Mercury Living Presence guarantees on the label that the recording, from performance to finished product, has maintained a sonic integrity that could very well mirror the Hippocratic Oath to “do no harm.”

The first of their recordings came to us in Australia on the HMV label and I can still recall the excitement generated by the astounding realism of the 12” LP of the 1951 performance of Rafael Kubelik conducting the Chicago Symphony in Pictures at an Exhibition. That performance remains a first choice in every respect. It mattered not that the recording was superior to the commercially available pick-ups and electronics of the day. Mercury has come a long way since then but the truthfulness of all their recordings remains and we hear what was heard at the sessions, without an engineer spotlighting or rebalancing the dynamics as chosen by the performer or conductor.   

Mercury Living Presence: The Collector’s Edition, Volume 2 (028947 85092, 55 CDs) in a limited edition is now available, filling in some of the omissions in Volume One. (Issued 15 months ago Volume One is now out of print and copies offered on-line range from $500 to a ridiculous $1900). In addition to some usual repertoire items, including Beethoven’s Fifth, Sixth and Seventh (Dorati), complete ballets: The Nutcracker, Coppelia, Sylvia and Le Sacre du Printemps (Dorati, 1953); there are many composers and compositions that could only appear in a collection so diversified as this one. There are eight discs of Paul Paray’s superb performances of French music with the Detroit Symphony including a ripping version of the Saint-Saëns Third Symphony with Marcel Dupré, Florent Schmitt’s La Tragédie de Salomé, his own Mass for the 500th Anniversary of the Death of Joan of Arc, plus all the overtures and bonbons you could wish for by Ibert, Ravel, Gounod, Saint-Saëns, Bizet, Berlioz, Massenet, Thomas, Herold, Auber, Debussy and lots of Chabrier. Also works by Liszt and Richard Strauss. Marcel Dupré has a disc of Widor and Franck. Harpsichordist Rafael Puyana has three CDs containing works by Picchi, Frescobaldi, Telemann, Scarlatti and the Bachs, JS, JC and WF. The third disc, The Golden Age of Harpsichord Music from anonymous to Couperin le Grand is quite enchanting. Howard Hanson with the Eastman Rochester has no less than ten discs, eight of which are devoted to American composers including, to my great pleasure, Chadwick’s 30-minute Symphonic Sketches that comprise four pieces including Jubilee. Also two volumes aptly titled Music for Quiet Listening. 

And that’s not even half of what’s in the box. For detailed contents go to deccaclassics.com/us/cat/single?PRODUCT_NR=4785092.

Today millions of people around the world, sitting comfortably in their local cinema, are seeing live performances direct from the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Previous generations only heard live Met performances at home, sitting around their radios and for the most part not visualizing the settings but simply listening to the music and enjoying the artistry of a favoured singer and conductor.

Recently, Sony Music has issued a few single CDs of complete operas from the radio era derived from the Met’s own archives. Now they have a 25-CD boxed set of nine renowned performances of Wagner’s music dramas from 1936 to 1954. 

The earliest of these is Götterdämmerung from January 11, 1936 boasting the incomparable Wagnerian heldentenor of the day, or maybe any day, Lauritz Melchior as Siegfried and Marjorie Lawrence singing Brunnhilde. Friedrich Schorr was Gunther and Ludwig Hoffmann sang Hagen. Artur Bodanzky conducted. Lawrence made history when she surprised and thrilled the audience and horrified the Metropolitan management by mounting and riding a live horse into the flaming Valhalla. I had hoped that the sound on the Götterdämmerung transfers would be cleaner than the Naxos edition but it is not. Clearly they are each based on the same source. The valorous decision to include this performance was an artistic choice, not a technical one. The sound of Götterdämmerung is atypical of the rest of the Ring and the other five dramas which are all eminently listenable and enjoyable. As a matter of interest, the selection of the repertoire was discussed between the Metropolitan Opera and Sony Masterworks who came to a joint agreement on the performances.

Very briefly, the others are Das Rheingold (1951) with Set Svanholm singing Loge, Hans Hotter is Wotan, Jerome Hines is Fasolt, and Jarmila Novotná is Freia. Fritz Stiedry conducts. Siegfried (1937) has Melchior at the anvil with Kirsten Flagstad’s Brunnhilde and Friedrich Schorr as Wanderer. Die Walküre (1940), complete with a wind machine in the opening, has Melchior and Lawrence as Siegmund and Sieglinde with Flagstad as Brunnhilde. Leinsdorf conducts.

Another Flagstad/Melchior collaboration is Tristan und Isolde (1938) and while the original discs are not quite pristine, the voices are clear. Bodanzky conducts. Lohengrin (1943) stars Melchior with Astrid Varnay as Elsa conducted by Leinsdorf. Fritz Reiner conducts Der Fliegende Holländer (1950) with Hotter, Varnay and Svanholm. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1953) is conducted by Reiner with Hans Hopf as Walter, Victoria de los Angeles is Eva and Paul Schöffler is Hans Sachs. Finally, Tannhäuser (1954) has George Szell in the pit with Varnay as Venus, Raymón Vinay as Tannhäuser and George London as Wolfram.

This impressive collection of legendary performances, Wagner at the Met (88765 427172, 25 CDs) includes a 128-page booklet with historic photographs, etc. but, of course, no libretti. The Met is quite serious about bringing their archives to life: Grace Row, the producer who oversaw the restoration and mastering of these performances, was previously a producer at Sony Classical in the 1990s and is now the in-house producer at the Met.

A similar collection of Verdi at the Met will be issued this fall… a welcome prospect of hearing further legendary voices in their prime.

In 1941 Deutsche Grammophon was purchased by Siemens Electronics and following WW2 in 1947 it was proclaimed that DGG, Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft, had formed Archiv, a special division to document Germany’s rich musical culture. Performances were to be historically correct in every detail with musicians playing on authentic period instruments following the performing practice of the time. Their first recording was of Helmut Walcha playing works by Bach on a small baroque organ built in 1636 housed in the Lübeck Jacobikirche. Those first sessions are to be found on the first disc of an important, strictly limited edition, Archiv Produktion 1947-2013 (00289 4791045, 55 CDs) that contains delicious performances of treasures from Gregorian Chant to Beethoven. Sometime after 1947 it was reported to “Mister Siemens” that the Archiv division was losing money. His emphatic response, I am told, was that this was of no concern as they were not in it to make money! Meticulously assembled, the early LPs were in fold-out jackets with a certificate enclosed, signed by the persons involved in the production of the disc! The 55 CDs are housed in a silver presentation box that contains a 200-page booklet detailing all the particulars of each disc plus a history of the label and lots of colour photographs of the artists. I’m sure many will find this package, subtitled “A Celebration of Artistic Excellence from the Home of Early Music,” irresistible… and rightly so. For full details check deutschegrammophon.com/en/cat/single?PRODUCT_NR=4791045.

In the 19th century when no TV, radio or celebrity-driven pop music existed, musical theatre was the chief entertainment for the newly formed middle classes and its creators became the celebrities. The greatest of these emerged simultaneously: Verdi and Wagner, both born in the same year, 1813. Verdi continued the tradition of writing operas as musical entertainment, albeit raised to a level of perfection. But Wagner took it as his purpose in life to revolutionize the genre by the infusion of his own ideas, ambitions, problems — all that occupied his thoughts — and turning the music and drama, with a new emphasis on the orchestra, into one coherent unit. The end result was a distillation of his thought processes set to music that became a new entity, with words no longer depending on someone else but written by himself. So each of the works became autobiographical in a sense and dealt with universal issues giving them a timeless quality. There are dozens of fine recordings for every one of these operas, but in the following paragraphs I have selected just one CD set for each. Most of these are my favourites or, if more recent, are considered the best by renowned authorities.

Psalms and Motets for Reflection
Choir of St. John’s Elora; Michael Bloss; Noel Edison
Naxos 8.572540

Canadian church choirs usually consist of amateur singers. If a church can afford it, it will try to get four professional section leaders. The Choir of St John’s, Elora, however, is a fully professional 22-voice choir. The disc under review is its fifth CD.

This new CD contains eight settings of psalms and ten items that are described, somewhat loosely, as motets. Some of the psalms I would describe as serviceable but a few are rather more than that and I was especially taken with Thomas Handforth’s setting of Psalm 145 (I will magnify thee, O God my King). Only one of the motets is something of a chestnut: God so loved the World by John Stainer. I have sung that a number of times and I would be content to live without it.

The oldest work on the disc is a fine Renaissance motet in the Lutheran tradition (When to the Temple Mary went), sung here to a 19th-century English text. Otherwise the most interesting motets are the modern and contemporary works: those by Poulenc, Tavener, Paulus, MacMillan, Harvey and Halley. The last-named is of special interest as it was commissioned by the Choir of St John’s. Its melodic source is a 16th-century Lutheran hymn by Johann Walter.

This is clearly a very fine choir. I have not yet heard it live, but the choir performs every week as part of the 11am Sunday service. Elora is easy to get to from Toronto and I hope to make the trip soon.

Handel – Concerti Grossi Op.6
Aradia Ensemble; Kevin Mallon
Naxos 8.557358-60

Toronto’s early music Aradia Ensemble, under the energetic direction of conductor/violinist Kevin Mallon, performs with grace and momentum in this three-disc collection of George Frideric Handel’s 12 Concerti Grossi, Op.6.

 Composed over the period of a few weeks, the first seven Concerti are scored for the concertino solo group of two violins and cello, and ripieno orchestra of strings and continuo. Mallon’s first violin solos are impeccable, with Genevieve Gillardeau and Cristina Zacharias taking turns in the second chair. The rich cello concertino solos are well performed by Allen Whear and Katie Rietman. As the liner notes explain, Handel began composing oboe parts later, possibly for the theatre, but never completed them. Aradia oboists Stephen Bard, Chris Palemeta and Kathryn Montoya play these wind parts in Nos.8 to 12. The richness of the winds adds a welcome extra layer of texture. In the compositional style of the day, there are numerous references to Handel’s other works, as well as a nod to composers such as Domenico Scarlatti, and folk music idioms including the Sicilian dance and English hornpipe.

This is music to listen to intently in order to marvel at Aradia’s phrasing, ornamentation and stylistic interpretation. And as background music, the drive and spirit of the performances will brighten even the most drab of days. The strings shine, especially in the cohesive descending lines of No.2 and the triumphant trumpet-like opening of the Overture of No.5,while the resonating double bass of J. Tracy Mortimore adds depth and support, especially in the Musette of No.6.

The sound quality is clear, with each instrumental line carefully balanced. The liner notes are informative and concise. Mallon has brought out the very best in his Aradia ensemble as their passionate performances radiate Handel’s inquisitive artistry.

Beethoven – Symphony No.9   
Erin Wall; Kendall Gladen; William Burden; Nathan Berg; San Francisco Symphony; Michael Tilson Thomas      
SFS Media 821936-0055-2

Beethoven symphonies hold a special place in my heart, having been my point of entry into the world of classical music, starting with the Sixth Symphony at the tender age of seven or eight. The very sweep of the master’s compositions sent shivers down my spine. But it was the Ninth that truly shocked and disturbed me, providing enough nervous tension and pent-up force-under-the-surface to forever etch itself onto my mind. Later on, in high school, during my mercifully short career as a chorister, I remember the difficulty of singing the last movement at breakneck speed, as the music hurled towards a climax. Granted, the Ninthdoes not sound much like the rest of Beethoven’s symphonies, but who knew that Louis Spohr described the first three movements as “inferior to all eight previous symphonies” and the Fourth as “so monstrous and tasteless ... that I cannot understand how a genius like Beethoven could have written it.” As I always say, consider the source: Louis who?

All joking aside, there was enough experimentation in the Ninth to disturb Beethoven’s contemporaries. Nowadays, what makes it great still is that raw, exposed nerve; the passion and relentless thrust forward that still break convention. In keeping with its nature, the Ninth is best experienced as a live performance or recording thereof, here with Michael Tilson Thomas steering the orchestra with a steady hand and with passion to spare. When the murmur of the “Ode to Joy” theme grows into a vocal and choral crescendo, the old shivers down my spine are back again.

Brahms – Klavierstucke, Op.76;
Fantasien, Op.116; Drei Intermezzi, Op.117
Peter Longworth
Azica ACD-71279

I really enjoyed the warm tone and elegant interpretation of these Brahms works as recorded by Toronto pianist Peter Longworth. This was a mature and introspective performance. There was a real sense of intimacy between the music and the performer. This came across in fluid music making and exquisite attention to detail. Longworth plays this music with a sense of integrity and delicacy that speaks to the nature of this music. You sense that these Brahms pieces are like Longworth’s treasured old friends and it shows in the care he takes in shaping the musical lines and phrases. The music is personal and tells an intimate emotional story. This is not the virtuosic, flashy Brahms of the sonatas or concerti, but there is enough difficult technical detail to keep the pianist working hard. Longworth makes it sound easy and I never once thought about technique while I listened. I was too enthralled and mesmerized by the music.

I also appreciated hearing these works on one CD, almost like one large piece. The three sets of Klavierstucke, Op.76, Fantasien, Op.116 and Drei Intermezzi, Op.117 are comprised of capriccios and intermezzi and it is revealing to hear Brahms’ own spiritual journey revealed in these tender gems of music. Longworth has long championed chamber music and you can hear this influencing his texture and mastery of tonal colour. He wrote in the program notes that “this music remains relevant, and grows increasingly rich as we savour more of life. I look forward to playing these pieces 40 years from now.” I will definitely be looking forward to hearing him play them again.

Pavel Kolesnikov – Live at Honens 2012
Pavel Kolesnikov; Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra; Roberto Minczuk
Honens 201203-4CD
www.honens.com

Like a particle accelerator, the triennial Honens Piano Competition is a highly charged event probing the secrets of the stars. Ten semi-finalists compete for five coveted spots in a final round. These rarities are all in their 20s, unimaginably gifted and ready to explode from their orbits. Meanwhile, audiences sit breathlessly on the edge of their seats in Calgary’s Jack Singer Concert Hall to witness flashes of genius and streaks of energy that rival the deepest mysteries of subatomic physics.

Is there a Honens particle? It seems so. Every three years the competition’s laureate receives $100,000 cash and a half million dollar career launch with recording and support. Now that’s a career accelerator.

2012 Honens laureate Pavel Kolesnikov emerged from his field with a blazing technique and a moving interpretive ability. His winning performances, captured in live concert recordings, demonstrate why. With a program of Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn, Kolesnikov proves how note-perfect technique can coexist with the most bombastic and the most tender keyboard expressions. His Schumann Kinderszenen Op.15 is utterly convincing in portraying the composer’s impish, nostalgic and heartfelt vignettes. These may, despite their lack of musical heft, be the most beautifully interpreted pieces on the two CDs.

Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No.1 is innovatively light and playfully energized and contrasts markedly with the darker, heavier performances that have become historical standards. Similarly, Chopin’s Sonata in B Minor, Op.58 is reborn in an astonishing new lightness.

Kolesnikov has conquered the Romantics. He is still very young. His next conquests should be equally surprising.

Bruckner – Symphony No.6
Orchestre Metropolitain du Grand Montréal; Yannick Nézet-Séguin
ATMA ACD2 2639

Ludwig Spiedel, the 19th-century German writer on music and theatre, once referred to the music of Anton Bruckner saying: “It is no common mortal who speaks to us in this music.” This was high praise indeed, particularly as the Austrian-born composer who lived from 1824 to 1896 has sometimes been unfairly compared to his more renowned contemporary Johannes Brahms. Yet Bruckner now seems to have come into his own, and among his many admirers is the Quebec conductor extraordinaire Yannick Nézet-Séguin who has already recorded Symphonies Nos. 4, 7, 8 and 9 on the Atma Classisque label, and has now turned his attentions to the Sixth, again with the Orchestre Métropolitain.

Written between 1879 and 1881, this symphony is the music of a composer at mid-life, confident in his abilities and looking to the future with optimism. The large four-movement work reflects this forward-looking attitude, and is treated here with great aplomb. From the bold and passionate opening movement through the languorous Adagio, a lively Scherzo and the exuberant Finale with its prolific use of brass, the orchestra demonstrates a deep engagement with the music, displaying rich tonal colours and a full dynamic range. This is indeed music making with a true sense of grandeur. It seems that everything Nézet-Séguin and the OM choose to play turns to gold, and this disc is no exception. It’s a must-have for devotees of Bruckner’s music, and it may even sway those who up to now have stayed away. Highly recommended.

Bruckner – Symphony No.6
Orchestre Metropolitain du Grand Montréal; Yannick Nézet-Séguin
ATMA ACD2 2639

Ludwig Spiedel, the 19th-century German writer on music and theatre, once referred to the music of Anton Bruckner saying: “It is no common mortal who speaks to us in this music.” This was high praise indeed, particularly as the Austrian-born composer who lived from 1824 to 1896 has sometimes been unfairly compared to his more renowned contemporary Johannes Brahms. Yet Bruckner now seems to have come into his own, and among his many admirers is the Quebec conductor extraordinaire Yannick Nézet-Séguin who has already recorded Symphonies Nos. 4, 7, 8 and 9 on the Atma Classisque label, and has now turned his attentions to the Sixth, again with the Orchestre Métropolitain.

Written between 1879 and 1881, this symphony is the music of a composer at mid-life, confident in his abilities and looking to the future with optimism. The large four-movement work reflects this forward-looking attitude, and is treated here with great aplomb. From the bold and passionate opening movement through the languorous Adagio, a lively Scherzo and the exuberant Finale with its prolific use of brass, the orchestra demonstrates a deep engagement with the music, displaying rich tonal colours and a full dynamic range. This is indeed music making with a true sense of grandeur. It seems that everything Nézet-Séguin and the OM choose to play turns to gold, and this disc is no exception. It’s a must-have for devotees of Bruckner’s music, and it may even sway those who up to now have stayed away. Highly recommended.

—Richard Haskell

Hidden Treasure – Viola Masterpieces
Rivka Golani; Michael Hampton
Hungaroton HCD 32721-22

I well remember riveting Toronto performances by now London-based violist Rivka Golani, and cherish this disc. York Bowen’s Phantasy is flamboyant English post-romanticism, with a rich harmonic palette and ecstatic climaxes. Golani’s trademark fiery style and Michael Hampton’s mastery of the florid piano part mark this performance. George Enescu’s Concert Piece is also a knockout; Golani’s virtuosity shows in both expressive double-stopped passages and rapid filigree work. In the masterly In Memoriam (1949) by her teacher Ödön Pártos (1907–1977), dedicated to victims of the Holocaust, the duo captures evocatively the sense of an anguished funeral procession.

Golani is noble in the opening and fleet of finger in the ensuing Allegro of Henri Vieuxtemps’ Sonata in B-Flat Major. The duo projects a remarkable Barcarolla as though from a distance, and paces it extremely well. This is a very fine performance of an undeservedly neglected work. Anton Rubinstein’s Sonata in F Minor is a weaker piece, with uninspired melodies and tedious sequences in the first two movements. Things improve with Rubinstein’s third movement, a Scherzo, with Hampton producing delicious double-thirds in its Turkish-style trio section.

Mendelssohn’s precocious Sonata in C Minor composed at age 15 is notable as the earliest sonata for viola and piano, and a delightful rendition of Efrem Zimbalist’s Sarasateana suite of Spanish dances rounds out the recording.

There’s a lovely new 3-CD set of the Beethoven Complete Sonatas for Violin and Piano from Canada’s own Duo Concertante, violinist Nancy Dahn and pianist Timothy Steeves (Marquis MAR 81517). The two have been playing together since 1997 — Beethoven’s “Kreutzer Sonata” was the first thing they played together, and they took their duo name from the composer’s inscription above the title — and the Beethoven sonatas have apparently always been a part not just of their repertoire, but of their daily lives. My first impressions were that for all the clean playing and fine ensemble work these were still fairly low-key performances, but they quickly won me over. By the second CD, with lovely readings of the “Spring” and “Kreutzer” sonatas placed around the Sonata in A major Op.12, No.2, I was more than convinced.

There are certainly more high-powered versions available — the Ibragimova/Tiberghien Wigmore Hall set I reviewed in December 2011, for example — but the sensitivity and musical intelligence of these performances more than compensate for any lack of sheer technical fireworks. Dahn and Steeves play these wonderful sonatas as if they are visiting old friends, and the sense of intimacy and emotional involvement is palpable throughout the three discs.

I’ve received several CDs of the Bach Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin BWV 1001-1006 over the past few months, all of which feature some quite stunning playing. There are two complete 2-CD sets and one half-set.

Cecylia Arzewski, whose performances are available on Bridge Records (9358A/B), enjoyed a stellar orchestral career with the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony for almost 40 years. Her playing here is of the highest quality — warm, sensitive, intelligent, and with a great feel for phrasing and tempo; even in the fastest movements there is always a clear sense of pulse, and room to breathe at the beginnings and endings of phrases. Rhythmic articulation is crisp and clear, the multiple stopping handled with clarity and apparent ease, and the sense of line always secure.

Exactly the same can said for the complete recording by the French Baroque specialist Amandine Beyer (Zig-Zag Territoires ZZT110902), although there is a somewhat lighter tone and an added rhythmic snap and vitality to her playing that makes it an even more rewarding listen; even the Sonata movements have a dance feel to them. The one major difference — not immediately apparent unless you have perfect pitch or play the two versions back-to-back — is that Beyer apparently tunes to Baroque pitch, so her performances are a semi-tone lower than Arzewski’s.

Beyer’s set also includes a Solo Sonata by Johann Georg Pisendel, a German virtuoso and exact contemporary of Bach’s; the two met in 1709, and Pisendel may (depending on which set of booklet notes you choose to believe) have owned a copy of Bach’s Sonatas & Partitas, and may even have influenced their composition.

The half-set is the second volume of the complete recording by Isabelle Faust, now available on harmonia mundi HMC 902124; the three works, however, are the first half of the set of six. Again, there is wonderful playing here, with some terrific presto movements, relaxed and almost meditative slower movements, and clean, beautifully controlled playing in the fugues.

Perhaps surprisingly — or maybe not, given the huge advances in the understanding of period performance techniques — all three performers take essentially the same approach to the choices of ornamentation and the interpretation of some of the chordal configurations, although obviously there are some differences in tempo, bowing and phrasing.

If you are interested in these wonderful works you probably already own one or more versions; if you do, you can add any one of these to your collection without reservation. In an interesting aside on the issue of modern or period instrument, Arzewski says that her goal was to be as true as possible, using a modern (my italics) violin and bow, to Bach’s style, although her instrument is the 1714 Petrus Guarneri of Mantua, which in its original condition pre-dates the Sonatas & Partitas themselves. Beyer, meanwhile, plays a Baroque violin, but one made by Pierre Jaquier in 1996, with an Eduardo Gorr bow from 2000; both were made over 275 years after the works were written.

There is more outstanding Bach playing from the ever-reliable Jennifer Koh on Bach & Beyond Part 1, her latest CD from Cedille Records (CDR 90000 134). I’ve commented before on Koh’s imaginative programming as well as her marvellous playing, and this CD is more than up to her own high standards. It records the first of a three-part series of recital programs that Koh initiated in 2009 to explore the history of solo violin works from Bach to the present day. Each recital features two of the Bach Sonatas & Partitas paired with solo compositions from the subsequent centuries.

I really can’t say enough about Koh’s playing or her programming; it’s a perfect marriage of ability and intellect that puts her on a different level than most performers, and this CD is a classic example of that. It opens with Bach’s E Major Partita No.3, which is followed by Ysaÿe’s Sonata No.2, a work which quotes both the preceding Bach Partita and the Dies Irae chant. Kaija Saariaho’s short Nocturne, a tribute and memorial to the composer Witold Lutosławski, also quotes the E Major Partita and the Dies Irae, while Missy Mazzoli’s Dissolve, O My Heart (the title is taken from Bach’s St. John Passion) takes its material cue from the Chaconne from Bach’s Partita No.2 in D Minor. The complete D Minor Partita fittingly closes a marvellous CD that Koh describes as a journey from light through darkness, and back to light.

The playing throughout is exemplary, with a wonderful purity in the Bach and a clear empathy in the contemporary works. The remaining two volumes of this fascinating project should be well worth waiting for. 

The Cedille label is dedicated to promoting musicians from the Chicago area, and cellist Ani Aznavoorian is joined by the composer on another new issue, Celloquy, which features the music of the Russian-born American Lera Auerbach (CDR 90000 137). Auerbach is a prodigiously talented individual: a concert pianist, composer, librettist, author and visual artist. Two of her poems are featured in the CD booklet. The three cello and piano works here are the 24 Preludes,the Cello Sonata and the brief

The 24 Preludes from 1999 are short, virtuosic and extremely effective pieces that explore the extreme ranges of both instruments. Auerbach writes that “re-establishing the value and expressive possibilities of all major and minor tonalities is as valid at the beginning of the 21st century as it was during Bach’s time.” This is especially true given the way that tonality has been treated over the past 100 years or so, and she certainly covers a good deal of stylistic ground in the Preludes. No.12 is a simply beautiful melody, albeit one with disturbing undertones; No.13 is a Bach-style cello solo; No.14 is a diabolic variation on Mozart’s Magic Flute Overture; No.16 is a grotesque waltz. No.24 quotes the themes from all the preceding movements, “as in a final stream of memories,” in the words of the excellent booklet

The Cello Sonata is another terrific piece, written in 2002. Again, warm, lyrical passages are found alongside sections of dissonant and technically challenging writing, in what is clearly a very emotional work. The Postlude is a reprisal of No.12 of the Preludes, but with a prepared piano that gives the music a distorted and quite bleak sound; it’s a haunting ending to a simply outstanding CD.

At the time of writing, the renowned Tokyo Quartet has just given its farewell performances in Toronto, a city it has visited some 45 times during its long career. Its final concert will be at Yale University in June. The ensemble’s farewell CD of quartets by Dvořák and Smetana has just been issued by harmonia mundi (807429), with impassioned performances of Dvořák’s Quartet No.12, Op.96 (“The American”) and Smetana’s painfully personal Quartet No.1 in E minor, “From My Life.” It certainly wasn’t their final recording, however. While these quartets were recorded in 2006, the glorious performance of the autumnal Brahms Clarinet Quintet, also on the harmonia mundi label and reviewed here last December, was recorded in 2011, and if anything, has a much greater feeling of wistful farewell about it. Still, either CD will stand as a testament to the standard this remarkable group attained, and to the loss their retirement represents to the chamber music world.

There is another beautiful recording of the Brahms Clarinet Quintet, again on the harmonia mundi label, this time by the Jerusalem Quartet with clarinettist Sharon Kam (HMC 902152). It’s a bit breathy at times, but very warm, albeit with not quite the same wistfulness as the Tokyo Quartet version with Jon Manasse, mentioned above. The string playing in particular is really quite lovely. There is equally gorgeous playing in the Brahms String Quartet No.2 in A minor, Op.51 No.2. This is full-blooded Brahms, rich and expansive, warm and passionate, thoughtful and contemplative, and with a wonderful dynamic range.

On the Nature of Electricity & Acoustics
Electro-Acoustic Music from Ireland
Curated by Daniel Figgis
Heresy 010
www.heresyrecords.com

Imagine the sound of a traditional Irish jig or reel in the hands of someone who loves playing with electronic instruments and recording devices. Think of all the possible combinations that could arise. That’s exactly what you will hear on the CD On the Nature of Electricity & Acoustics. Curated by Daniel Figgis, this album is a compilation and sampling of 23 pieces, each created by a different Irish composer or musician. And to add to the mix, these musicians come from a wide range of backgrounds and influences: contemporary classical composers, rock musicians, sound experimentalists, traditional music virtuosi and visual artists. The fascinating images in the accompanying booklet offer glimpses into early instruments — both acoustic and electric in nature.

Over the last three or four decades, traditional Irish music influences have swept across the globe, bringing their unique identity to the pop, rock and world music genres. With this album we are treated to the inimitable Irish sound under the influence of experimentation and boundary pushing. It opens with a very early electroacoustic work, created in 1978 using classic tape techniques, by one of the country’s leading composers, Roger Doyle. We immediately land in the familiar soundworld of the piano presented with a driving rhythmic force so characteristic of the Irish essence. These strong rhythmic qualities, along with looping and repetitive melodic or harmonic patterns, textural layering and the presence of a recognizable instrument are present in almost every work on the album. The distinctive instrumental sounds heard include the fiddle, bagpipes, bodhrán, accordion, electric guitar, cello, as well as a few flashes of a Celtic vocal presence. Electronic sounds include the presence of lush synthesizer textures, wild electric guitar riffs, static and noise articulations and gliding filter sweeps.

The final track by the curator Daniel Figgis really sums up the spirit of the whole album. If I were to lift a pint of beer to my mouth and close my eyes, I could easily imagine I was sitting in a traditional Irish pub, tapping my toes in time with the music. Yet my ears would be overjoyed to hear the unusual and mind-bending twists and turns that unfolded before me. There would be no denying that I was in the presence of an ancient musical tradition whose indelible spirit penetrates through time, technologies and trends.

Kris Davis
Capricorn Climber
Clean Feed CF 266 CD
www.cleanfeed-records.com

Creating a cohesive program that moves from experimentation to straight-ahead swing and lush inventions — often on the same track — pianist Kris Davis outlines a series of moods on this program of her own compositions. Calgary-born Davis has made a reputation for herself as an arranger as well as a soloist and each of her compositions displays her sidefolk — some of New York’s most accomplished players — to their collective best advantage.

Take for instance Pass the Magic Hat, which starts off as a swirling and spiralling exposition for her piano plus the bass of Trevor Dunn and the drums of Tom Rainey, but soon evolves to a contrapuntal duel between her metronomic comping and Ingrid Laubrock’s pulsating tenor saxophone. A spikier secondary theme developed by violist Mat Maneri arrives, eventually to be harmonized with piano and reed slurs. On the other hand, Bottom of a Well is a cohesive recital-styled track with low-pitched piano clunks underscoring the chromatic string sets. Before a legato finale, Dunn vibrates a solo in the cello range while the violist harshly rubs his strings. With Davis’ narrative literally more low-key and impressionistic, Pi is Irrational balances Maneri’s tremolo stridency with Rainey’s rugged ruffs and taps, until Laubrock’s gentle arpeggios presage a brief, rhythmically sophisticated bass solo.

Davis who studied at Banff and Toronto defines her program enough to give her soloists the freedom to interpolate everything from strident reed bites and fiddle scratches to extended cymbal vibrations into the nine tracks. But she reins them in enough with strategies ranging from inner piano string plucks to keyboard jabs and cohesive chording to maintain the integrity of her compositional vision.

Upstairs
Matt Herskowitz
Justin Time JUST 249-2
www.justin-time.com

This CD was recorded before an audience at the Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill in Montreal where Matt Herskowitz has made his home since 2000 and the first thing that struck me was the phenomenal technique possessed by this Albany-born pianist.

The varied program begins with a long — over 13 minutes — interpretation of the Dave Brubeck composition, Dziekuje which means “thank you” in Polish, and was modelled on Chopin’s Prelude in E Minor. He also includes Cantabile by Michel Petrucciani, Traumerei by Robert Schumann, music by J.S. Bach, two originals, Waltz In Moscow and Bella’s Lament plus a couple of Gershwin songs for good measure — But Not For Me and I’ve Got Rhythm.

Herskowitz’ classical training permeates the music, sometimes at the expense of “jazz feeling” but then there are also passages of delicate beauty as shown in Bella’s Lament and Traumerei.

To make a comparison between visual art and music, Herskowitz is like, say, a Dali rather than a Mondrian.

I have a non-musical complaint on behalf of all of us with less than perfect eyesight. The liner notes are in deep blue against a black background, making them all but impossible to read. I, and a few others I have spoken with, find it extremely frustrating. Designers of CD sleeves please take note.

Guitarist Reg Schwager has worked with some of the most famous performers in jazz, including Diana Krall, George Shearing and Peter Appleyard. In addition to being a distinguished sideman, though, he’s also genuinely adventurous. Schwager has just released two contrasting CDs that testify to the range and quality of his work.

His duet with pianist David Restivo, Arctic Passage (Rant 1346), presents two musicians gifted in the myriad permutations of melody and harmony, etching work of glittering lyricism. Most of the compositions are Schwager’s own, themes worthy of further exploration, but there are also distinctive accounts of Poor Butterfly and Alexander’s Ragtime Band, each enlivened by thoughtful chordal extensions that are bound to surprise. The dialogue is inevitably reminiscent of the perfect duos recorded by Bill Evans and Jim Hall in the 1960s.

Schwager and drummer Michel Lambert, one of Quebec’s finest free improvisers, make Schwager’s outer limits more apparent on Trio Improvisations (Rant 1245). It’s a special trio, with three different musicians occupying the third spot. The recordings come from sessions during a six-month period between 2001 and 2002 and include the powerful Coltrane-influenced Toronto saxophonist Michael Stuart, Amsterdam’s anarchic and brilliant pianist Misha Mengelberg (an early influence on the Dutch-born Schwager) and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, perhaps Canada’s greatest contribution to international jazz. The music is all free improvisation, though in this case that means harmonic and rhythmic structures arise and dissolve with frequency and ease. What makes the set most remarkable is that it’s anything but pastiche. While many CDs from different sessions sound like patchwork quilts, this one sounds like a suite, with a consistent approach that expands outward from Schwager and Lambert and embraces their various guests.

Cellist Kye Marshall has a broad musical background ranging from extensive studies in jazz composition and positions as principal cellist with Toronto’s New Chamber Orchestra and assistant principal cellist with the National Ballet Orchestra. She’s worked extensively both in jazz and improvised music, and she brings all of those skills and inclinations to her Jazz Quartet’s Pencil Blues (Zephyr/Westwind Productions www.kyemarshall.com). It’s lively, infectious work and Marshall has thoughtfully constructed a string band around her still rather unusual jazz cello, with Don Thompson on bass, Andrew Scott on guitar and Ethan Ardelli on drums. When the group expands for textural reasons, she adds violist Kent Teeple and percussionist Mark Duggan to the ensembles. The feeling’s not unlike the Hot Club of France, and the clear star is Thompson, whose bass playing should be declared a national treasure.

Pianist Steve Koven is a crisp modern stylist, an ebullient musician who can move handily from infectious Latin jazz to probing ballads and complex three-way dialogues with the members of his long-standing trio. In fact that’s what has given Koven’s work its greatest dimension, something celebrated on SK3 20 (Bungalow Records SK 009 3), commemorating the 20th anniversary of the group with bassist Rob Clutton and drummer Anthony Michelli. It would be remarkable enough if Koven had held together a band that long with anybody, but he’s done so with two of the most creative musicians that the Toronto scene could provide, evident in the playful funk groove of Lolaland. The CD also comes with a bonus DVD of the group in performance.

Curtis Nowosad is a 24-year-old drummer who recently graduated from the University of Manitoba’s Jazz Studies Program. Clearly Nowosad enjoys many kinds of music, and there’s plenty of pop repertoire to go with the hard bop on his debut, The Skeptic & the Cynic (Know-a-sad Music KSM-001 www.curtisnowosad.com), with songs made famous by Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Pink Floyd, Joni Mitchell and 2Pac Shakur. Nowosad’s band is made up largely of University of Manitoba faculty, with trumpeter Derrick Gardner, saxophonist Jimmy Greene, bassist Steve Kirby and Will Bonness on keyboards (covering piano, Fender Rhodes and Hammond B3) lending tremendous lustre to the proceedings. Clearly Nowosad has been an outstanding student, sounding right at home in this band of veterans, who for their part seem to be enjoying playing signature hard bop on tunes as unlikely as The Way You Make Me Feel and Three Little Birds.

Another musician employing distinguished talent is saxophonist Cameron Wallis. Calling Dexter (www.cameronwallismusic.com) features pianist André White, bassist Alec Walkington and drummer Dave Laing, who have functioned as the André White Trio for the past 25 years. Wallis is a skilful traditionalist, smoothly negotiating chord changes and swinging with aplomb. If anything, he’s a little too respectful, from the title dedication to Dexter Gordon to liner note invocations of Don Byas and “my two favourite Sonnys.” One of them is definitely Stitt, but Rollins seems too aggressively modern even in his 1950 form to qualify as the other. Wallis demonstrates more flexibility than identity by playing soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and even C melody saxophone, making it hard for a listener to get a sense of a distinctive voice.  

Of all the instruments that needed the advances of free music in the 20th century to show off its true character, it has been the double bass which benefitted most from this situation. Relegated to decorative, scene setting or mere rhythmic functions in conventional classical and jazz performances, it was only when bassists were able to express themselves without restraint that their role grew. By the 21st century in fact, solo bass recitals became as commonplace as those by other instrumentalists. The reason, as these CDs demonstrate, is the arrival of performers who can extract a multiplicity of novel tones, timbres and textures from four tautly wound strings.

Take Paris-based Joëlle Léandre for instance. Early in her career she played pieces composed specifically for her by the likes of John Cage and Giacinto Scelsi; now she’s fully committed to free expression. Wols circus: 12 compositions pour contrebasse d’après 12 gravures de Wols (Galerie Hus HUS 112 joelle-leandre.com) is particularly fascinating. Using only a bow, the strings, her instrument’s body and her own vocal inflections, Léandre interprets musically engravings by Surrealist artist Otto Wols (1913–1951). Created from 1942–1945, when the Berlin-born Wols was interned as an “enemy foreigner” in France, where he lived from 1932 until his death, the images are as abstract as they are affecting. Making no attempt to literally replicate the drawings in music, Léandre’s sound interpretations move from stentorian to muted, with indistinct, spiccato scrubs as common as Jew’s harp-like twangs. Especially noteworthy is the build-up and release reflected on the successive Topographie, Drei Vingnetten auf einem Blatt and Keiner Fleck. With each sequence three minutes, first abrasive then mellow string sawing fades into occasional arco slides and sul tasto pops with the air vibrated by the bow audible as well. The climax occurs as unison basso string strokes and Léandre’s vocal growls give way to a contrapuntal duet between sharp instrumental lines. Throughout, the bull fiddler provides personalized a view of Wols’ sketches with additional string inventions ranging from squeeze-toy peeps to tremolo bass slaps. Nonetheless the defining performance occurs with Dunkle Stadt, when with intensifying torque she moves from miniscule below-the-bridge plucks to staccato string chirps contrapuntally layered with vocalized faux lyric soprano accents. 

Unlike Léandre, whose 12 acoustic selections were recorded at one live concert, French-Israeli bassist JC Jones’ Citations: Solo Bass (Kadima Collective KCR 36 kadimacollective.com) is made up of 17 untitled compositions and improvisations from 2008 to 2012 using acoustic bass or electro-acoustic bass with live electronics. To be honest the computer processes aren’t that prominent; but are mostly used to provide a constant pizzicato undercurrent, while Jones’ arco buzzes add multiphonic sweeps or balladic decorations to the selections. More individual are the improvisations, which sometimes had been created to accompany dancers. On the 11th track for instance, rosin seems to be sliding off the bass strings as Jones slaps them agitato and tremolo so that soundboard thumps resonate throughout the instrument’s body. Buzzing spiccato action with banjo-like plucks from below the bridge succeed spanked string rhythms on the 15th track; while on the fifth Jones manages to sound as if he’s manipulating two basses at once without overdubbing. Here he plucks and shakes the strings in the instrument’s top range while ruggedly double- and triple-stopping from the bottom, resulting in snaps, knocks and pops ricocheting back onto one another. Moreover a track such as 17 sums up all the preceding strategies as Jones manages to isolate three separate theme variations. Not only are stentorian thumps and undulating bow motions heard, but so too is a third tremolo impulse harmonized alongside the first two.

If Jones’ electronic interface is limited, Montreal-based Alexandre St-Onge and Norwegian-in-Austin Ingebrigt Håker Flaten draw more textures to their finger tips by utilizing amplified electric basses on their solos sessions. A member of bands such as Klaxon Gueule, as well as studying for his PhD in art, St-Onge describes himself as a sound performer and the six selections on Ailleurs (&records ET18 etrecords.net) are studded as much with signal-processed drones and splutters as reflective string modulations. Layering the sequences with loops that replicate sounds ranging from ring-modulator whooshes to bell ringing and distorted flanges, the basic double bass-like rhythmic qualities of the instrument are muted. Only on the fifth track does the tremolo, dial-twisting exposition pull back enough for a semi-acoustic interlude. Here juddering bass-string plucks can be heard contrapuntally advancing the narrative, which is still decorated with additional droning lines and wiggling voltage-affiliated cries. The achievement of Ailleurs is that by mutating its intonation and freeing the bass from its limitations as a purely rhythmic instrument a new interface appears. The reverberating result is of an expansive formula that evocatively builds on expected bull fiddle timbres the way a realistic photograph could be the basis for a surrealistic art

As abstract in execution as St-Onge and as familiar with as many electronic extensions, on the six tracks which make up Birds – Solo Electric (Tektite Records ingebrigtflaten.com), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten at least follows the convention of titling his tracks. Known for his membership in bands such as The Thing and Atomic, he’s able to play the electric bass in such a way to suggest multiple instruments. The most breathtaking instance of this occurs on Chicago. Pulsating the top string of his highly amplified bass with spiccato pressure, Flaten produces timbres that could as easily have come from a bagpipe chanter or a piccolo trumpet. At the same time modulated feedback decorates the exposition, while a legato theme is heard from the top guitar-like strings. Eventually this broken-octave display fades into measured stops. Mercurial and rubato, many of the other tones in his improvisations sound as if they are extended by an e-bow. Take a track like Lucia. Here string slaps alternate with flanges that could come from backward running tapes, until a vigourous melody surmounts those sounds. Whistles, whooshes, crackles and other amplified flutters predominate throughout, but when Flaten strikes or scrapes the strings with firecracker-like resonation, he confirms the true instrumental origin of the performances.

With the creativity on display on any one of these CDs so obvious, hearing the bass used merely for decorative or rhythmic functions in the future will likely be disappointing for many.