In Tavolatura  Rachelle Taylor, Harpsichord ATMA ACD2 2267

This album of period arrangements of 16th and 17th century popular songs and dances for solo harpsichord (“intabulations" or, in Italian, “in tavolatura") is a delight. Some of the composers are familiar to us from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. Others are less well known, but were quite famous in their day and deserve our attention now.

I love this period of composition, before anyone had set down "The Rules" (see Rameau, Traité de l’Harmonie, 1722, for that). The music is modal, polyphonic, and harmonically adventurous, the dances are wild and percussive and those tunes still tug at our heartstrings.

The best known is Lachrimae Pavan by Dowland (on the charts for a full century), as set by Sweelinck.  Crequillon’s Languissans, je deplore mes jours (arr. Merulo) is another hurtin’ song, whereas Lassus’ Bonjour mon coeur, set by exiled Peter Philips, is a well-known love song. “...my gentle little dove, my sparrow, my turtledove! Hail, my sweet rebel".

Some selections are theme and variation, some are dance suite pieces, some are just arrangements, but all are varied and wonderful. We get a great deal of “noodling" (long, fancy threads of ornaments and jazzy playing around the notes of the themes), particularly in the Merulo pieces. Rachelle Taylor, performing on an 18th century Italian-style harpsichord by Yves Beaupré, does a fine job of holding these long and complex lines together, and the music floats. There are tantalizing suspensions and subtle hesitations, keeping a feeling of improvisation in the interpretation.

Den Ciul 
 

Mahler - Symphony No.10 (reconstructed by Joe Wheeler) Polish Nat'l RSO; Robert Olson Naxos 8.554811

Since 1965 when Columbia issued Ormandy’s recording of Deryck Cooke’s first performing version some have wondered, or questioned, how well Cooke had second guessed Mahler’s final thoughts.

Subsequently there have been four CDs of Cooke’s third version, one recording each of two Remo Mazzelli versions, a Clinton Carpenter version (with a second imminent from Delos in their Mahler cycle with Andrew Litton) and a Wheeler version from Robert Olson conducting Boulder’s Mahlerfest Orchestra (which I’ve yet to hear).

I haven’t been convinced by any of the existing recordings, charitably hearing little more than ersatz Mahler. I seem to have been almost alone in being unmoved by the Concertgebouw’s Cooke version in Thomson Hall last year. Could the audience have been applauding only the excellent performance?  Nah!

Curiously, Joseph Wheeler was working on his version while fellow Londoner Cooke was working on his, each unaware of the other. The need for time consuming scholarship and the people involved with Olson in the preparation of the Wheeler score used for this new recording are outlined in the comprehensive liner notes. 

Wheeler’s orchestration, allocation of instruments, tempi, and hence the emotions, are often significantly different from the other interpretations, particularly in the unsettling fifth movement. There can never be a definitive version but this one is very close. Ultimately, quite believable. All things considered, including Mahler’s evolving perspectives, it is very possible that this score closely coincides with what Mahler would have written.

Bruce Surtees 

Kevin Volans - Hunting: Gathering The Duke Quartet Black Box BBM1069

What are we to make of these brave postmodernists, England’s Gavin Bryars and South Africa’s Kevin Volans? To be sure, they are fighting the Good Fight – tearing down the dogmas and strictures that left the ultra-modernist Boulezes and Stockhausens painted into a corner, writing nasty, alienated works the world has little use for.

The string quartets of these two composers reveal that they have much in common. Both write in a pleasant, euphonious style – although they clearly reserve the right to write “wrong notes” when they want to. And both favour simple, understated textures, together with a subtle, gradual approach to such things as texture, dynamics and phrasing.

What they don’t always favour, however, is a clear sense of musical direction. In some of Volans’ works – such as his String Quartet No. 2, or the livelier movements of his String Quartet No. 1, “White Man Sleeps” – this approach can have an engaging effect, rather like a car-trip to nowhere in particular through a delightfully changing landscape. But in others, such as his distended String Quartet No. 6, it can lead to an inert music that manages to be boring and annoying at the same time.

Much the same can be said of Bryars – although the English composer’s sound palette seems a little bland when placed next to Volans’ African exoticisms. When he’s being unabashedly lyrical – especially in his String Quartet No. 2 – Bryars succeeds admirably. But the extended tremolos, arpeggios and scalar passages that pervade all three of his quartets often lose their way and become static.

As for the two performing ensembles, both the Duke Quartet (playing the Volans) and the Lyric Quartet (playing the Bryars) offer technically impressive performances that show a thorough understanding of this music. They and the Black Box label, which released these well-produced discs, deserve congratulations.

Colin Eatock 
 
 

Canot-camping: expedition 4 Jean Derome and ensemble Ambiances magnetiques AM 100 CD

There should be more CD’s like this. Toronto had jazz-influenced composers like Nic Gotham and Bruno Degazio presenting works for large instrumental ensembles in the late 1980’s, when they had a relatively constant home at 1087 Queen Street West. It’s hard to track down CD’s of those pieces, though. 

Quebec composer/instrumentalist Jean Derome had some of his work presented by the old HEMISPHERES ensemble back then, but now he’s head of his own 10-piece group. I interpret his sub-title expedition 4 to imply that there were 3 previous releases in this series, and wish that I had access to them before writing this. 

Derome has created his own Canadian mythology on which to hang a series of compositions, following the traditions of Sun Ra, Gong and others. It works well. These are not merely studio musicians, but metaphorical adventurers going from lakes to rapids, and through portages. 

If their boat-handling is even half as good as their instrumental mastery through tortuous twists and turns, I’d be more than willing to shoot rapids with these experts. Worthy of special mention are pianist Guillaume Dostaler and trombonist Tom Walsh. Guitarist Reiner Weins, formerly with Toronto’s Silk Stockings ensemble, also makes a solid contribution. 

There are nearly 70 tightly rehearsed minutes on this disc. Programme notes are mainly in French, with an anglais translation of the composer’s thematic essay. An excellent addition to any post-fusion collection. 

John S. Gray 

One of 4 recent CDs on the Rat-drifting label (also including the Draperies L'histoire du chapeau (sic), The silt’s Red Whistle, and The Guayaveras), Treacle Wall is a collection of pieces by the Marmots’ fulcrum, Martin Arnold. Recorded live at Toronto’s Mercer Union, Treacle Wall displays an Arte Povera approach to instrumentation and recording while evoking the disparate worlds of the Shags, Robert Johnson, composers Morton Feldman and José Evangelista, painter Agnes Martin, and potter George Ohr. Exuding joy in apparent juniper-soaked sloppiness, they revel in the languid and austere melodies that slide about in a bendable, crust-laden heterophony. 

With titles and associated terms recalling knives and extended lingo - sheath and knife, shank, shank’s pony (slang for “we will have to walk”, and shank–also a cut of beef), a marmot being a rabbit-sized rodent-like animal, treacle (sap-like substances), and loose warp (a term from tapestry for the ends of long threads on a loom), Arnold reveals himself as not just a lover of words, but ideas based in the fragile origins and workings of life’s small, crucial goings-on.  Through this, despite its necessarily cosmopolitan creative and performance context, Treacle Wall maintains a rustic nature that is rare at this point in time. While in its weakest moments displaying a slight self-consciousness, as with each of the Rat-drifting CDs, I admire Treacle Wall; but only given a temporary cessation of the Heisenberg principle - while we look at and listen to these recordings, we don't want their having been heard to change them, or to compromise their independent and unbridled qualities.

Paul Steenhuisen 
 

Edward Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius  UBC Choral Union and Symphony Orchestra; Bruce Pullan Orpheum Masters KSP 840

What an annoyance, that a CD can hold but a mere 79 minutes of music. So many masterworks of the late 19th Century clock just a little over that figure, and must reach today’s market as a two-disc set. Elgar’s huge 1899-1900 oratorio falls into that category. 

This lavish Canadian production of the work, recorded at a live performance in late 2001, is well worth the extra disc. Orpheum has packaged it in a slim-line two-CD case, which takes up no more space than a standard single CD case.

The University of British Columbia gathered huge forces on the stage of the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on 30 November 2001, including the UBC Symphony Orchestra, the UBC Choral Union, tenor Philippe Castagner, mezzo-soprano Sandra Stringer and bass-baritone Justin Welsh. All were under the expert direction of Bruce Pullan.

The engineering, thanks in part to Karen Wilson’s CBC Radio experience, is nothing short of spectacular. Clear bass tones in the orchestral climaxes almost knock you out of your chair. The well-balanced choral passages seem to spread beyond the speakers. (This in contrast to virtually every recording of the Mahler #8 out there, where the voices seem squashed into too small a box.)

The soloists all give us their utmost, but Phillipe Castgner in particular gives the performance of his young career.  Highly recommended.

John S. Gray 

Editor’s note: The inventor of the compact disc format used Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony as his measure for duration. Perhaps if he had been a fan of Elgar he would have chosen 90 minutes instead of 75. On the other hand, if old Ludwig could “say it all” in an hour and a quarter…
 

WORTH REPEATING
 
 

Smoke Rings (23 original mono recordings 1930-1943) Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra ASV Living Era CD AJA 5382

Pretty well everybody knows about Toronto’s “castle", Casa Loma, but less familiar is the unsuccessful attempt to convert it into a luxury hotel/night club. A band named the “Orange Blossoms” was booked into the Casa Loma Hotel on Labour Day 1927, but the club never opened. The orchestra decided to form a cooperative group and rename themselves the Casa Loma Orchestra in memorial. Regarded as one of the first “swing” bands, as early as 1929 (even though the term “swing" wasn't in general use until 1935) they began playing the mixture of hot jazz and sweet ballads that would dominate the music industry in the late thirties. Alto saxophonist Glen “Spike" Gray eventually fronted the band. 

In 1933 and 1934, the group performed on the "Camel Caravan", making them the first swing band to be featured on a radio programme. Their theme song Smoke Rings, which opens this CD, was a natural for the show! 

Casa Loma Stomp has long been one of my favourite recordings. It is a true ‘tour de force’ and for precision playing--perhaps only the Jimmie Lunceford saxophone section could top this one. Among other up-tempo numbers, you might just find it hard to keep your feet still as you listen to No Name Jive, plus Black Jazz, Blue Jazz and White Jazz. The band’s ballad strengths are showcased in Blue Moon, When I Grow Too Old To Dream and Heaven Can Wait. Some of the leading vocalists of the day recorded with the Casa Loma Orchestra and the contributions of Louis Armstrong, Mildred Bailey, Connee Boswell, Hoagy Carmichael, Lee Wiley et al add greatly to the enjoyment of this set of superior recordings.  An immensely popular band, with great musicianship that helped pave the way for the swing era.

Jim Galloway 

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D’un siècle à l’autre (from one century to the next) Various artists Montaigne naïve MO 782096 (3 CDs)

With this collection of reissued recordings the Montaigne “naïve” label sets out to paint a portrait of the 20th century through music. It is a Euro centric vision of the century, and more particularly a French one, which may explain the absence of American minimalism. There are works by Charles Ives and Elliott Carter, but where is John Cage? And where are the women? Even a cursory survey of Canadian music of the past hundred years would include at least half a dozen women composers. It’s hard to imagine that in the entire 20th century there was only one woman worthy of note to this label, and more surprisingly, that one is Joëlle Léandre. Frankly, she is not same league as Xenakis, Ligeti, Berio, Boulez, Stockhausen, Kagel, or even Dusapin, in whose company she is found here. Why not Sofia Gubaidulina or Kaija Saariaho? 

It is also curious to me that Léandre’s tape composition hommage à j… and Jonathan Harvey’s Bhakti for orchestra and tape are the only examples of electroacoustic music included. Where, for instance, are Pierre Henry, the Group de rechêrches musicales and the computer explorations of the IRCAM school, to mention some French achievements alone? 

These reservations aside, from one century to the next is a very satisfying package. While most tracks are selections from larger works, the excerpts are thoughtfully done and carefully arranged to provide more than three and a half hours of interesting, and at times enlightening, listening. Drawing on the archives of Edel Records we hear admirable, sometimes stunning, performances by such conductors as Neumann (Mahler), Munch (Debussy and Dutilleux), Masur (Shostakovich), Herbig (Schoenberg), Kegel (Webern and Berg), Boulez (Varèse) and de Leeuw (Messiaen). From Montaigne’s own catalogue we hear the Arditti Quartet (who have recorded 38 discs for this label), the Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Schoenberg Ensemble and Montreal’s Nouvel Ensemble Moderne. 

All in all this set provides not only an admirable introduction to the music of the 20th century, but also to an enterprising label which has dozens of contemporary titles in its catalogue that are otherwise unavailable. Well worth the modest investment. 

David Olds 

The Best of The Rosenberg Trio  Polydor 2 CDs 589-332-2

In the world of Gypsy Jazz, many a child prodigy has followed in the  footsteps of Django Reinhardt: Boulou Ferré, Bireli Lagrene, Fapy Lafertin and Stochelo Rosenbergare all bear witness to his amazing influence, and there are surely more to come. Most of these guitarists subsequently moved away from Hot Club music and tried their hands at other styles, but not so The Rosenberg Trio. Here are the Gypsy Kings of swing! 

Stochelo Rosenberg was born in a Gypsy camp in 1968 and when he was about 10 years old started to play the guitar together with his cousin Nous’che who is now considered one of the best rhythm-players in the world. Rounding out the trio is Nous’che’s brother Nonnie. The early part of their career was spent playing in churches and gypsy camps all over Europe, becoming very famous but only within the gypsy community. Their first CD, Seresta, was the breakthrough and they were soon asked to play at jazz festivals all over the world.

This double CD package with material from 6 albums is a very good cross section of their music, with compositions by Reinhardt, Cole Porter, Sonny Rollins, George Gershwin, Fats Waller and even Impression by John Coltrane. Stephane Grappelli, who invited them to play with him at Carnegie Hall to celebrate his 85th birthday, shows up on 4 numbers. The playing is nothing short of amazing and it is difficult to pick favourites, although I have never heard a more swinging version of Charlie Shavers’ Undecided - and I must have heard hundreds!  Highly recommended.

Jim Galloway

Richard Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra; Don Juan; Till Eulenspiegel; Ein Heldenleben; Tod und Verklarung Berlin Philharmonic; Herbert von Karajan Deutsche Grammophon 459515-2 (2CDs)

These are the classic performances from the DG catalogue, Ein Heldenleben from 1959 and the rest from 1972/73.  The sound has been brilliantly updated using DG’s Original Image techniques.

This Zarathustra is the logical successor to Karajan’s 1959 Decca recording, chosen by Kubrick for his film 2001. The familiar opening pages have never sounded more optimistic. The balance of the performance never loses intensity.  I only wanted to hear the opening of Tod und Verklarung but I just couldn’t take it off. The performance is supernatural. Frankly, I doubt that this spirituality could be duplicated.

There is little chance that the performances on these two discs can be surpassed, or equaled, in the near future. At about a third of the price of, and sounding better than, the two original discs, these are a gift. 

As an aside, we were in Washington D.C. on January 24, 1965. Von Karajan and The Berlin Philharmonic was (Karajan looked upon the orchestra and himself as a single entity) playing in Constitution Hall.
The news of Winston Churchill’s death had just been received and Karajan dedicated a performance of Ein Heldenleben as a tribute in recognition and in honour of a great man. And that’s how they played it. Constitution Hall is an enormous barn of a place but that performance filled every square inch. They also played Tchaikovsky’s Pathetique.  Ah, those were the days. 

Bruce Surtees 
 

DISCS OF THE MONTH
 
 

Czerny: Grand Sonata for Pianoforte and Violin; 20 Concert Variations Erika Raum, violin; Anton Kuerti, piano CBC MVCD 1150

Schumann: Concerto in A minor; Introduction and Allegro appassionato; Konzertstück in F for 4 Horns and Orchestra (arr. Schumann) Anton Kuerti, piano; CBC Radio Orchestra; Mario Bernardi CBC SMCD 5218

Although Carl Czerny composed a prodigious amount of instrumental, chamber, choral and orchestral music, only his piano exercises are much played today. His once-popular compositions are largely absent from concert stages, recordings and even history books. Canadian pianist Anton Kuerti is determined to restore his reputation with performances, recordings and festivals of his music. This delightful recording will certainly help his cause.
In this world premiere recording, Kuerti and Canadian violinist Erika Raum capture the imaginative harmonies and intricate textures of the young Czerny, who was still under the influence of his former teacher Beethoven. Raum brings an elegant virtuosity to the music, particularly in the complex passagework of the later Variations, while Kuerti’s nuanced articulation and tone colour lend character to delicate sections like the charming slow movement of the Sonata. 

In his new recording of Schumann’s well-loved Piano Concerto, Kuerti is at his most poetic, bringing out the strong contrasts in mood and character that make this a seminal work of romanticism. 

Under Mario Bernardi’s sensitive leadership, the CBC Radio Orchestra reinforces Kuerti’s lyrical phrasing. The recorded sound is clear and detailed, complimenting the rich and buoyant timbre of the orchestra, and highlighting the fine playing of the solo winds.

The resourceful programming of two of Schumann’s rarely heard shorter works for piano and orchestra, the rhapsodic Konzertstück and the brilliant Introduction, adds value to a most desirable disc.

Pamela Margles 

Concert Note: Erika Raum and Anton Kuerti perform these works by Czerny for Mooredale Concerts at 3:00 on Sunday, September 22 at Walter Hall.
 

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.