and compelling recording, especially for those interested in breaking the mold.

Dianne Wells

Concert Note: Bruno Weil conducts Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir in Haydn’s The Seasons on March 7 and 8 at Massey Hall. 

Yundi Li (pronounced Lee) was born in China in 1982, won first prize in the Chongging Children’s Accordion Competition at the age of five and began piano lessons two years later. In 1995 he won the Stravinsky International Youth Piano Competition in Champaign, Illinois, and in 1999 both the Liszt International Piano Competition in Utrecht and the China International Youth Piano Competition in Beijing. 

In 2000, for the first time in 15 years, the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw awarded a first prize--to Yundi Li. DG signed him six months later. He began touring and played at the Toronto Centre for the Performing Arts in August 2001. A friend and I tried to get tickets but it was completely sold out! The Chinese community knew about Yundi Li long before other music-lovers at large.

This is his second album for DG; the first was all Chopin, and he plays some of the Liszt pieces you would hope to hear. The Sonata in B minor is elevated to a level of understanding not heard in many, many years. I heard not one errant phrase or note. Nor can one fault the heartfelt waves of passion of Schumann’s Widmung, the amorous repose of Liebestraume, the filigreed passages of La Campanella, or the virtuosity of the final track, Liszt’s Paraphrase on Rigoletto. 
Here, quite evidently, is a 21 year old who is already the equal of the greatest executants of our day. 

As the sound is as open and generous as the playing, need I say, recommended without reservation?
 

Bruce Surtees

Tango Song and Dance Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin André Previn or Lambert Orkis, piano DG CD 471 500 2

This may appear to be a crossover collection but it is not. It opens with Tango Song and Dance composed by André for Anne, marked respectively, Passionately, Simply, and Jazz Feeling. With the composer at the keyboard these spirited performances may be considered to be definitive. Mutter initially found the unusual rhythmic patterns difficult but there are certainly no obstacles for the listener. And jazz feeling does not mean it’s real jazz, but jazzy.  Previn’s attractive suite will encourage repeated hearings.

The balance of the disc is with her regular accompanist, Lambert Orkis, and each piece is played to perfection with the affection and freedom found in encore pieces. There is a gypsy-like freedom in the three Brahms’ Hungarian Dances, 1, 6, & 7, while Schoen Rosmarin, Caprice Viennois, and Liebesleid have all the nostalgic Viennese charm implied by their violinist composer, Fritz Kreisler. The four items from Porgy and Bess, Summertime; It Ain’t Necessarily So; Bess, You is my Woman Now; and My Man’s Gone Now were arranged by Jascha Heifetz for his own use. Unhandicapped by words, no voice has ever declared the passion and heartache as ardently rendered and blended here. The Fauré Sonata No.1, op.13, a major work of its kind is a refined and instantly attractive four movement work and makes a fitting close to this well-programmed disc. A winning entry for all concerned. 

Bruce Surtees
 

Group of Seven Suite Tony Quarrington and Friends CBC Records TRCD 3003

Here in these times of worry and uncertainty, CBC records releases Tony Quarrington’s calming jazz CD of works inspired by Canadian artists. It is very much a pastoral approach, given the visual subject matter that inspired the music. Each of the eight pieces corresponds with a specific painting from the well-known Group of Seven.

The basic septet (including guitarist Quarrington, flautist Jane Bunnett, trumpeter John Macleod, pianist Brian Dickinson, bassist Don Thompson, drummer Barry Romberg and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Bird of Cowboy Junkies fame) expands to include saxophonist Kirk MacDonald on two of the tracks, and vocalist Jane Siberry makes a cameo performance in the third track, At the Edge of the Maplewood. The music is well-disciplined within the “laid-back” jazz style, and stands up to repeated listenings. An interesting adjunct to the music is a series of sound effects provided both by Jeff Bird, and by CBC’s Sound Effects Archivist Anton Szabo.

The engineers and producers give the listener an excellent balance of instruments, working within the confines of Toronto’s Number Nine Sound. Isles of Spruce stands out for sonic clarity.

Composer Quarrington relates in the booklet his original inception of the suite, jotting down melodies after seeing the painter’s works in a book, reading the colourful pages at the grand piano. The paintings are reproduced in the booklet, unfortunately in mere monochrome thumbnails. Tom Thomson’s West Wind makes for an appealing cover. 

John S. Gray
 

Shambolica Michael Grey Dunaber CD0001

The Scottish seem to have a practical approach to posterity and the proof is in Michael Grey’s tasty product, Shambolica. A student of the venerable art since the age of twelve, serving as Pipe Major of the Peel Regional Police force, known in the highland pipers community as an able adjudicator and composer, Mr. Grey has, as befits the tradition of the brave hearted, (though he’s not as cute as Mel Gibson), won a strategically complex battle: In this recording he has successfully assembled such diverse idioms as Cowboy, Jazz, New Age, not to mention solid M.O.R., and even House. Set against arrangements written with Owen Pallett and the album’s engineer and mixer Bryan Greenwood, respect for the gentle listener’s ears triumphs and the old bags are rejuvenated.

My Heart is in the Highlands is a moody, sensuous track that oughta be in pictures, or at least in radio rotation. Kurt Swinghammer crunches out some metal guitar licks on it. The traditional tune Nut Brown Maiden features Jane Siberry and samples the voice of departed kin. Something close to Enya’s soporific trance is induced on Annabel, which Grey based on Lament for Mary Macleod. A techno-pop track referred to as *!*! closes out the album, leaving one wondering if there is any  style Mr. Grey’s pipes don’t call. A great CD for the car or the home, but I’ll not be lending mine. 

Deborah Rosen

Concert Note: Michael Grey will premiere John Beckwith’s A New Pibroch for Highland pipes and strings at New Music Concerts Pioneers! O Pioneers! concert at Glenn Gould Studio on March 23.

It's About Time Heather Bambrick  HBCD-001

It's About Time is vocalist Heather Bambrick's aptly titled debut CD. The eleven selections on the disc cover a broad range and include standards, a Prince tune, and 3 of Heather's own songs.

The musicians on this recording are some of the top jazz players in Canada and include saxophonist Mike Murley, pianist David Braid and guitarist David Occhipinti. Bambrick and bassist Mike McClennan share arranging credits for the project. The charts are superb, particularly so on Love for Sale. This song is usually rendered in such a happy, upbeat manner that the sinister connotation of the lyrics is lost. Not so on this version. 

This recording was a delight to listen to, since the focus was on the singer and the songs themselves. The accompanists having their shining moments of course, but it's Bambrick's warm rich voice and clear delivery of the lyrics that really carries the disc.

I was particularly impressed by the original material on this recording. I was utterly convinced That's Falling in Love was a standard I hadn't chanced upon before, until I checked the credits. Aren't I Cute certainly IS, and is somewhat reminiscent of Blossom Dearie's work. Maybe is such a beautiful ballad melody that I fully expect to hear many instrumentalists covering it.

I highly recommend this CD, and I'm eagerly looking forward to hearing more of Heather's work - especially her own songs.

Merlin Williams

Sweet Home Suite The Greg Runions Big Band Independent, Grind 2002

A new release for a 19-piece big band is quite surprising in our era of compactness, lowered budgets and the rest. Greg Runions’ large group bursts forth from the opening track The New Cure, with immediate energy and tight discipline. Clearly much hard work has gone into the preparation of this. The New Cure is one of four pieces that make up the Sweet Home Suite. Runions, a Kingston Ontario-based composer, shows good-humoured quirkiness in his writing style throughout the CD, and this is sure to bring a smile. 

Several modal shifts through a number of apparent key signatures are some of the highlights of Oh Brother! which also has expressive solos from no fewer than five of the players. Pianist Brian Dickinson’s solo here is especially noteworthy.

Two tunes round out the disc: Waltz for Lauren with masterful arrangements and even a solo on the vibraphone from composer Runions himself. The final track 4PM begins with a sonorous chorale-like episode, first for the brass instruments and then the reeds alone. 

The all-too brief notes hint at the glorious past of this eastern Ontario big band, with nods of thanks to former guest artists, Kenny Wheeler, Mike Murley and Don Thompson among those mentioned. The cover photo, the only one provided in the CD, shows only the horn section and not the pianist, nor even composer himself. 

John S. Gray

A Beckett Miscellany Arcady; Ronald Beckett Phoenix Records PHX45372

Ronald Beckett is a well-known composer, keyboard player and impresario from Southwestern Ontario. He is the founder and director of the Arcady ensemble, a collection of young instrumentalists and singers who perform early music – including an extensive tour of Handel’s Messiah each year – and the compositions of Ronald Beckett himself. This CD features a sampling of nearly 25 years of Beckett’s instrumental music and demonstrates his solid craftsmanship and pleasant nature as a composer. The recorded compositions fall into three main categories: works for solo keyboard, chamber music for wind instruments and instrumental interludes from Beckett’s operas. 

Of the works for keyboard, the Octatonic Suite, written in 2002, is a striking set of short, imitative dances with interesting counterpoint and a great deal of ingenuity, at times dining out on a cheeky, jazz-inspired style. The pieces for winds all date from the late 1970s and early ‘80s and have a wide range of flavours, from Stravinskian neo-Classicism (Woodwind Quintet) to a spare, modal, Renaissance sound (Trio for Flute, Clarinet and Horn). I especially enjoyed the challenging, angular harmonies of the Toccata for Oboe and Piano with its insistent, irregular rhythms. 

The excerpts from Beckett’s recent trilogy of operas seem a little more utilitarian and lack some of the vigour of the other pieces, but all the performances are of a high standard and Mr. Beckett should be commended for his creativity and obvious mastery at bringing people together to make music: a positive force.

Larry Beckwith

Concert Note: Ronald Beckett’s Arcady  (www.arcady.ca) ensemble performs at Erskine Presbyterian Church in Hamilton March 1, Central Presbyterian in Brantford March 8 and Knox Presbyterian in Milton on May 4. [See Further Afield listings for more details.]
 

WORTH REPEATING
 
 

Inferno! Louie Bellson Big Band  Concord Jazz CCD2-2158-2

Inferno! is a re-release of two earlier sessions by the Louie Bellson Big Band. 150 MPH, from 1979 is a studio recording made by Bellson's Los Angeles based band featuring such notable musicians as Blue Mitchell, Bobby Shew, "Sweets" Edison, Pete Christlieb, Don Menza and Frank Rosolino. The second disc in the set is from a live concert in 1980 with a touring band which retains only Shew and Menza as its strongest soloists.

The live disc in particular showcases the leader's extended drum soloing and use of double bass drum technique. Despite the fact that he was employed by Duke Ellington in the fifties, and apparently remained one of his favourite "first chair percussionists", Louie Bellson's sound and approach to big band drumming has really struck the right chord with me.

So why am I bothering to recommend this CD? Simple: Don Menza's charts and tenor playing. Menza wrote some wonderfully energetic big band arrangements. These pieces still get played by high school and college bands all over the world, but are rarely heard with the precision and verve that they have on this collection. In addition, the solo work of the aforementioned players on the studio date is great. This disc is likely to appeal to the fan of a more traditional style of big band music, and if you're a drum solo fan...well let's just say I'm surprised you don't already have a copy.

Merlin Williams

John Weinzweig Canadian Composer Portrait series Centrediscs CMC CD 8002

I must confess a certain partisanship in recommending this collection to our readers, for I count myself among the hundreds of composers John Weinzweig has taught over the years. And it would be less than candid of me not to mention that I also serve as program editor for Toronto's New Music Concerts, which is presenting this month a 90th birthday tribute to this man who was so influential in the development of our musical heritage.

The Centrediscs Portrait series is a long overdue sequel to the “blue box” series of discontinued vinyl pressings previously available on the Radio Canada International label and the existence of this new incarnation in the CD format is in large part due to the efforts of Weinzweig himself. 

This set includes seven extended instrumental works that demonstrate the evolution of Weinzweig's rhetoric from the romantic lyricism of the Violin Concerto of 1954 to the fragmentary dialogues of his 1976 brass quintet, Pieces of Five. The performances are of a consistently high quality, particularly those of the Orford Quartet in his Quartet No. 3 and Judy Loman's powerful account of the masterful Concerto for Harp. As with the other Portraits in this series, a separate disc is devoted to a CBC sound documentary about the composer. 

Though the CBC has done wonders in re-mastering these recordings, the monaural sound of the Violin Concerto and the very close pick-up of the Orford Quartet remain painfully shrill. These works deserve new recordings, and it is a pity that the CBC does not have the resources to commission them.

Daniel Foley

Concert Note: New Music Concerts celebrates John Weinzweig’s 90th birthday with Pioneers! O Pioneers! on March 23 at Glenn Gould Studio.

Osvaldo Golijov: Yiddishbbuk St. Lawrence String Quartet EMI CD  72435 57356-2

This album, on which the St. Lawrence String Quartet is joined by the Ying Quartet, Todd Palmer (clarinets), Tara Helen O’Connor (flute) and Mark Dresser (double bass), has received two separate nominations for the Grammy Awards in the United States and is up for a Juno in Canada. Although we have not heard every nominated recording, there is little doubt that any album that scores higher in the respective categories would be wondrous indeed.

Last Round, scored for double string quartet and double bass, is an intense and potent work that shows the influence of the bandoneon music of Golijov’s compatriot, the late Astor Piazzolla. It is one of those rare pieces that immediately draw the listener in and keeps hold so as not to miss a note--an important composition that should enjoy a long life. 

Lullaby and Doina are sad little nostalgic morsels which sound familiar even on first hearing. The spirit is early mid-20th century Jewish, but is it exuberant or prophetic? The answer may be in the pizzicato chord that closes the piece. 

Yiddishbbuk itself is a collection of three pieces, dedicated respectively to three children interned in the Terezin concentration camp, author Isaac Bashevis Singer and by composer Leonard Bernstein. 

Finally, The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac The Blind for string quartet and clarinet. Isaac, the French cabalist who flourished in the twelfth and thirteenth century, adopted the theory of reincarnation (metempsychosis) and could tell if a man’s soul was old or new. Whether or not Golijov successfully called forth the old soul of the eccentric Isaac doesn’t really matter, because the five-part suite is an easy listen no matter what the inspiration.

Bruce Surtees

Gitanes Jazz in Paris Series (Universal/Verve):
 

Modern Jazz au Club St-Germain Bobby Jaspar Gitanes 159 941 2

Jazz sur Seine Barney Wilen Gitanes 548 317 2

Blue and Sentimental Guy Lafitte Gitanes 159 852 2

Jazz and Cinema vol. 1 & 2 Various artists Gitanes 548 318 2; 013 044 2

The long love affair between jazz and Paris was well documented, and if, like me, you want your library to reflect the whole history of the genre, there’s a wonderful series of currently available CDs that should fill more than a few gaps. The Gitanes/Universal Music series “Jazz In Paris” takes a deep dive into the period from the early ‘30s to the mid ‘60s, and in 101 releases looks lovingly at French artists, Americans visiting Paris, expatriate Americans, and the interaction of all of them. The bonus is its budget price, with a core of domestic release discs selling for less than $10 and other “special imports” at under $20.

This is a wonderful set: historic, high-concept, and beautiful to look at. The black and white covers feature the world’s most-photographed city at its most evocative and the sound quality is excellent. These discs offer a fantastic helping of music, great, near-great, and only occasionally, the not-so-great. Over the next couple of months, I’d like to take a look at a few of them, beginning with some French tenor players recorded in the 1950s.

If any French musician had “an American accent”, it was Guy Lafitte.  Strongly influenced by Coleman Hawkins and Don Byas, he emerged in the late ‘40s as, for one thing, a master ballad player, and the appropriately titled Blue and Sentimental from 1954 reveals his passion. Ballads like the title tune, She’s Funny That Way and Stardust dominate the package, but there are some easy swingers, too. A fine Milt Jackson-like vibist, Geo Daly, gets lots of room.

Bobby Jaspar, for the persnickety amongst us, wasn’t French, but like M. Poirot, Belgian. (So were such busy Paris favourites like René Thomas, Fats Sadi and Benoit Quersin.) With a sound out of the Lester Young School, with post-grad work in Stan Getz and more than a touch of bop, Jaspar was much-favoured by American musicians (including singer Blossom Dearie, whom he married), and he often played in America. Modern Jazz au Club St-Germain is a late ’59 studio recording of the band that was wowin’ them at the St-Germain-des-Pres jazz haunt. A few originals are heard among jazz classics such as Bag’s Groove, the original late ‘40s Milestones and A Night In Tunisia. Standards include I Can’t Get Started and You Stepped Out Of A Dream. Jaspar’s partners include the fine pianist René Urtreger and guitarist Sacha Distel, who went on to some success of his own. Bobby Jaspar was only 37 when he died in 1963.

Barney Wilen had an American parent, and as a youngster lived in the U.S., which may have given him a head start as a jazzman.  He had real success in both France and the States, across Europe and even into Africa. Another Prez acolyte, with bop leanings, he had the chance to work with the best, including JJ Johnson and Bud Powell. On Jazz sur Seine he has Milt Jackson--not on vibes, but at the piano! (It’s interesting that while he plays two-handed behind others, when Jackson solos, it’s right-handed only, as though he were on vibes.) Also from the MJQ is bassist Percy Heath, and the original MJQ drummer Kenny Clarke, who chose to live in Paris in the 1950s. This disc might have the greatest French content, with original compositions by Django Reinhardt, Raymond Fol, Wilen, and mostly, Charles Trenet, but for the last tune, it’s Monk’s Epistrophy.

Wilen’s own compositional talent is featured on the disc Jazz & cinema vol. 1 which includes his score for Edouard Molinaro’s 1959 thriller Un temoin dans la ville. Barney’s on tenor and soprano in the company of Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Duke Jordan at the piano, with Paul Rovere on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums. It’s less satisfactory as a jazz listening experience, of course, with short cues and unfinished-feeling ambiances and melodies, but as an example of the emotional power of jazz for film, it’s instructive. And if jazz scores for films are your interest, pick up Jazz & cinema vol. 2. JATP masters like Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz and Coleman Hawkins, and Oscar Peterson are playing for the soundtrack of 1958’s Les tricheurs, and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers perform bandmember Benny Golson’s music for Des femmes disparaissent, also from ’58.

Ted O’Reilly 
 

DISCS OF THE MONTH
 
 

Bach: Orchestral Suites Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra Analekta FL 2 3134

Though Bach composed but a smattering of orchestral works, those that have come down to us rank among the greatest works of musical history. Thus it is a bit of a mystery to me why a Tafelmusik recording of these works had not appeared quite some time ago. Be that as it may, all but the second of Bach's Four Orchestral Suites are now available in glorious performances by this distinguished ensemble.

Surely the most familiar item of these Suites is the celebrated "Air", habitually rendered in a ponderous manner "on the G string", from the Third Suite. Tafelmusik is having none of that, thank you. Their approach is one clarity and grace, executed with elegance and performed in a manner consistent with the practices of Bach's own time.

There is a compelling ardour to these sprightly performances, particularly so in the thrilling renditions of the joyous passages for trumpets, timpani and oboes that enervate the Third and Fourth Suites.  The acoustics achieved at Toronto's Grace Church on the Hill are excellent, with an admirable balance of voices. This is a recording to treasure.

Daniel Foley

Concert Notes: Bruno Weil conducts Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir in Haydn’s The Seasons on March 7 and 8 at Massey Hall. The orchestra is joined by fortepianist Malcolm Bilson for an all-Mozart program March 20-23 at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre and March 25 at the George Weston Recital Hall.
 

Cantaloube – Chants d’Auvergne  Karina Gauvin; Canadian Chamber Ensemble; Raffi Armenian CBC Records SMCD 5224

Joseph Canteloube's Chants d'Auvergne contain some of the most marvelous, and elaborate orchestral settings of folk songs. Home to his father, the mountainous Auvergne region, with its fiercely proud people, was dear to Canteloube's heart. The songs are a collection of pastoral vignettes, many of which follow the amorous adventures of shepherdesses with orchestrations that affect much humour or the longings of an endless, lonely night: The most soothing lullabies, robust dances, work songs, and texts that offer sage advice for country folk. Truly a collection that inspires us to "appreciate, understand and love nature, the earth and rural life", as Canteloube demanded as a prerequisite to fully understand the folksong.

Karina Gauvin characterizes these texts deftly with a great deal of wit, eloquence and humour. This is her third recording on CBC records, and it is truly a world-class performance. The Canadian Chamber Ensemble, 16 principal musicians of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony directed by Raffi Armenian, provide an amazing array of luxuriant colour. Oboist James Mason is given lots of opportunity to shine in these scorings, particularly in the three bourrées and the Bailero, haunting in its beauty.

For those of us who've had enough of a cold and colourless winter, this 
recording is a breath of spring, promising the vivid scenery, scents and colours of a mountain summer. Even the gorgeous outfit Ms. Gauvin has chosen for her cover photograph is enough to chase the blues away.

Dianne Wells

DISCoveries Editor’s Note regarding the 2003 JUNO Nominations:

While television ads get us all psyched up for the “best of Canadian music” on the CTV JUNO Awards special on Sunday April 6, there are a number of categories that you won’t see on TV. The less than glamorous world of classical music is all but ignored in the glitzy coverage and we’ll be left surfing the web or reading the fine print in newspapers the following morning to find out how our classical musicians and composers fared. Wholenote prides itself on its classical and post-classical coverage and DISCoveries is proud to note that of the 20 classical nominations, 14 have been reviewed in these pages in past issues. It is our intention to complete the cycle in our April.

Here's an opportunity to revisit what our reviewers had to say about this year’s crop of classical nominations.

WholeNote reviews of JUNO nominees

The WholeNote welcomes your participation and looks forward to your cooperation in making DISCOVERIES a lively addition to our magazine and to our  website.

Catalogues and review copies of CDs should be sent to:
The WholeNote, 60 Bellevue Avenue, Toronto ON M5T 2N4

For more information contact David Olds at david.olds@sympatico.ca .