Schubert: Piano Sonata in A Major, D959; 4 Lieder Leif Ove Andsnes, piano; Ian Bostridge, tenor EMI 72435 57266

Now here is imaginative and charming programming, offering us a little concert - a mini-Schubertiad for two.

The D959 is the 20th of 21 Schubert piano sonatas and was published posthumously. Schubert is saying so much in these later pieces that it demands and rewards an attentive listener. This implies that the performance, live or recorded, is attuned to the anima of the composer. This is such a performance. 

From what I have heard from Andsnes, while his playing is individual, he is following in footsteps of others - Edwin Fischer, Curzon, and Perahia come to mind - who intuitively put themselves inside the music and reveal the composer.

The timbre of the English tenor sound of Bostridge’s voice may not appeal to everyone but his sensitivity and interpretative technique are acknowledged. I do enjoy his voice and find his realizations very persuasive. 

The four Lieder are Pilerweise, D789; Der Ungluckliche, D713; Auf dem Strom, D943 and Die Sterne, D939. Horn players may recognize Timothy Brown’s contribution to Auf dem Strom. He is principal horn with the BBC Symphony and Professor of Horn at the Royal College of Music.

Unlike so many discs released these days, there was every good reason to issue this one and we trust that there will be more.

Bruce Surtees
 
 

Romance: Early Canadian Chamber Music Edvard Skerjanc, violin; Rosalind Sartori, cello; Elaine Keillor, piano Carleton Sound CSCD-1009

The guiding force behind this collection (and others on the small Carleton Sound label) is Elaine Keillor, a distinguished scholar of Canadian musical history and chair of the Canadian Musical Heritage Society. A most interesting collection it is – and not just for those of academic bent.

Most of the music dates from the first two decades of the twentieth century.  The only two composers who might still be called well known are Rodolphe Mathieu and Claude Champagne (perhaps not coincidentally the only two who strayed much beyond the bounds of impressionistic harmonies). Others include Alexis Contant, the first Canadian composer of note to receive all his training in this country; Gena Branscombe, a choral director and conductor as well as composer, who spent most of her life in the U.S.; Clarence Lucas, an editor, writer and composer, who divided his time amongst Canada, France and England; and Leo Smith, cellist, composer and teacher of generations of performers and composers in Toronto.

There is one piano trio, by Edward B. Manning.  The rest of the repertoire consists of sonatas and shorter pieces for either violin or cello with piano.  Most of it is not particularly adventurous, but all of it is well crafted and deserves to be known.

The performances from all three musicians are excellent in every way.  Production values are high and the programme notes are extensive and informative. 

Mary McGeer 

Secret Martin Speake, Nikki Iles, Duncan Hopkins, Anthony Michelli Basho Records SRCD 3-2

Make the effort to get this exceptional CD, the product of an improvised Anglo-Canadian quartet.  This is the first time that I heard Britain’s Martin Speake, and he plays with some of the most gorgeous alto sax sounds in contemporary jazz, even when venturing into Ornette territory.  Speake’s musical route verges on the cinematic: a rock-loving high school dropout who went on to classical saxophone training and ultimately became a professor at the Royal Academy of Music.  His playing encompasses the mainstream, free improvisation, world music, and Indian classical music. 

Speake’s Canadian partner in crime is Toronto bassist Duncan Hopkins, an economist who first picked up the bass at the age of 18 and mastered his craft via old-fashioned mentoring with some of the top folks in the business.  He met Speake while the latter was teaching at the Banff Centre. Ten years later, while on a family visit to the U.K., Hopkins contacted Speake out of the blue.  Speake suggested that they invite Canadian drummer Anthony Michelli, who was touring the U.K. as part of Steve Koven’s trio, into the picture.  The quartet was rounded out with British pianist Nikki Iles.

Secrets focuses on compositions by each of the four quartet members, and the sparks fly.  Iles’ plaintive Westerly, in particular, is utterly haunting and captivating.  What is most impressive about the album is how the four members of this brand new partnership are so finely attuned to each other's musical minds and nimble fingers. 

Phil Ehrensaft

Editor’s note: Basho records does not have a Canadian distributor at the moment, but can be ordered on the internet at www.jazzcds.co.uk.

Parr(A)cousmatique - Works for Guitar and Tape Arturo Parra empreintes DIGITALes IMED 0264n

There is a recent trend in electroacoustic music where instrumentalists with improvisational or compositional skills are collaborating with studio-based electroacoustic composers in the creation of works.  Lori Freedman, Randy Raine-Reusch, and Abbie Conant are a few of names that come to mind.  Another example is Colombian-Canadian guitarist Arturo Parra who collaborates on this recording with a choice group of Montreal acousmatic composers - Francis Dhomont, Stephane Roy, Gilles Gobeil, Robert Normandeau, and from Colombia, Mauricio Bejarano.

The most successful of these collaborations in my opinion are those with Dhomont, Normandeau and Gobeil.  The intense energy of Parra’s playing is well supported by those artists’ sensitive control of tension and release.  They also work because the guitar and the studio parts find frequent points of intersection and dialogue. The Roy piece felt to me that the studio component was on a different plane than the guitar, although to his credit, I found the sounds Roy created to be the most original.

Cooperative efforts such as the one lead here by Parra are long overdue - the synthesis of the two encroaches on old habits and gives acousmatic music a new zest.  It is nice to hear a melodic line weaving in and out of voluminous washes and thick stabs, for instance, or hearing the acousmatic component hold the main pitch interest while the guitar screeches and grinds around it.
In short, a bold spark on my radar screen. I look forward to similar explorations in the years ahead instigated by Parra and others.

Darren Copeland

Five Pianos John S. Gray Life Force Productions CDM-007 (Independent)

If you’re looking for a relaxing way to bring in the day, or to unwind at the end of a long one, you could do much worse than John Gray’s placid piano improvisations. Representing the musings of a period of some 20 years, these nine unpretentious and welcoming “compositions” provide a soothing backdrop for any number of activities. 

While, as admitted by the composer/performer, they fall well within the realm of the oft’ disparaged “New Age”, these explorations of the instrument’s sonic realm are enhanced by Gray’s expertise as a piano technician. In fact several of the tracks involve pianos that would not exist if not for his technical acumen. 

While the liner notes tell us perhaps more than we wanted to know about the origins of the instruments themselves and the recording devices involved, the accompanying music provides a welcome relief to the travails of everyday life. Not for the un-faint of heart!

David Olds

Concert note: Five Pianos will be launched at a self-produced concert where John S. Gray will be represented by composed works and a piano improvisation at the Music Gallery on October 10. The concert will also include the Toronto debut of synthesizer wunderkind Cory Carlick.

A Window on the World INEDIT Maison des Cultures du Monde INEDIT W 260107 (4 disc set)

Your average Torontonian takes considerable pride in the cultural smorgasbord of our great city, where the minority has become the majority. Yet I’d wager even the most cosmopolitan amongst us is more conversant with Thai menus than Thai music. This four-disc sampler, culled from the 106 discs issued to date by the Paris-based Maison des Cultures du Monde, offers an excellent opportunity to expand our musical horizons, at a promotional price that can’t be beat: four discs for the price of one!

Volume 1, a rich selection of vocal music from Africa, introduces us to the joyful polyphonic choruses of Central Africa, the rhythmic sophistication of the coastal music of the sub-Sahara and the soulful Islamic odes of Morocco. 

The depth of INEDIT’s catalogue of traditional Middle Eastern vocal and instrumental music is amply demonstrated in the second volume, which follows the unifying theme of the maqam - a modal system similar to the Indian raga - northwards through Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Syria to Azerbaijan.

The labyrinthine third volume explores central Asia from north to south. It begins in Tuva with some spectacular multiphonic singing, passes through several former Soviet republics, then swerves east (only touching on India and Pakistan, which are well served by their own recording industries) through Bangladesh and China. A merry Bangladeshi orchestra of mouth organs, the eerie choral rice-growing incantations of Taiwan, and the vivacious yet delicate music of Vietnam leave an indelible memory. The journey ends in Indonesia with examples of Sumatran, Balinese and Javanese music that are refreshingly remote from the familiar Gamelan canon.

The concluding volume is largely devoted to the “Second World” of Eastern Europe, with only a smattering of contributions from the Americas.  Stern ancestral vocal and instrumental selections from Russia and the Baltics lead us gradually southward through the Balkans into the more carefree Mediterranean world. Of the four final American examples, only the first two, from Brazil and Honduras, are indisputably indigenous, with the remainder consisting of a pair of generic Tango and Blues numbers.

The only drawback to this admirably produced set is the dearth of informative notes. For that level of understanding one must purchase the individual albums, which, judging by this sampler, would be well worth the effort.

Daniel Foley

WORTH REPEATING
 
 

In the Pocket Herb Ellis/Ray Brown Sextet Concord Jazz CCD-CD-2154

This is a double CD re-issue of two early Concord albums - After You've Gone, recorded at the Concord Jazz Festival and issued in 1975 and Hot Tracks, made in studio a year later. 

This resembles one of those dream bands you put together over a drink at the bar of your favourite jazz club. The players are veterans and masters of the freewheeling, play-the-head-then-choruses-all-round school of jazz. You can be sure of one thing - the music is straight-ahead and it swings mightily. Co-leaders are bassist Ray Brown, who is like the Rock of Gibraltar, and guitarist Herb Ellis. Herb is in many ways a down home kind of player. Not for him the understated subtleties of say Ed Bickert; Mr. Ellis lays it firmly down. 

On drums is perennial favourite Jake Hanna and the piano chair is shared by George Duke on the After You've Gone recordings and Mike Melvoin on Hot Tracks, on which he also plays keyboard. Harry "Sweets" Edison on trumpet, whose sparse playing style is one of the most distinctive in jazz, is in top form. With Mr. Edison less is definitely more. On tenor sax is Plas Johnson of Pink Panther fame, whose hard-edged tone brings to mind another of Edison's musical partners, "Lockjaw" Davis - not harmonically, but in his attack.

Put it all together and you have a highly recommended collection of a few great standards mixed with some blues-oriented originals.

Jim Galloway 
.

A State of Wonder: Bach – The Goldberg Variations 1955 & 1981 Glenn Gould SONY S3K 87703 (3 cds Special package)

Gould’s two most significant recordings of the Goldberg Variations have been dissected and discussed since the day each was released.

His first Columbia LP was recorded in New York in June of 1955 and almost instantaneously drew the world’s attention to the 22-year-old pianist who had them all listening to and talking about Bach. Over a quarter of a century later, in 1981, Gould recorded his latest thoughts on the Goldbergs. Some of us expressed the opinion then that the CD sound was unkindly analytical, lacking timbre, causing the notes to appear disconnected from each other, although I understand that the “original instruments” brigades were delighted. 

Twenty years have passed since Gould’s untimely death and to honour him and set the record straight, Sony returned to the analogue tapes made at the same sessions and edited them to exactly duplicate the sequences chosen for the 1982 release.

The difference is not superficial. Now there are the sonorities so painfully absent before, providing the necessary connection between the notes. This performance now sings. Well, so does Gould but that becomes an attraction, not a distraction.

The third disc has Gould chatting with acolyte Tim Page about the two recordings with illustrations and outtakes. Hear Gould’s opinion of the 1955 performance and his opinion of Mozart, what music he liked, and why. There is more than an hour of information and entertainment. 

This package is no mere re-exploitation of existing recordings. It does honour to Glenn Gould.

Bruce Surtees

Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz: 4 CDs on The Jazz Alliance label  Bill Evans TJA-CD-12004 Oscar Peterson TJA-CD-12033 Carmen McRae TJA-CD-12039 Chick Corea TJA-CD-12040

Margaret Marian Turner was born in Windsor and began to teach herself Chopin waltzes by ear when she was only three. She later studied at London's Guildhall School of Music and during World War II was part of a four-piano vaudeville act that traveled throughout Europe entertaining the Allied troops. That was how she met her future husband, Chicago cornetist Jimmy McPartland and moved to the U.S. after the war. Since then she has maintained a busy schedule, recording, touring, lecturing and teaching and is regarded by many as the first lady of jazz piano.

Over 20 years ago a South Carolina Educational Radio station produced a programme in which Marian and a guest teamed up for an hour of music and talk about influences, personal approach and style. Since then more than 500 jazz musicians have joined Marian for these informal get-togethers, making the series the longest-running national performance programme on public radio. Piano Jazz is heard weekly throughout Europe and Japan. This review covers 4 of the CDs issued of these broadcasts.

The format is simple - informative conversation and a mix of solo and duet performances.

The creativity and sensitivity of Bill Evans is brought out in the hour with Marian McPartland and we are given an insight into the creative processes of one of the most influential pianists in all of jazz. That he was a true romantic, albeit a troubled one, is amply demonstrated by his choice of material and his treatment of it- almost without exception every song is Byronic in its passionate overtones.

The programme with Oscar Peterson as the guest was first broadcast in 1980 and is richly informative as well as giving a perceptive look at another of the all-time great jazz pianists. It is a fascinating and intimate hour of great playing and interesting and open conversation in which Oscar explains something of his personal philosophy and approach to playing.

Chick Corea reveals something of his classical background in his conversation with Marian. She has the ability to draw people out of themselves and he is obviously enjoying the encounter, whether discussing influences or talking about his own music and wide-ranging career. It is, in a sense, rather like being a fly on the wall eavesdropping on two friends.

The same can be said of the session with the late Carmen McRae who was not only one of the great jazz singers but had much more than a passing acquaintance with the piano. It is like two old friends having a chat interspersed with a thought provoking selection of, for the most part, seldom heard but superior songs.

So there you have it - a varied set of CDs, informative, entertaining and available singly, of course. Recordings of the spoken word raise the question of how many times can you listen to people repeating the same things, unlike good music which can be listened to over and over and reveal something new each time. But these CDs stand up well to repeated listening and if you only want the music, simply programme the disc accordingly.

Jim Galloway

DISCS OF THE MONTH
 
 

Charpentier: Leçons de Tenebres Le Concert Spirituel; Hervé Niquet Glossa GCD 921604

Charpentier: Messe de Monsieur de Mauroy Le Concert Spirituel; Hervé Niquet Glossa GCD 921602

When Opera Atelier brings Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Médée to the stage of the Elgin theatre next month, Toronto audiences will have a rare chance to experience this masterpiece by one of the most brilliant composers of the French baroque. Leading period specialist Hervé Niquet, a frequent guest of Opera Atelier, will be conducting the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra with the company of singers and dancers.

With his Paris-based group, Le Concert Spirituel, Hervé Niquet has just released two fascinating discs in his ongoing exploration of Charpentier’s liturgical music. Charpentier never quite fit in at the court of Louis XIV, where the more flamboyant and worldly Lully dominated music. Charpentier had a very personal style, intense and passionately committed. In these two highly recommended discs, Niquet proves himself at home in this idiom. 

In the three Leçons de Tenebres, Charpentier punctuates the declamatory vocal lines with irrepressible melodies. Niquet highlights Charpentier’s constant shifts in mood to bring out the drama of these anguished texts from the Lamentations of Jeremiah. The six male singers, in solo or variously combined, emerge as invigoratingly individual voices. Yet they achieve sublime stylistic unity, especially in the ornaments, where the instrumentalists are exquisitely responsive.

The Messe de Monsieur de Mauroy is large-scale and sumptuous. Interpolated into the ordinary of the mass are improvisatory organ solos, brilliantly played by Michel Chapuis on a magnificent baroque instrument. Niquet is especially masterful at shaping Charpentier’s remarkable variety of textures.

Glossa’s production values are a pleasure, from the attractive packaging and informative, well-illustrated booklet, to the clear, well-balanced, sound, which captures the acoustical ambience that is such an integral aspect of this music.

Niquet has not yet recorded Médée. But William Christie, another pioneer in the recent revival of interest in Charpentier’s music, has made two recordings with his group Les Arts Florrisants, in 1984 on Harmonia Mundi (2901139.41) and, more recently, on Erato (96558).

Pamela Margles 

Concert note: Opera Atelier will be performing Charpentier’s Médée with the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra under Hervé Niquet at the Elgin Theatre on November 1,2,4,6,7,9 and 10. [Note to David Perlman: please check these dates, there is a discrepancy between Tafelmusik and Opera Atelier publications.]

Francois Cosset - Messe SuperFluminaBabylonis A Service with the Visitation Nuns of Paris Les Boréades; Hervé Niquet ATMA ACD2 2285

The Visitation Nuns were a contemplative order in Paris.  The founder, Jeanne de Chantal, believed that music was an integral component of religious ceremonies.  Much music, such as that presented here, was written for the use of these nuns.

The 17th century in France saw an abundance of war and pestilence. But it was also a time of deep spiritual re-birth, the Counter-Reformation. The music of Cosset's mass "By the rivers of Babylon" (published posthumously in 1673) is sublime, calming, and ethereal. The six movements are filled out to a more complete service by instrumental and vocal works of other composers. Notably Lully, Clérambault, Nivers, Moulinié, Bouteiller, and Lalouette, all or whom were composers and organists at the principal churches of Paris.

What strikes me most about this music is its purity.  Composed in multi-part polyphony, it conveys the feeling of plainchant. The textures are as clean as can be - every note of every voice and instrument is clear.

Hervé Niquet is master of this genre, and founder of Le Concert Spirituel, an ensemble devoted to religious music of this period. Les Boréades (Susie Napper, Hélène Plouffe, and Francis Colpron) perform with grace and reverence. The voices of Danièle Forget, Devon Wastle, Dominique Cousineau, Dorthéa Ventura, Éthel Guéret, and Teresa van der Hoeven are angelic.

Recommended for some small corner of peace in the age of anxiety.

Den Ciul

Concert note: As noted above Hervé Niquet conducts the Opera Atelier production of Charpentier’s Médée November 1 through 10.

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 dolds@interlog.com or call 416.535.7740.