à l’inattendu les dieux livrent passage

Mecha Fixes Clocks (Michel F. Côté)

& Records ET 09 (www.etrecords.net)

Atmospheric and ambient, but also audacious, Montreal percussionist/keyboardist and electronic manipulator Michel F. Côté uses a variety of sonic strategies to construct an exuberantly original nine-part sound world on “à l’inattendu les dieux livrent passage.” Accomplished in transforming directors’ and choreographers’ ideas into sound, as well as leading ad hoc bands such as this one, which generate a new meaning from his initials, the composer/arranger pushes and pulls the textures in a multi-stylistic fashion so that seemingly bland surfaces turn out to contain tough, multi-faceted cores.

Case in point is a track like ferveur fossile, where chunks and clicks from signal-processed timbres splutter and shrill while commenting upon Gordon Allen’s irregularly vibrated trumpet lines and the twangs from Bernard Falaise’ guitar. Arco string runs maintain the theme, although variants become looser, more strident and discordant as they come in contact with the buzzing electronics. Other pieces offer interludes of pseudo classicism via Pierre Yves-Martel’s viol de gambe or Jean Derome’s harmonized bass flute, only to have them sabotaged by Lori Freedman’s harsh bass clarinet slurs or abrasive wood scrapes from the percussionist. Overall it seems that sonic disruption is as much a part of Côté’s compositions as legato continuum.

This post-modern strategy is sardonically confirmed on au-delà de l’espace des petits oiseaux and more obviously on the concluding entre idéal et mental. On that track, string-laden samples, likely sourced by turntablist Martin Tétrault from Gone with the Wind composer Max Steiner LPs, are interrupted by plinking from live string players, motor-driven whines and clanks plus the percussionist’s cross pulses and opposite-sticking beats.

When Mike Murley enters the heroic tradition of tenor sax trios, you’d better listen. The star hornman has linked with two quality veterans in a new band playing bandsmen originals that makes its recording debut on Broadview Trio - Two Of Clubs (Addo Jazz Recordings AJR008 www.addorecords.com). Taped at Toronto clubs Chalkers and The Rex, the appropriately titled opening track Rich Murlted soon morphs into a thriller, with fleet and pungent bassist Rich Brown and smart, energizing drummer Ted Warren revelling in an open, loose structure that lets them stretch. All eight cuts have something to recommend them, Lullabye showing off the serious intense groove impact Brown generates, Open Spaces brewing nicely beneath Murley’s seamless phrasing cruise and International Idle a feast for Warren’s rapid-fire excursions around the kit. Murley’s caressing of Winter Flower is the saxman at his spellbinding best, the off-kilter Tango Ruby bounces giddily, On The Lemonade is an out-and-out swinger while Hibiscus rambles with purpose, illuminating trio members’ vast skills as they blend ingenuity and emotional depth.

The threesome led by inspirational Quebec alto saxist François Carrier indulges avant-garde motifs crammed with repetitive notes, long tense solos and a sound that’s wildly uneven yet most agreeable, at least to these ears. François Carrier/Alexey Lapin/Michel Lambert - Inner Spire (Leo Records CDLR601 www.leorecords.com), recorded in Moscow last December, has the boss wailing like Albert Ayler while regular drummer Lambert and thunderous Russian pianist Lapin pursue manic notions of their own, together creating freewheeling music that’s always teetering on the precipice. Lapin suggests Cecil Taylor or Matthew Shipp, the irrepressible Lambert only himself. Five “tunes” here, none hummable, but it’s always fascinating to hear how bold sonic explorations develop – it makes 20^th century classical revolutionaries seem distinctly tame.

Kirk MacDonald, noted tenorman and now noted composer, has put together a top-drawer collection of musicians to play eight of his tunes on Kirk MacDonald Jazz Orchestra - Deep Shadows (Addo AJR009 www.adddorecords.com), with trombonist Terry Promane and trumpeter Joe Sullivan (who also conducts) sharing chart duty. The leader’s in the sax section, soloing at length in signature powerful manner on the opening New Piece and with considerable acumen and authority elsewhere. His compositions pack the passion in, though it’s not always obvious. The intro to Goodbye Glenn has elements of the lustrous Miller sound but the ballad is a delightful showcase for saxists P. J. Perry (alto) and Pat LaBarbera (tenor) and ever-present lush section work, while the thrusting Greenwich Time offers fine moments from guitarist Lorne Lofsky. Jazz waltz Calendula puts the chief back in the solo saddle to deliver a well-rounded gem, and it’s the turn of Sullivan, Promane and driving drummer Barry Romberg to achieve blowhard honours on the effective minor-chord Eleven. High standards throughout are maintained, right up to the showcase title tune closer.

Drummer Kevin Brow graduated from U of T’s jazz program but now is based in Copenhagen. Koptor - Fire Sink (Fresh Sound New Talent FSNT 384 www.kevinbrow.com) is his band Koptor’s second album and it’s really good. The forceful, imaginative Brow composed 10 originals for a session featuring three Danish players – avant-garde saxist Lotte Anker, pianist Jacob Anderskov and bass Jeppe Skovbakke. The music’s all stop-time rhythms, unpredictable sequiturs and cool sonic provocation, like some ECM recordings, and nods relentlessly to Euro classical structures. Brow maintains exceptional grooves, often exciting though never overstating his case while his companions offer up jazz ranging from lavishly melodious to suggestively raw. The rousing Intellectual Sex, the fascinating soloing of sax and piano and crafty underpinning by drums and bass on the title cut and the weird eruptions on Penny Crushing are just three examples of creative minds in high gear.

Young bands are stirring interest in Hogtown. One has twenty-somethings making their debut recording on Brent Mah/Alex Goodman - Convergence (www.alexgoodman.ca), a most promising album demonstrating maturity, flexibility and a cohesion so acute that on occasion it almost throttles freshness. Accomplished guitarist Goodman penned four tunes, saxist Mah three and the 68-minute session is fleshed out with a jazz standard and contributions from Radiohead and Pink Floyd. Booming bassist Dan Fortin and drummer Karl Schwonick make a solid rhythm team. The opening Momentum is sort of chamber-bop in 5/4, a measure of the writing challenges met and the other material is never dull, though while I appreciate Mah’s range and agility I don’t care much for his restrained and thin alto/soprano tones. Other entertaining tracks are Persistence Of Memory and Missed Opportunity.

The next shows bassist Ken McDonald making big strides with his second album as leader Ken McDonald Quartet - Pay What You Can (www.kenmcdonaldjazz.com) that features saxist Paul Metcalfe, guitarist Demetri Petslakis and drummer Lowell Whitty. He’s composed six thoughtful originals that are performed with energy and confident flair, for starters Detroit which especially shows off his strings agility and bright-toned Metcalfe’s rich vein of ideas. Beyond it are smart and subtle creations that let bandsmen expand their horizons and conjure up novel, sometimes striking, jazz – it’s a pity there’s just 39 minutes of it.

Besides gaining a reputation for its demographically diverse and eminently liveable neighbourhoods, when it came to improvised music starting in the early 1970s Toronto was actually a world-class city in more than civic boosterism. That’s because on the initiative of photographer/musician Bill Smith, Sackville records was issuing LPs by some of the most significant avant-garde players from New York, Chicago and St. Louis. Recorded for the most part in local studios, these discs – and affiliated concerts – documented these emerging stylists and designated Toronto as part of the international free jazz firmament. Now Chicago’s Delmark label is distributing CD reissues of the original Sackville records.

Probably the most significant session was the label’s one two-disc package, saxophonist and flautist Julius Hemphill’s Roi Boyé & the Gotham Minstrels (Sackville SKCD2-3014/15 www.delmark.com). It’s a solo session that’s a pioneering example of using multi-tracking to create a compelling audio drama. Best known as a founder of the World Saxophone Quartet (WSQ), Hemphill (1938-1995) was interested in programmatic story telling not reed bravado. One observation is that the often-delicate timbres of the reedist’s overdubbed flutes were showcased at a time when the cliché of advanced jazz imagined every player a discordant eardrum-assaulter. Even when playing astringent alto saxophone, as on the second track, Hemphill is so in control of his material that he doesn’t lapse into glottal punctuation. Instead he replicates a New York subway journey through an overdubbed choir of yelping saxophones. Exactly one year later, Hemphill and his WSQ colleague Oliver Lake recorded the duo disc, Buster Bee (Sackville SKCD2-3016 www.delmark.com) in Toronto. As notable as their teamwork was, it lacks the revolutionary force of the solo set. On “Roi Boyé” for instance, Hemphill devotes the final track to a narrative about a black artist’s life in a materialistic society, punctuating his story-telling with harsh squeals, discordant whorls and split tones. Another track replicates a butterfly’s attraction through stacked and harmonized reed tones that meander linearly; while a third is practically a capriccio, with the theme bouncing along, propelled by carefully stacked, overdubbed horn vamps, while reed-biting and pressurized vibratos from the alto saxophone come in-and-out of aural focus for contrast, ending with a distinctive contralto textural upturn. Hemphill doesn’t neglect jazz’s bedrock, the blues, either. One extended piece positions a soulful alto saxophone riff, basso lip-bubbling from the flute and a heavily breathed soprano saxophone line that could come from a country blues harmonica, while discordant pitches slide contrapuntally among them. Eventually the track reflects both the guttural despair and altissimo promise of the music.

Another pace-setting session took place a year earlier, with George Lewis’ The Solo Trombone Record (Sackville SKCD2-3012 www.delmark.com), the first session under his own name by the musician now as famous for his computer-directed music as for his brass mastery. Audacious to the nth degree, the disc’s Tonebursts is another example of overdubbing. But while Hemphill was 39, with years of gigging behind him when “Roi Boyé” was recorded, Lewis was all of 24. In spite of his youth, the 20-minute track is another tour-de-force with the trombonist evidentially able to stylistically replicate key attributes of older brassmen, calling upon the color of Tricky Sam Nanton, the sophistication of Lawrence Brown and the speed of J. J. Johnson at will and blending them as needed. Here expressive lines are sometimes replaced by a sudden staccato brays, or mid-improv, a trombone choir harmonizes, with its parts segmented among bass trombone pedal-point, alto trombone open-horn linearity, and the highest textures strained though a cup mute. There are even times during which you could swear a supple saxophone is soloing accompanied by phantom guitar strokes. Besides expressive glissandi, timbres are sourced from deep within the trombone body; capillary lines are lobbed from one ‘bone to another; or rubato tones share space with polyharmonies and polytones. Eventually techniques such as oscillated mouthpiece kisses are replaced with resonating runs that maintain an almost conventional jazz-styled line while at the same time making room for growling ostinatos and altissimo cries. Lewis also provides a solo interpretation of Lush Life, but more impressive are other tracks such as Untitled Dream Sequence. Taken at the same tempo as that Billy Strayhorn classic, the Dream Sequence’s note-slurping, double-tongued accents and speedy glisses from every part of the horn demonstrate that exciting improvisation doesn’t have to be fortissimo, super-fast or discordant.

Lewis was also more than just present a year previously when saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell’s Quartet on Sackville (SKCD2-3009 www.delmark.com) was recorded live at Toronto’s long defunct A Space gallery. The momentous session not only captures a then-rare example of the Art Ensemble of Chicago’s saxophonist performing without the other band members, but puts him in an all-star context. Other quartet members are pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, probably the most respected Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians founder, and Detroit guitarist Spencer Barefield. Mitchell and Lewis expose sonorous counterpoint on one duo track and the trombonist alone turns Mitchell’s Olobo into another brass tour-de-force, blending a near ballad exposition with guttural sniggers, near-silent breaths and a coda of overblowing. Group dynamics are memorable as well. Sonic tension is almost visible on Tnoona. With the theme built up from the saxophonist’s tongue flutters and split tones, guitar vibration, Lewis’ sliding plunger work and Abrams’ focussed note clusters, it finally dissolves without release. Aleatory as suggested by its title, Mitchell’s Cards is the CD’s most fully-realized composition. Chromatic forward motion is due to the pianist’s expressive low-frequency runs, but the linear form is punctuated by Barefield’s oscillating amp reverb. Meanwhile Mitchell’s reeds bark with clown-horn-like blasts and dilating split tones, as the trombonist contributes plunger grace notes and discursive pedal point. A coda of stentorian guitar strums completes the improvisation.

Other 1970s group sessions involve a rare excursion into focused European improvisations on All Kinds of Time (Sackville SKCD2-3010 www.delmark.com), by a duo of German pianist/vibist Karl Berger and British bassist Dave Holland, who now follows a more mainstream course; plus pianist Anthony Davis, best-known for operas such as X and Amistad, expressing himself with a suite and shorter composition backed by violin, cello and percussion. But it is Brahma (Sackville SKCD2-3023 www.delmark.com) from 1980 which best demonstrates the musical future which was partially ushered in by these earlier discs. Led by veteran drummer Barry Altschul, the unusually constituted trio introduced two players now in the prime of their career: trombonist Ray Anderson and bassist Mark Helias. Improvising jazz is never static, and unlike uncompromising abstraction that characterizes earlier discs in this set, swinging elements are now mixed with the risk-taking solos. These rhythmic components still go far beyond the conventional. Altschul’s solo on the 17-minute title track may hit a groove, but his bulls-eye beat is amplified with timbre scrambles using mallets and sticks, ratamacues and drags on toms and snares, plus numerous interjections that bring in cymbal shaking, bell-tree resonation, waterphone scrapes, cow bell thwacks and shrills from slide whistles. The finale involves shaking a thunder sheet for fortissimo oscillations; the mid-section is based on a martial beat from the percussionist and wide-angled stops and thumps from Helias. Overall, this drum finesse is synchronized with elephant-like grunts from Anderson’s sousaphone when the brassman isn’t altering themes with flutter-tonguing, freak note whinnying and gutbucket slurs. Capable of smooth balladry on Altschul’s mid-tempo Irina, Anderson also whistles and slurs his way through his own Spanish-tinged Con Alma de Noche backed by woodblock bops and opposite sticking from the drummer. And he enlivens the bassist’s Lism with triplet-extended brassiness, allowing Helias to hand pump and sluice his way up-and-down the strings with guitar-like expressiveness as the stop-time tune evolves.

Advanced improvisations featuring out-of-towners, not to mention the burgeoning local free music community, continue to be recorded in the GTA. These historically important and musically impressive albums show how one series of discs successfully captured musical changes.

That Certain Chartreuse

Lori Cullen

Independent LC2011 www.loricullen.com

Lori Cullen is a steadfast presence on the music scene in Toronto, consistently producing fine albums and appearing in and putting together live shows that bring together dozens of talented local artists. Although her songwriting is strong, I like her best as a song stylist and her latest, “That Certain Chartreuse,” is dominated by examples of that unique talent. Along with guitarist/partner Kurt Swinghammer, bassist Maury Lafoy, drummer Mark Mariash and keyboardist David Matheson, everyone from the Bee Gees to Suzanne Vega to King Crimson gets the careful caress of Cullen's interpretations. Rainy Day People is given an emotional depth it never had at the hands of Gordon Lightfoot (as un-Canadian as that may be to say). While Baubles, Bangles and Beads gets a delightful and crazy mix of sitar-like guitar sounds, a hint of Optimistic Voices-style vocal arrangements, and trumpet playing, courtesy of Bryden Baird, that has the distinct Cullen/Swinghammeresque imprint. The Shania Twain hit that she wrote with her now very ex husband, Forever and For Always, is done without irony and restores our faith in the possibility of love and loyalty.

Unspoken Dreams - Stories from Rumi

Ariel Balevi; William Beauvais

Independent WLCD 012010

Storyteller Ariel Balevi and guitarist/composer/improviser William Beauvais are a creative team to be reckoned with. “Unspoken Dreams - Stories from Rumi” is concurrently perplexing and interesting in its content and presentation.

Balevi “reads” five stories from the Masnavi, a collection of stories and stories within stories that Rumi, the 13th century Sufi poet and mystic, used in his teachings. Balevi's diction is clear, and his timing is impeccable. Most surprisingly, he has the uncanny knack of drawing the listener deep into the text when least expected to create a powerful listening experience. He is an excellent storyteller with a distinctive voice that brings the stories he so loves to life.

At times, Balevi risks becoming a bit over the top in his sentiment. This is where guitarist William Beauvais weaves his magic. Clearly relishing his musical supporting role, Beauvais’ improvisations, compositions and performance provide the perfect backdrop/soundscape while simultaneously creating clear boundaries to prevent a sonic crash. Between stories as musical interludes, his renditions of the simple Yoruban and Bantu songs are beautiful moments which prepare the listener for the next story.

The sound of the voice and guitar blend with ease and colour. Production qualities are superb. Fans of storytelling should be impressed by “Unspoken Dreams - Stories from Rumi.” The rest of us open minded enough to give this Balevi/Beauvais collaboration a listen should be pleasantly surprised. The disc is available through the Canadian Music Centre Distribution Service (www.musiccentre.ca).

The high point of the 1964 Vienna Festival must surely have been the sold-out performance in the Musikverein Grosser Saal on June 14th of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Josef Krips conducting the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and soloists Fritz Wunderlich and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. The Austrian Radio’s original tape cannot be found but the copy from the Krips family archive provided the source for this unique and extraordinary performance now available on DG (4778988, mono). In addition to his fame as a superb Mozart interpreter, Josef Krips, a fine Mahlerian, had a complete intimacy with the Mahler score and directs a total performance without the swooning, heart on the sleeve emotions that inhabit many others. This attentive, stoic reality is more telling and decisive when the soloists and conductor are in complete accord. There are exquisite passages when the conductor seems to be and probably is listening to and heeding the soloist. Listeners familiar with other versions will be taken aback to hear such astonishing gravitas from both singers, especially if you know the language or are following the translations provided. In this performance, Wunderlich is more fervent than he is in the Klemperer version which was recorded in London during the same year. He is positively ardent and comprehends the texts, totally conveying their determination. Fischer-Dieskau, too, is markedly expressive in all his songs. The final song, Der Abschied, The Farewell, is a profoundly moving experience the equal of which I have not heard from Fischer-Dieskau, Kathleen Ferrier, Christa Ludwig or anyone else. Fischer-Dieskau is deeply focused on the thoughts and feelings of the poet(s) as he faces the inevitable. He is quoted as saying that of all his performances of this work, this stands out as the very finest. What a convergence of talent that was and how fortunate that the Krips tapes have been faithfully restored by the Emil Berliner Studios in Berlin generating a CD that is clear as a bell, articulate and dynamic. It matters not that is monaural.

ARTHAUS has released a Winterreise sung by Fischer-Dieskau with Alfred Brendel live in Siemensvilla, Berlin in 1979 (DVD 107229). Even though pianist and singer have each performed and recorded this cycle many times, both together and with others, this studio production, without an audience, is very special. Their combined insights, eagerly shared between the two as seen in the 56 minute rehearsal sequences, produce a memorable experience.

A reminder of the superlative, must-have Verdi Requiem recorded live in the Liederhalle, Stuttgart on November 2, 1960 with Hans Mulley-Kray conducting the SWR Radio Symphony Orchestra, The Stuttgart Bach Choir, The Stuttgart Singing Teachers’ Association Choir, with Maria Stader, Elizabeth Hoffgen, Fritz Wunderlich, and Gottlob Frick (DG 476638, 2CDs). The performance is uniquely communicative, being more a requiem mass than an operatic outing. Try your local classical specialist or get it from Amazon.de.

The Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache made but a few recordings in the late 1940s and early 1950s at which time he was regarded as something of a firebrand. In 1946, awaiting the return of the banned Furtwangler, he was elected to the post of acting chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, then an orchestra in disrepair, remaining in that position until 1954. He hoped to follow Furtwangler as chief conductor but Karajan won out and was appointed to the position for life. Celibidache moved on, now refusing to record, believing, rightly so, that no one performance can ever contain a performer’s definitive view of the work. He did, however “authorize” some videos for general distribution. Only after his death were many live performances issued on CD. However, he was not the same quixotic conductor of the forties and fifties. AUDITE has a set of all the Celibidache performances recorded by the RIAS, Berlin between 1948 and 1957 (AUDITE 21.406, 3CDs). The orchestras are the Berlin Philharmonic (BPO) and the RIAS Symphony (RIAS) and the repertoire is quite unusual. There is a Rhapsody in Blue (RIAS) from 1948 with Gerhard Puchelt, piano, that is totally unidiomatic... played in the manner of a nebulous English movie soundtrack. The conductor went on to be an ardent fan of Gershwin’s music. Ravel’s Rapsodie Espagnole (BPO) from 1948 is interesting but clearly a non-French performance. Four performances from 1949 with the BPO are a perfect fit: Busoni’s Violin Concerto, Op.35 with Siegfried Borries; Cherubini’s Anacreon Overture and Hindemith’s 1945 Piano Concerto again with Puchelt. Also there is the world premier of Reinhard Schwarz-Schilling’s Introduction and Fugue for String Orchestra. Harold Genzmer’s 1944 Flute Concerto with Gustav Scheck (BPO) from 1950 is followed by a surprise! A fine reading of Copland’s Appalachian Spring with the BPO. Finally, three works by Heinz Tiessen (1887-1971), the conductor’s former teacher, recorded live on October 7, 1957 with the Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berlin. Heard are The Hamlet Suite, Op.30, The Salambo Suite, Op.34a and the Symphony No.2 Op.7. Some of the pieces in this collection may be new to collectors but are well worth investigating, particularly the Tiessen works. The sound throughout runs from good to very good.

I do enjoy some rehearsal videos and often find them very absorbing and informative. I can enthusiastically recommend a new DVD, Celibidache Rehearses Bruckner’s Ninth (ARTHAUS MUSIC 101555, 1 CD). In his late years the conductor took the time to perfect minute details of balance and tempo. “I breathe with you, and that is the secret of phrasing: where you breathe and how you breathe.” This video is only of the Adagio movement and is interlaced with Celibidache’s appreciation of Bruckner the composer and visionary. Profoundly satisfying, this should not be missed by a thoughtful person who gets Bruckner.

Sari Biro, born in Budapest in 1912 was an exceptional pianist whose talent was recognized from the age of four when she would play from memory pieces that her older sister had performed. She won a scholarship to the legendary Franz Liszt Academy. Composer Vincent D’Indy said that “To hear Sari play makes one a better human being.” Biro left Hungary in 1939 and arrived in New York with her concert gowns and sheet music and very little money. It was on 4 May, 1941 that she made her New York debut and the critics fell over themselves heaping praise on her playing. The New York Times: “Sari Biro plays the piano as well as she looks, which is saying a lot.” The New York World Telegram: “Definitely belonging in the front group of the contemporary pianists, male or female.” She concertized from coast to coast, also South America, Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, always generating rave reviews for her playing, her consummate artistry and sensitivity. She was heard from coast to coast on the NBC radio network, appeared on many television programs and in 1958 she presented 13 live programs on KQED, San Francisco’s Public television station. She was not a stranger to radio or television for about the next two decades. After 1974, she retired from the concert platform but continued to conduct master classes until 1990, the year of her death. Listening to a recent set from Cambria Recordings (CD 1174, 4 CDs) gives the listener a pretty fair idea of her varied and enormous repertoire, from Bach to Scarlatti, Rameau, Kodaly, Milhaud, Beethoven, Bartok, Kabalevsky, Mussorgsky, Mozart, Prokofiev, Gershwin... two dozen composers in all. Her playing has intimacy. Her textures are transparent. Where appropriate, her touch is remarkably non percussive but with full dynamics. She embraces and adapts to the various styles with apparent ease: for example listen to her Bach and immediately play a 20^th century opus and you may find it hard to believe it is the same pianist. But you will certain that that pianist is an astounding interpreter of whatever she plays. The CDs in this omnibus collection are derived from Remington Records LPs and from recitals. Considering the dates and circumstances under which these were made it is somewhat surprising that the sound is free of any artifacts and is consistently excellent without reservation. This set has a holy mission to bring back a once important, extraordinary and superb musician who otherwise has slipped out of memory. I am pleased to note that Cambria has done it most successfully.

Since the release of Volume 1 of Aida Stucki in May 2009 we have awaited Volume 2. At last it’s here and the repertoire is mixed: Brahms, Schumann, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Dvorak (DOREMI DHR-8006-8, 3 CDs). Volume 1 (DHR-7964-9, 6 CDs) was all Mozart, concertos and sonatas, and Stucki demonstrated her close affinity with the composer with interpretations that are second to none including Grumiaux and her own student, Anne Sophie Mutter. Incidentally, that set won, most deservedly, the 2010 Preis der Deutschen Schallplatten German Critics Award. The new set opens with the three violin sonatas by Brahms in which she is accompanied by Walter Frey from a live broadcast from Zurich in 1972. These are the most musically engaging performances and the purest violin sound imaginable... the kind that you want to immediately play again. Also heard are Brahms Second String Quartet and the complete F.A.E Sonata both of them live and inspired... as are all but one work, the Schumann Fantasie for violin and orchestra, op.131 which is from a Vox disc of 1971. Along with works by the other composers this set is of unquestioned merit.

Lili Kraus, one of the most respected pianists of the 20^th century was a distinguished interpreter of the classics... Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. She was, however, best known for her recordings of the Mozart concertos and sonatas, including the violin sonatas. Her 1935-1937 recordings of the violin sonatas with Szymon Goldberg gained her a top place among classical performers. In 1954-1957 she re-recorded them with violinist Willi Boskovsky who is also the conductor on a new set from DOREMI which includes Mozart’s Piano Concertos nos.9 and 20 (DHR-7929/30, 2 CDs). These concertos date from early 1950’s derived from LPs made by the Discophiles Français and this is their first appearance on CD. They are, in my opinion, superior to her later recordings, the piano moving forward gracefully in a pure Mozart style and yet laced with refreshing expression. Also from Discophiles Français are three monumental chamber works, the Clarinet Trio K498, the Piano and Winds Quintet, K452 (which at the time Mozart considered to be his best work) and the charming Adagio and Rondo for Glass Harmonica K607. Kraus was contracted to record all the Mozart piano works for DF but the company ceased operations in 1955. A pleasant surprise is a set of Bach works. Whereas she is known for her Mozart recordings on various major labels, her Bach recordings were made for a small American company, EDUCO, as educational tools for teachers and intermediate students. She plays 22 familiar keyboard miniatures, Minuets, Polonaises and Preludes and the like, pieces usually heard from students. Each piece is a perfect gem, beautifully articulated and stylistically faultless. What a pleasure they are. Kraus made several EDUCO LPs and perhaps they will be transferred, too.

Caldara - La Conversione di Clodoveo, Re di Francia

Allyson McHardy; Nathalie Paulin; Suzie LeBlanc; Matthew White; Le Nouvel Opera; Alexander Weimann

ATMA ACD2 2505

Le Nouvel Opéra, a company directed by Suzie LeBlanc and Alexander Weimann, has contributed a stellar performance of a gem seldom heard. This oratorio by Antonio Caldara relates the story of the first Frankish king to convert to Christianity. It is characteristic of Caldara’s later Roman oratorios, set in the galant style for a small instrumental ensemble with singers chosen from the higher vocal ranges. Thus we have a cast of four: the pagan King Clovis sung by mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy; his devoutly Christian wife Clotilde sung by soprano Nathalie Paulin; his captain Uberto sung by countertenor Matthew White and the bishop Remigus sung by soprano Suzie LeBlanc.

The artistry of the ensemble and the vocal beauty of these four voices and their marvellous interpretive skills in conveying dramatic changes (whilst somewhat confined to the da capo form) are remarkable. McHardy is a superb foil as the forceful warrior to Paulin’s tender charms as wife, LeBlanc’s patient and saintly monk and White’s steadfast captain. The small size of the ensemble and Weimann’s direction from the harpsichord and organ provides a masterful but sensitive accompaniment, allowing these superb voices to shine through brilliantly. Nowhere is this more evident than in the king and queen’s duet which takes place after the baptismal ritual, the two voices intertwining and signifying a true union of spirit.

Hommage - Joseph Rouleau

Joseph Rouleau

Analekta AN 2 9874-6

This collection of songs and arias provides a splendid tribute to the Canadian bass Joseph Rouleau. It also serves as an introduction to a great singer whose voice is less familiar than it ought to be. Rouleau spent most of his career performing at Covent Garden or touring around the world, though he did return frequently to Canada. In Toronto he remains best-known for his role as Bishop Taché in the landmark 1967 Canadian Opera Company premiere of Harry Somers’ Louis Riel.

The sheer beauty of Rouleau’s voice on these three discs is enthralling. But what’s most striking in the excerpts from operas, like Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor with Joan Sutherland, and Boito’s Mefistofele, is how he dramatically shapes and colours his voice to create believable characters. In the songs, especially the complete cycles like Brahms Four Serious Songs, Mussorgsky’s Chants et danses de la morts, and Ravel’s Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, he achieves an exciting sense of emotional urgency, even in the most lyrical moments.

Two songs by Rodolphe Mathieu, the sultry L’automne and the adventurous L’hiver, are the only Canadian works here. But unfortunately, the booklet provides no information on them, or on any of the selections, all of which were chosen by Rouleau. Nor are the texts supplied. But there are archival photos, a short biography of Rouleau, and comments from the singer himself who, at eighty-two, remains active today as national president of Jeunesses Musicales.

Great Canadian Hymns

Pax Christi Chorale

Independent (www.paxchristichorale.org)

In August 2009, Pax Christi Chorale invited both professional and amateur Canadian composers to enter their inaugural Great Canadian Hymn Competition. Chosen from sixty-eight entries, this recording, lovingly performed by the choir, features eleven hymns composed by the winners and finalists from all across Canada. Included is a nod to tradition with Healey Willan’s Eternal, Unchanging, We Sing to Your Praise thrown in for good measure. Most provinces are represented and there is a good mix of new settings of traditional texts and texts written for these new pieces. The First Prize winner, Henry Boon of Windsor, Ontario composed I Heard that God Was Power, the text for which was written by his wife Susan Boon. Second Prize was awarded to Judith Snowdon of Saint Joseph de Kent, New Brunswick for Do You Not Know, Have You Not Heard? Third Prize was awarded to Scott Bastien, also of Windsor, for his composition God of All Nations.

Thoughtfully included in this package is an easy-to-read book of scores; an excellent resource for organists and choirs who wish to introduce more contemporary Canadian compositions to their services. Although a few of the works might pose quite a challenge for congregational singing, they would, nonetheless, make fine choral anthems.

Early Dreams

Constantinople; Françoise Atlan

Analekta AN 2 9989

Constantinople has been specialising for ten years in exploring Mediterranean oral tradition and medieval musical manuscripts. A vast area in terms both musicological and geographical, not least with the export of Spanish music to the New World! And it is (very) early New World-based composers who feature here.

“Early Dreams” unites Constantinople’s core of sétar, percussion and viola da gamba with a guest baroque guitarist and, above all, the voice of Françoise Atlan, herself of Judeo-Berber origin.

One must single out Detente, sombra de mi bien esquivo (based on Spagnoletta, a Renaissance “dance hit”), which brings together Ms Atlan’s clear enunciation, a magnificent combination of impassioned da gamba and lute playing, and the words of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, the first great Latin-American poetess.

Eventually, Françoise Atlan’s voice does come to dominate this CD, not only with her interpretations of baroque settings of de la Cruz’s poetry but also those of modern Canadian composer Michael Oesterle. Her clarity of voice alone would make these recordings special.

One pleasant question to decide is whether Oesterle’s settings or those of the Latin composers are more inspiring. But first listen to the Fandango of Mexico-based Santiago de Murcia. We speak of Spain enjoying a golden age of its music in the mid-16th century; we are only now discovering the musical legacy of Spain’s conquests of Latin America.

Froberger - Libro Quarto, 1656

Webb Wiggins

Friends of Music FOM 10-027.28 (www.smithsonian.org)

Johann Jacob Froberger, organist at the court of Vienna, paid very close attention to the formalities of Baroque music: Libro quarto contains six toccatas, six ricercars, and six capriccios, followed by six suites, with five based on the standard allemande, gigue, courante and sarabande. Only a lament on the death of the Austrian Crown Prince - and Webb Wiggins’ own choice of organ or harpsichord as he feels appropriate – provide variation.

So how did Froberger deal with a rigidity imposed upon him by Austrian court procedures? Well, his toccatas, notably No. 4, are as testing as any by the more famous baroque composers; Froberger helped the toccata emerge from being a mere warm-up exercise.

More conservative are the ricercars played on organ; some could almost be a renaissance woodwind consort, not surprising as the organ is reconstructed on early 17th century principles. The capriccios, nearly all on organ, are taxing pieces but Webb Wiggins rises to the challenge.

And so to the suites. Wiggins breathes liveliness into Froberger’s charming gigues and courantes, accompanied by a sense of feeling for the allemandes. It is difficult to select which of these twenty-four movements are the most entertaining as they are of a consistently high quality when played by Wiggins.

Travels throughout Western Europe and time with Girolamo Frescobaldi helped Froberger become a pioneer of “mainstream” baroque music; Webb Wiggins reinforces that status.

Telemann - The Recorder Collection

Clas Pehrsson; Dan Laurin

BIS BIS-CD-1488/90

This six-disc boxed set offers a thorough collection of Telemann’s “solo” recorder music: the fantasias, sonatas and miscellaneous pieces with basso continuo, duets, and solo and double concertos. The players are Dan Laurin, an active member in the current recorder soloist circuit; and Clas Pehrsson, who taught at Stockholm’s Royal College of Music from 1965 until 2009 and was one of several players who helped put the recorder on the map in the ‘70s. While some of the material has been newly recorded, most of the contents are reissues of earlier recordings, and herein lies one of this compilation’s unusual virtues – a chance to hear two different players, at different phases of their musical lives, and to compare two somewhat different approaches to this fundamental and rich repertoire for the instrument. The solo fantasias were recorded by Laurin in 1994, and his other solo contributions are the two lovely Neue Sonatinen recorded in 2008 – it’s very interesting to hear what has changed in his playing over 14 years. Pehrsson’s contributions, which include some bravura takes on the solo sonatas, range in recording date from 1974 to 1987.

It’s thought provoking to hear the different takes on ornamentation in slow movements, use of vibrato, articulation styles, and the liberties taken (or not) with what Telemann actually indicated in his own publications. And does one keep a tempo reasonably steady, or move it around? What’s the difference between vivace, allegro, and presto, and even between various allegros? Though this is possibly more recorder music than some would ever want to hear, it’s some of the best Baroque repertoire available for the instrument, performed by fine players. And these CDs make clear the fact that instrumental taste changes over time… Postmodernism and the recorder? Go figure.

Alexandre Tharaud plays Scarlatti

Alexandre Tharaud

Virgin Classics 50999 6420162 7

Squirreled away in the relative solitude of the royal courts of Portugal and Spain, Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) turned from the public world of opera championed by his father Alessandro and turned inward. He developed into a true maverick, absorbing the rich, lively sonic world of Iberia and creating a stream of musical miniatures of unprecedented originality. It is a delicate matter to chose from the hundreds (at least 555) of harpsichord sonatas that have come down to us. Alexandre Tharaud succeeds admirably with a judicious mix of the many sides of Scarlatti’s character, presenting 18 sonatas with a particular emphasis on the composer’s melodic gifts, so often overshadowed by his fascinating harmonic and motivic innovations.

Performances of these works on the modern piano present a challenge to the performer as articulations and dynamic levels unavailable on the harpsichord have to be re-invented. Undaunted, Tharaud shamelessly exploits the full resources of the piano, utilizing a wide dynamic range from the raucous to the introspective with a soupçon of tasteful ornamental spices and well-controlled pedaling. He brings an infectious enthusiasm to the more extroverted sonatas and conjures up wonderfully subtle tonal palettes for the more tranquil ones. I look forward to further instalments from the treasure trove of Scarlatti.

Recorded in Switzerland, Tharaud performs on a closely recorded, somewhat brittle sounding Yamaha piano which displays touches of distortion in the louder passages in my review copy.

CPE Bach - Cello Concertos

Truls Mørk; Les Violons du Roy; Bernard Labadie

Virgin Classics 50999 6944920 8

Soloist, orchestra and conductor are in perfect synch on this beautiful and stylish recording of the rarely-heard cello concertos of CPE Bach. Written between 1750 and 1752, the three concertos are fascinating and challenging works and very different from one another. The fascination lies in the emerging galant style of composition. The nine movements display a wide variety of colours, tempi – sometimes fluctuating wildly in the same movement – and harmonic language. Though written in the mid-eighteenth century, the Baroque era is clearly behind us now, stylistically.

The solo playing of the Norwegian cellist Truls Mørk is full of depth, bursting with virtuosity and gloriously free and imaginative. He handles the technical challenges of the quick movements with panache, and displays a sweet, transparent and vulnerable sense of line in the slow movements. There are many moments of sublime beauty in these pieces and Mørk doesn’t shy away from them.

Bernard Labadie and Les Violons du Roy infuse these pieces with tremendous energy and are a great support and foil to Mørk’s playing. There’s a detailed dialogue going on throughout in the tradition of great chamber playing. Special mention must be made of orchestra cellist Benoit Loiselle who partners from time to time with Mørk in two cello passage work.

One further interesting aspect of this recording is the varied cadenzas – one by Mørk, one by CPE Bach and one by the great Dutch baroque cellist Anner Bylsma.

Beethoven - Gods, Heroes and Men (Symphony 3; Creatures of Prometheus)

Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal; Kent Nagano

Analekta AN 2 9838

My love affair with the Eroica symphony started at the age of 10 when I first heard it at a concert conducted by the legendary Otto Klemperer at the Music Academy in Budapest. It didn’t dawn on me as anything special until much later when I found out that Herbert von Karajan travelled all the way to London just to hear Klemperer do the Eroica. Speaking of Karajan, Kent Nagano was a student and associate of Seiji Ozawa who in turn was a student and associate of Karajan. The “bloodline” having been established, now we can rest assured that my beloved Eroica is in good hands here. And indeed it is…

Nagano takes a refreshing look at the symphony. At a brisk tempo it pulsates with life and excitement. The wonderful secondary theme (1st movement) really sings and the complex architectonics of the 1st movement are made crystal clear. The great fugue of the 2nd movement, always a challenge for the conductor, has a shattering, extraordinary power. The Montreal horns delight us with their joie de vivre and uncanny precision in the 3rd movement Trio. The Finale crowns the Symphony with its ubiquitous Prometheus theme and variations and stampedes along with breathtaking virtuoso bravura. Here Beethoven is caught in his lighter side with the unexpected, devil may care Hungarian gypsy episode.

In the liner notes, Nagano shows scholarly insight in drawing parallels between the budding Romanticism, the cult of the Hero, the Greek myth of Prometheus and Napoleon, a single man who could bring empires to their knees. There is more to it than that in view of the bloodbath that followed which left the French male population decimated for decades to come. But even without his personal views and literary interpretations, Nagano establishes himself as a great conductor for our time and this recording with full bodied sound is a treasure.