A highlight of the international calendar, the Guelph Jazz Festival (GJF), September 7 to 11, has maintained its appeal to both the adventurous and the curious over 18 years. It has done so mixing educational symposia with populist outdoor concerts, featuring performers ranging from established masters to experimenters from all over the world. For example, American alto saxophonist/flautist Henry Threadgill appears at the River Run Centre on September 10 with his Zooid quintet. A frequent GJF visitor bassist William Parker is featured in at least four ensembles; twice with Toronto vocalist Christine Duncan’s Element Choir Project on September 9 at St. George’s Anglican Church and September 10 at the outdoor Jazz Tent; on September 11 as part of an all-star quartet in Co-operators Hall; and in the same spot on September 8, with pianist Paul Plimley and drummer Gerry Hemingway. Sharing the bill is Tilting, a quartet led by Montreal bassist Nicolas Caloia. Meanwhile Danish saxophonist Lotte Anker is part of an afternoon performance September 10 at Co-operators Hall with two Americans, pianist Craig Taborn and drummer Gerald Cleaver.

Supplely slinky, bouncingly rhythmic and unmistakable original, Zooid’s This Brings Us To Volume II (Pi Recordings PI 36 www.pirecordings.com) clearly delineates Threadgill’s compositional smarts expressed by the band. Many of the tracks depend on the contrasts engendered by mixing Liberty Ellman’s nylon-string guitar licks with the snorts from Jose Davila’s gutbucket trombone or surging tuba plus cross-sticking and rolls from drummer Elliot Humberto Kavee. The most characteristic track is Polymorph, with a sardonic melody that suggests Kurt Weill’s Berlin period. Here Threadgill’s astringent saxophone timbres are first framed by snapping frails from Ellman and later arrive at contrasting double counterpoint with the thick pop of Stomu Takeishi’s bass guitar.

Floating Islands (ILK 162 CD www.ilkmusic.com) demonstrates the cohesive skills of the Anker/Taborn/Cleaver group. Recorded at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, the selections demonstrate the trio’s extrasensory perception. With Anker rotating among soprano, alto and tenor saxophones, the band divides according to the improvisation; sections are devoted to saxophone-piano, saxophone-drum or piano-drum interaction. Hard reed buzzes bring out cascading choruses from Taborn for instance, while the pianist’s unconventional key clicks are met by the saxophonist’s arching split tones and tongue flutters plus swirling cymbals and snare backbeats. Sometimes the narrative becomes a mass of chiaroscuro patterns from all, with the palpable tension finally breached by Anker’s chirping tones and Taborn’s glissandi. Backwards River is an extended example of this, as galloping runs from Taborn arrive after an exposition of gritty reed tones. Before the climax, involving Cleaver knitting rat-tat-tats and tom-tom rolls into a forceful solo, the sax and piano sounds surge from gentle swing to jagged altissimo intersections rife with polyphonic smears.

Combination spark plug and spiritual guide William Parker’s gigs at GJF 2011 are with a vocal chorus and two instrumental groupings. Winter Sun Crying recorded with Munich’s nine-piece ICI Ensemble (Neos Jazz Neos 41008 www.neos-music.com) demonstrates the skills he brings to groups of any size or instrumentation. The CD captures a 15-part suite which waxes and wanes between legato and atonal contributions. Parker’s contributions on piccolo trumpet, double reeds, shakuhachi and bass are integrated within the composition. As band members move throughout from aleatoric solos to tutti and contrapuntal passages, he adds walking to keyboardist Martin Wolfrum’s precise chording, while under both, Sunk Pöschl’s drums clatter and pop; or lets his pinched reed contrast with upturned harmonies from ICI’s three woodwinds and trombone. The ensemble never nestles in any style or genre. Roger Jannotta’s faux-baroque piccolo decorations are as germane to the performance as Markus Heinze’s guttural baritone sax snorts, while oscillated processes from Gunnar Geisse’s laptop or trombonist Christofer Varner’s sampler are responsible for the composition’s outer-space-like undertone. Meanwhile the downward shifting of Johanna Varner’s spiccato cello lines join with Wolfrum’s dynamic chording to propel the horns away from dissonance towards linearism. The finale, Let’s Change the World, not only refers back to the head, but weaves gradually diminishing string scrubs, piano key pummels and alternately breathy or splintering reed tones into an echoing statement.

Another bassist/composer is Nicolas Caloia, whose Quartet CD Tilting (www.nicolascaloia.net), is a microcosm of Montreal’s scene. Completed by saxophone/flutist Jean Derome, pianist Guillaume Dostaler and percussionist Isaiah Ceccarelli, the disc highlights the bassist’s approach. While Caloia’s connective ostinato is felt throughout, this high-energy showcase gives everyone space. Impressive on each of his horns, Derome’s bass flute adds appropriately breathy tones, evolving contrapuntally with Dostaler’s comping on Stare. Meanwhile the husky textures Derome propels from baritone saxophone make Locked a stop-time swinger, especially when Ceccarelli’s solo folds flams, shuffles and ratamacues together. Derome’s singsong alto phrasing is all over the other two pieces, both of which feature brief but attentive solos from Caloia, whose string slaps and thumps concentrate the action. The pianist’s languid note cascades are showcased spectacularly on Safety where he interrupts Derome’s forays into false registers with an interlude of harmonized chording and rubato key fanning.

As this group of sound explorers join many others of similar quality during the annual GJF, it’s not surprising that this little festival has reached satisfying maturity without the compromises that impinge on many larger celebrations.

Second Nature

Minor Empire

World Trip Records WTR001 (www.minorempire.net)

All my initial scepticism immediately disintegrated with the first track of Minor Empire's debut release “Second Nature.” No second rate bad world music here. Leader/electric guitarist/programming guru Ozan Boz has carefully eliminated any such occurrences with his careful combinations of Western pop sounds, jazz improvisations, and Turkish traditional music and his superb arrangements. Toss in band members Ozgu Ozman (vocals), Michael Occhipinti (electric guitar), Chris Gartner (bass) and Debashis Sinha (percussion), Ismail Hakki Fencloglu (oud) and Didem Basar (kanun) and the result is a smart band creating intriguing sounds and melodies set to a backdrop of funky beats.

Especially noteworthy is Zuluf Dokulmus Yuz. Ozman’s sultry vocals weave effortlessly through a tapestry of musical influences. What a great idea is to have short interludes based on makams with catchy titles like Ozan's Psyche and Selim's Anatomy (featuring the amazing guest clarinettist Selim Sesler) which allow the instrumentalists to solo and shine.

Unfortunately there are no translations for the lyrics. I learned a long time ago in my band playing days that the listener wants to know the meanings of the lyrics. But the production values are high and the sound quality superb. Fall is the time to get back to work and back to school. There is no better backdrop than the worldbeat sounds of “Second Nature” to get you back into the groove.

Gamma Knife

Maria Kasstan

Independent (www.myspace.com/mariakasstan)

I’m almost ashamed to admit that it has been a very long time since I have heard someone of my generation producing a folk CD that rails against the establishment, but Maria Kasstan has good reason. Her partner of 25 years died as a result of a heart attack right outside of police headquarters. Allegedly, the officers who discovered him assumed the man to be homeless and neglected to administer CPR. Her sorrow and anger are deeply felt by the listener in the last few tracks of the recording. The tracks are arranged as a story of their life together, celebrating the fullness of the good times and grieving the loss with a voice both strong and tender. Upon first hearing, I absolutely fell in love with the first track, Act of Love. Kasstan is known for her work as a pollinator advocate or “seed lady.” This song is a catchy, happy tribute to Mother Nature, with a playfully whimsical arrangement by producer Bob Wiseman... I couldn’t stop singing it all day long! The simple joys continue with Beets in the Cellar and the romantic Didn’t Wait for the Moon. The poignant Saint Jude brings the listener’s awareness back to the stark contrasts existing in Toronto neighborhoods. This artist has not forgotten her beginnings as a folk singer in 1960s Yorkville and reminds us that even as grannies we can still have a powerful voice for change.

Skin Tight

The Nylons

Linus Entertainment 270134

The a capella vocal group The Nylons has been around since 1979 and although all but one of the original members has moved on, the group's trademark upbeat sound is fully intact on its 15th recording. The mix of funky rhythms, jazzy harmonies and quirky mash-ups is due in part to the addition of Toronto-based group-singing luminary, Dylan Bell. As producer and arranger of most of the 12 tracks, and even guest scatter on one, Bell is like the Fifth Nylon (as George Martin was known as the Fifth Beatle) and a big contributor to the success of “Skin Tight.” Of course, the four singers - Claude Morrison (the original), Tyrone Gabriel, Garth Mosbaugh and Gavin Hope - do the heavy lifting. Whether called on for vocal percussion, tight harmonies, scat solos or beautiful crooning, all the singers do their part with skill and joy. The repertoire is largely covers from a variety of eras and genres and while some stay relatively true to the originals with voices substituting for the instruments, others get fresh reworkings. Spider-Man gets a clever spin as it ranges between funk, swing and rap, with a solo courtesy of bass Tyrone Gabriel, while Teach Me Tonight sees lead singer Gavin Hope essentially doing homage to Al Jarreau's version over a Four Freshman-like doo-wop accompaniment. The closing track Gone Too Soon, with its Gene Peurlingesque arrangement, is a beautiful tribute to both its originator Michael Jackson and one of The Nylons founding members, the late Denis Simpson.

I Walked Into the Silver Darkness

Mark Wingfield; Kevin Kastning

greydisc GDR 3508 (www.markwingfield.com)

This is a collection of original pieces for guitars. I found myself amazed at the range of guitar voices produced. A very extended palette of sound is due to the odd variety of guitars being played. There are conventional 6-string guitars but also we hear a 14-string contraguitar, 12-string extended baritone guitar, heavily processed electric guitars and even fretless guitar. The sounds had me searching through the liner notes wondering what I was hearing. Wingfield and Kastning are surely pushing the envelope with this disc. According to the liner notes, an “open mind” is required to appreciate these compositions, which are all improvised in the recording studio by two extremely gifted guitarists who had not played together until the time of this recording.

Sonically, the recording is reminiscent of an ecm release, a mix of acoustic and electric sounds with a generous amount of spatial enhancement surrounding the sound. Its multi-tracked, or layered construction, is assembled in an interesting fashion, with some sounds very forward while some are quite distant. It isn't very natural sounding in that the reverberation times differ drastically, with very dry acoustic guitars often surrounded by heavily treated reverberant electric tones.

As a guitarist, I am forever amazed at the compositional aspect of the instrument. I learned how to play with a very tattered Pete Seeger method book about 40 years ago and learned the early American styles of flat-picking and finger picking, using a handful of basic chords, and have had a lifetime of pleasure working in that idiom. For most of what I play, I really only need a guitar that has the first five or so frets. When I hear “modern” guitarists who are pioneering sounds and musical textures, I am in awe of how they can express themselves by travelling through every region of the instrument, often with what seems like effortless abandon. This collection of original instrumental pieces will impress all guitarists, no doubt.

TESTAMENT is the prestigious British company that licenses recordings of significant performances that are held in the archives of EMI, Decca, RCA, the BBC and other radio archives. Testament released their first disc in 1990, restoring to circulation two esteemed performances of Brahms: the Horn Trio in E flat op.40 with Aubrey Brain, Adolph Busch, and Rudolph Serkin recorded in 1933 and the Clarinet Quintet with Reginald Kell and the Busch Quartet from 1937 (SBT 1001). 21 years later, Testament, essentially artist-based, continues to liberate valuable performances from record company archives and issue them, many for the first time. Their very few DVDs include the legendary videos of Toscanini and the NBC Symphony transmitted livebetween March 20, 1948 and March 22, 1952. These black and white kinescopes from studio 8H and Carnegie Hall were once available on RCA laser discs and are now licensed to Testament (SBDVD 1003-1007, 5 DVDs available separately). They also offer many vinyl re-issues from the EMI’s LP catalogue in superior new pressings. Their recent releases include five CDs of Carlo Maria Giulini conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in live concerts from the Philharmonie, as recorded by Deutschlandradio Kultur. Giulini was Music Director and conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1976 to 1982 and these Berlin performances from that era find Giulini still at the top of his interpretative and conducting abilities. During these years while the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra was still von Karajan’s, the interpretations are Giulini’s. As these are live performances they let us “attend” these joyful events in which it is clear that the conductor’s conceptions, from very subtle shadings and nuances to expansive climaxes, are delivered with a sureness of playing and ensemble that is a tribute to everyone involved. It’s such a refreshing pleasure to hear performances of this calibre. The sound is nothing short of astounding being crystal-clear, more dynamic than the sound from a broadcast, plus realistic front to back perspective. The first of the four releases is a 2CD set of the Haydn Surprise Symphony coupled, as it was in the concert in February 1976, with an radiant, extroverted reading of the Mahler First (SBT2 1462, 2 CDs specially priced). A must have. The Schubert Eighth and Ninth from February 1977 (SBT1463) are followed by a brilliant concert from January 1977 in which Pictures at an Exhibition is preceded by Webern’s Six Pieces for Orchestra, opus 6 (SBT1464). From February 1984 Giulini conducts Das Lied von der Erde with Brigitte Fassbaender and Francisco Araiza (SBT1465). Conductor and soloists seem to have been on tour with this work and, in fact, recorded it with the BPO for DG... however every performance is unique and this one has its felicities.

NEWTON Classics is a recent arrival on the reissue scene. Since their start-up in 2009 their CD releases have been judiciously selected primarily from the Philips archives. The Dutch lyric-dramatic soprano Gré Brouwenstijn has been a long time favourite, as heard in so many complete operas from Beethoven to Wagner. Eminently recommendable is her eponymous CD of arias by Wagner, Verdi, Weber and Beethoven containing recordings from 1952 and 1956 conducted by Willem van Otterloo and Rudolf Moralt (Newton 8802061). Byron Janis’s steel-fingered performances of the two Liszt concertos recorded in Moscow in 1962 by Mercury for their Living Presence series have lost none of their impact. Seven solo pieces by Schumann, Falla, Liszt and Guion complete this audiophile favourite (8802061). Peter Schreier is not only a notable tenor of opera and lieder fame, he is also a conductor of note. The 1992 recordings of the Brandenburgs by the Kammerorchester Carl Philip Emanuel Bach are conducted with refreshing panache matched by a sparkling recording. Add two triple concertos, BWV1044 & 1064 and the package is hard to resist (8802075). Saving the best ‘till last, the incomparable Ravel/Haitink/Concertgebouw 2CD set, once available on a Philips DUO, makes a most welcome return (8802068, 2CDs). All the Ravel showpieces are here; Bolero, La Valse, Rapsodie Espagnole, Le Tombeau de Couperin, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Ma Mère l’Oye, Menuet Antique, Daphnis et Chloé Suite no.2, and, of course, Alborada del Gracioso and Pavane pour une infant dèfunte. These are all vital, beautifully shaded performances captured in outstanding sound. The Bolero enjoys a rousing performance unequalled in its IMPACT... this would have provided a total workout for Ida Rubinstein, the ballerina for whom the piece was written. Welcome back to this premier collection.

DOREMI, another artist-driven label, has meticulously restored historic recordings for 17 years. Their catalogue embraces performances of works of every size and genre from every period, from early music to a lone South American 20^th century guitarist. DOREMI is well known for performances by famous and not-so-famous violinists and pianists. Of course, in this as in any other business, the consumer rules, necessitating recordings by artists for which there is a waiting, world-wide market while at the same time rediscovering and resurrecting major talents that are all but forgotten today, even by some collectors. Their recent set of the Beethoven 10 Violin Sonatas is a notable, if not colossal contribution in this direction (DHR-8011-3, 3 CDs). The performances on this set reconfirm that violinist Henri Temianka and pianist Leonard Shure were among the very finest musicians of the 20^th century. Temianka was clearly in the league of Heifetz and Milstein and Shure was similarly among the great talents, Arrau and Serkin. Oddly enough, though both Temianka and Shure had flourishing solo careers, their recording legacies are regrettably few in number. As a young man Temianka achieved international fame when he won the Third Prize in the 1935 Wieniawski Violin Competition in Warsaw; the second went to David Oistrakh, the first to Ginette Neveu. Later he played Prokofiev accompanied by the composer. He was active in England in the 1930s and made recordings for Parlophone. In 1946 Temianka founded the Paganini Quartet, in which each of its members played a Strad that had once been owned by Paganini. The Quartet was well known for many years in the mid-century and was the house quartet of RCA Victor. Just before that he had been invited by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge to perform the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas with Leonard Shure in the Elizabeth Coolidge Auditorium in the Library of Congress ... and here are those performances from January and February 1946, originally preserved on acetates and now on CD. Driven by a labour of love, it took Jacob Harnoy months of meticulous restoration to transfer the product of that old technology, which while inherently subject to surface noise, clicks and skips, did maintain the luminosity and beauty of Temianka’s playing. His violin sings and his intonation and technique are impeccable. The revelation of hidden beauties is a joy. Broadly speaking, the outer movements are taken at energetic brisk tempos while the slow movements are expressive in a way that penetrates the soul. If you have more than a passing interest in this repertoire, you owe it to yourself to hear these exceptional performances.

Shakespeare - Come again sweet love

Daniel Taylor; Theatre of Early Music

RCA Red Seal 88697727222

As founder and artistic director of the Montreal-based Theatre of Early Music (TEM) and a singer of international renown with over 60 recordings to his credit, Canadian countertenor Daniel Taylor is now at a point in his career where, on the Sony label, he headlines a recording that counts among its vocal performers Dame Emma Kirkby, Michael Chance and Charles Daniels as well as Carol Sampson and Neal Davies. Drawing on repertoire inspired by, referred to or performed in the plays of Shakespeare, this is a delightful and varied collection of solos, duets and madrigals complemented by adept instrumentalists from two different ensembles: TEM’s Elizabeth Kenny and Jacob Heringman on lute and Fretwork’s Richard Boothby and Richard Campbell on viola da gamba. A most wonderful confluence occurs in the various combinations of voices as in Orlando Gibbons’ The Silver Swan and particularly when countertenors Taylor and Chance duet in Robert Jones’ Sweet Kate and Thomas Morley’s Sweet nymph, come to thy lover. Purcell’s By Beauteous softness and If music be the food of love as well as Johnson’s Full Fathom Five are interpreted with tender affect by Taylor, Sampson and Davies respectively. Charles Daniels is given the title track and Emma Kirby adds a light-hearted flavour to Now what is love? This collection, recorded in London, is highly recommended as a feast of love for a mid-summer’s night.

Mozart - Don Giovanni

Gerald Finley; Glyndebourne; Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; Vladimir Jurowski

EMI 0 72017 9

It seems that in every baritone’s career, a Don Giovanni will happen. Given that there are some tremendous baritones out there, it would mean many a splendid production. Not necessarily so, unfortunately – just ask poor Brett Polegato, trapped in the COC’s tepid and messy effort. Surrounded by sub-par voices and dressed as a low-rent gigolo, even Polegato’s beautiful interpretation of the role could not save the production. Gerald Finley fares much better at Glyndebourne – the Kent production works for the most part and the principals are uniformly splendid, even though the OAE playing is uncharacteristically low energy. Nobody needs convincing that Finley is one of the best Giovanni’s on record – here less gigolo and more Berlusconi’s “Bunga Bunga” in the contemporized production. He is not tragic, but simply oblivious to the havoc he wreaks – a narcissistic psychopath if there ever was one. But it is Kate Royal, as confused and heartbroken Donna Elvira who steals the show. Luca Pisaroni, in a fine voice, is not cynical enough as Leporello, even in the Catalogue Aria, but sounds beautifully throughout. Isabel Leonard, beautiful to listen and look at, seems a tad too sophisticated as the naïve country bumpkin. The occasionally revolving set works well, except for the chase scenes and the finale. The most grievous harm of this production is done to the Commendatore. Traditionally, the statue and its subsequent re-animation are a source of a chill down the spine. Here, the freshly dug-out zombie evokes unwanted comedy, not horror. Ah, if only opera directors knew when to leave well enough alone…

The Ballad Singer

Gerald Finley; Julius Drake

Hyperion CDA67830

Singers crave novel material for their recordings: obscure works, cherished favourites… whatever it takes to create tempting new song packages. Baritone Gerald Finley’s recent release samples the Ballad repertoire and offers a wonderfully chosen program ranging from dark gothic musings of 19th century German and English composers to the devilishly clever writing of Cole Porter.

Finley lives up to his reputation for consistent and solid performance meeting the need of each ballad’s text with an impressive dramatic acuity that elevates the finest singers above the rest of their colleagues. Most notable is his amazing portrayal of the demon in Schubert’s Erlkönig where he assumes a strangely nasal vocal character and deliberately sings the Erlkönig’s extended passages just slightly flat to drive home the evil in the text. I’ve never heard this done before and it’s stunningly effective.

Similarly, Hugo Wolf’s Der Feuerreiter also offers some character vocal moments that most singers simply never attempt. Perhaps the biggest surprise is Finley’s multiple impersonations of narrator, mollusc and socialite in Cole Porter’s The Tale of The Oyster. Eating at a seafood restaurant will never be the same.

Long-time accompanist and artistic partner Julius Drake does so much more than just play the notes to back-up the voice. In Mahler’s Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen he crafts a remarkable orchestral colour palette from the keyboard. Drake knows how to be pianistically comedic as well as dramatic, romantic as well as impish. His artistic contribution is a significant reason for this disc’s success.

The Sacred Bridge - Jews and Christians in Medieval Europe

Boston Camerata; Joel Cohen

Apex 2564 69895-6

Early music for many spans over 600 years to the mid-eighteenth century. This single CD takes in music from precisely those six centuries. They were an exhilarating time although this recording also displays deep and sometimes sad contrasts. Some of the music was composed and performed in Jewish ghettoes, some emanated from the Jews’ contemporary Christian persecutors - and yet both communities were inter-dependent.

This interdependence was traced by Joel Cohen 22 years ago in the original “Sacred Bridge” now available on the Apex budget label. At its most intricate Latin and Hebrew versions of Psalm 114 are interwoven line by line, declaimed by tenor, baritone and counter-tenor. As if that is not complex enough, Joel Cohen turns to Jewish minstrels at Christian Courts. One wonders whether Matthew le Juif was actually this composer’s name at court. For all that, John Fleagle (tenor) does him justice, as Michael Collver’s counter-tenor does Suesskint von Trimberg’s Wa heb’uf.

In fact, Cohen’s selections are not all as complicated in their context. Jewish Folklore of the Eastern Mediterranean takes one through Jews in Provence and among Jews exiled from Spain. Again, the counter-tenor makes his presence felt as does Anne Azéma’s soprano in Morena me llaman and Cansoun d’Esther.

And finally, a large number of tracks interpret the songs of Spain before the exile of 1492. King Alfonso the Wise attracts Cohen’s attention; Collver’s impassioned Madre de Deus, ora por nos explains why this monarch is so respected among early music enthusiasts.

Bach - Suites and Partitas

Dom Andre Laberge

Analekta AN 2 9767

If we needed reminding of the inventiveness, adaptability and wide-ranging influence of Bach’s music, this recording provides ample evidence. The four major works are pieces Bach wrote for instruments other than the harpsichord, including violin (A minor sonata, BWV 1003 and famous D minor Chaconne), lute (BWV 996) and a hybrid known as a “Lautenclavicymbel” (BWV 997). With the exception of the Chaconne - which has been transcribed especially for Laberge by Pierre Gouin – all of the transcriptions were made during Bach’s lifetime by his students.

Paradoxically, the most convincing performance on the disc is of the least successful transcription. The solo violin sonata, BWV 1003, is a glorious work, full of contrapuntal and melodic interest. When transcribed for harpsichord, however, the sound alternates between being too thin or – when the “implied” harmonies of the violin are filled in – too thick and literal. Perhaps sensing this challenge, Laberge’s performance is brilliant, free and exciting, most particularly in the sensational fugue. This is in contrast to the somewhat careful and reserved approach to the rest of the material on the recording.

Laberge’s 1987 Dowd harpsichord records well and its warm and majestic sound suits its classy and formal owner, who is the organist and Abbot at the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Benoît-du-Lac in Quebec.

Clara and Robert Schumann - Piano Trios

Castle Trio

Friends of Music FOM 36-801 (www.smithsonian.org)

Robert Schumann - Complete works for Piano Trio

Leif Ove Andsnes; Christian Tetzlaff; Tanja Tetzlaff

EMI 0 94180 2

The American writer Catherine Drinker Bowen once referred to chamber music as “a conversation between friends.” I’ve long thought this a very apt description, and what better way to get ourselves in the mood for all the chamber music being heard at numerous festivals this summer than sampling these two recordings, featuring music by Robert and Clara Schumann? The first, on the Friends of Music label presents Clara’s only completed four-movement work, the Piano Trio Op.17, and her husband’s more familiar Piano Trio Op.63, performed by the Castle Trio. The second is a double disc featuring Schumann’s complete works for piano trio with Leif Ove Andsnes and Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff on EMI.

Clara Schumann’s Trio Op.17 and the Trio Op.63 by Robert were written within a year of each other, between 1846 and 1847, and both are now recognized as among the best of their output. Although Clara once described her trio as “effeminate and sentimental” there is no denying the fine craftsmanship displayed within. The American–based Castle Trio - Lambert Orkis, piano, Marilyn McDonald, violin, and Kenneth Slowik, cello – play with a finely-balanced precision and their exemplary interpretation is further enhanced by the decision to perform on early instruments, including an 1846 Streicher grand piano. To those used to modern-day chamber performances, the thinner, more transparent sound heard here may be a little disconcerting, but at the very least, the result is an accurate representation of how the music would have originally been heard.

The partnership among pianist Leif Ove Andsnes with violinist Christian Teztlaff and his sister, cellist Tanja Tetzlaff, is a not infrequent one, and their performance on this EMI recording is everything we’d expect from three outstanding players. Included in the set are the three piano trios, the Fantasiestücke Op.88, as well as the Six Etudes in Canonic Form Op.56, as arranged by Theodor Kirchner. Indeed, there is much to admire here – the playing is at times bold and impassioned, imbued with the true romantic spirit. Yet sections such as the second movement of the Piano Trio No.2 display a wonderful sense of intimacy, with the cello particularly warm and resonant. The four Fantasiestücke Op.88 are an attractive bonus, with the Marche finale bringing both the set and the collection to a buoyant and optimistic conclusion. In all, these are two fine additions to the catalogue; surely Robert and Clara would nod their heads in approval.

Live from Lugano 2010

Martha Argerich and Friends

EMI 0 70836 2

Once again, in June 2010 in Lugano (Switzerland) “the hills are alive with the sound of music.” Those lucky enough to find a hotel room can enjoy Martha Argerich’s famous festival with many of today’s most talented young musicians playing solo and chamber music. Martha is as good as ever but her interests now extend towards a) teaching and inspiring the young and b) getting involved with chamber works as well as new adventurous projects, new music and even jazz. This year, apart from nearly 20 young artists, we have her usual stalwarts like the amazing brothers, violinist Renaud and cellist Gautier Capuçon and even her ex-husband the famous pianist Stephen Kovacevich.

2010 being the year of 200th anniversaries for Schumann and Chopin these are dutifully celebrated with Schumann’s Violin Sonata in a minor played beautifully by Renaud Capuçon and Argerich and his Adagio and Allegro Op. 70 for cello and piano, performed with Gautier Capuçon. To honour Chopin there is a wonderfully relaxed performance of one of Martha’s long time favourites the E minor piano concerto.

But here ends the “traditional” part and the “adventurous” now begins. First comes a fiendishly difficult transcription for two pianos of Liszt’s Les Preludes presaging next year’s Liszt celebrations. Erich Korngold’s rarely heard, feverishly overheated post-Straussian Piano Quintet still harkens back to late Romanticism but not the next work. Bartok’s Sonata for 2 pianos and percussion is from the composer’s “barbaric” period, a relentlessly percussive, uncompromising piece. If some listeners think it is “ugly” then Bartok actually achieved his purpose. It is played with great aplomb and exuberance by Argerich and Kovacevich. It had already been recorded by these two but alas that disc was deleted from the catalogue. Now with this set thankfully it is back.

I doubt Stravinsky ever heard Carlo Maria Griguoli’s three piano version of the Firebird Suite but he would certainly have approved of this stunning virtuoso arrangement played by three young pianists including the arranger himself. Now for a suitable ending of this fascinating set, terrifying noises of the big city emanate from Alfred Schnittke’s Piano Quintet (1976). Fully atonal with plenty of quarter tones we hear sirens of an ambulance at one point and at another unbearable noise of a swarm of hornets closing in around one’s head. Yet at the end ironically there is heavenly peace inspired by Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony.

Keeping Score: Mahler - Origins and Legacy

Michael Tilson Thomas; San Francisco Symphony

SFSMedia

This is the third season of the San Francisco Symphony’s admirable “Keeping Score” music documentary series, a project that can be followed on certain PBS stations (unfortunately Buffalo’s WNED is not among them). The episodes are typically an hour long, though the latest Mahler instalment is twice that length. The retail version of the broadcast includes a second CD featuring the complete First Symphony and isolated movements from three more symphonies (details are available at keepingscore.org). This handsomely produced and thoughtful documentary is considerably enhanced by on-location visits to Mahler’s boyhood home of Iglau (now Jihlava, in the Czech Republic) and the re-creation of its unique soundscape: a melange of military bands, the hymnody of St. Jacob’s church (Mahler, though Jewish, joined the choir there), the rustic sounds emanating from his father Bernard’s tavern, and the sylvan stillness of the ravine just beyond the town walls. Tilson-Thomas delivers an extended and quite engaging thematic analysis of Mahler’s First Symphony, convincingly demonstrating how Mahler forged the touchstone for all his subsequent works from these disparate cultural elements. Mahler’s rapid rise to the very top of his profession as a conductor is traced via stops in Budapest, Vienna and New York, including an unprecedented opportunity to enter his villa on the Wörthersee and visits to the various “composing huts” he had built for his precious few summers of composing. We learn of the genesis of most, though not all, of his 10 symphonies along the way. It is perhaps understandable, considering the huge expense of the recording contracts involved, that the choral symphonies (2 and 8) are glossed over and the grandiose 8th symphony rates but a single sentence. It is nonetheless an unfortunate omission, as both these works embrace a message of resurrection and transcendence that belie the clichéd thesis of Mahler’s introverted “otherness” which forms such a large part of Tilson-Thomas’s argument.

The Polish composer Henryk Gorecki, who died last November, wrote three string quartets fairly late in his career - a fourth was apparently unfinished at the time of his death - and these are presented on the specially-priced 2-CD set Gorecki: The Three String Quartets (Hyperion CDA67812) performed by the Warsaw-based Royal String Quartet. It’s certainly not easy listening, with predominantly slow, quiet, and often dissonant meditative passages with low harmonies and little vibrato, interspersed with rich tonal outbursts. Already it is dusk, from 1988, Quasi una fantasia, from 1991, and ...songs are sung, completed in 1995 but not released until 2005, all offer ample support for Adrian Thomas’ comment in the booklet notes that “contemplation was always central to Gorecki” - certainly there is a sacred as well as a secular feel to these complex and very individualistic works. All three quartets were commissioned and first performed by the Kronos Quartet, who have also recorded them. I haven’t heard their versions, but however different they may be it’s hard to believe that they could be any more authoritative than these exemplary performances by the Polish ensemble.

Hyperion continues to add outstanding discs to its catalogue, and has just re-issued the Anthony Marwood and Susan Tomes recital of Music for Violin and Piano by Dvořák in their Helios budget-label series (CDH55365). It’s an absolute delight from start to finish, with really fine works, outstanding playing, and a beautiful recorded sound. The Sonata in F minor and the Sonatina in G are the major works, but there isn’t a single track that is less than top-drawer. The Four Romantic Pieces were originally written for 2 violins and viola, Dvořák arranging them almost simultaneously for violin and piano; two shorter works, the Ballad in D minor and the Notturno in B major, complete the disc. Marwood’s playing is simply faultless, with perfect intonation, a lovely tone, and sensitive and intelligent phrasing. He is matched in all respects by Tomes. Marwood has a half-dozen other fascinating and highly-acclaimed CDs on the Hyperion label, ranging from Weill and Stravinsky to little-known British Romantic concertos. He’s clearly a player with a range to match his ability – and that’s saying something.

I’m constantly reminded of how difficult it is to keep up with contemporary performers and compositions – or at least reminded of the fact that I’m probably not doing as well as I should be in that respect. A case in point is the new CD from the Israeli violinist Ittai Shapira, who is active as a soloist and as a composer. He performs his own Concierto Latino on an abbreviated (26 minutes) CD from Champs Hill (CHRCD020) with the London Serenata conducted by Krzysztof Chorzelski. Shapira is a new name to me, but in addition to his own works he has already had 14 concertos written for him by other composers! This concerto was written in response to a personal assault Shapira experienced when he was mugged by a New York gang in January 2005: the three movements, titled Assault, Lament and Party, clearly indicate the therapeutic nature of the work, and Shapira’s celebration of his recovery. It’s an interesting and accessible piece, with a mix of various technical and musical influences - Latin, Iberian, Sephardic, Cuban, among others – and is extremely well played by all the performers. Recorded at St. Paul New Southgate, London the sound quality is excellent.

Naxos has released Volume 3 of the projected 8-volume series of the complete Music for Violin and Orchestra by Sarasate (8.572275). I wrote a glowing review of the earlier volumes a few years ago, and this latest CD is clearly their equal. The young Chinese violinist Tianwa Yang is again simply brilliant throughout, playing Sarasate’s own violin on two of the tracks. The Orquesta Sinfonica de Navarra (founded by Sarasate himself in 1879) under Ernest Martinez Izquierdo provides the most idiomatic support imaginable. And don’t think for a moment that the standard of the works themselves is lagging as the series proceeds: the Concert Fantasy on Mozart’s Die Zauberflõte is dazzling; Navarra (with the soloist double-tracked) is an exuberant duet; the bagpipe-influenced Muineiras is a delight. The Nouvelle fantasie sur Faust de Gounod, the Barcarolle venitienne and the Introduction et Caprice-Jota complete an immensely satisfying, entertaining and probably definitive disc.

Naxos has issued a fascinating CD of Saint-Saëns String Quartets (8.572454) played by the Fine Arts Quartet. Saint-Saëns was born ten years before the premiere of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto and died eight years after the premiere of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, but such radical change was never reflected in his music. The quartets are both late works – the E minor Op.112 from 1899 and the G major Op.153 from 1918 – but it’s hard to tell from their decidedly 19th century musical style. It’s quite astonishing, for instance, to think that the Op.153 was written by a French composer during the last year of the Great War, and ten years after Schoenberg had first abandoned tonality; in places it’s almost Beethovenian. Fine Arts violinist Ralph Evans correctly describes the quartets as “serious, intellectual, brilliantly crafted yet delightful works,” but it’s difficult to identify a personal voice in them; they tend to remind you more of other composers than of Saint-Saëns himself. It’s also easy to see why his reputation in France had faded by the time of his death - he simply belonged to a different era.

The Fine Arts Quartet has been around since 1946; three of the current members have been there for at least 28 years. Their playing here is of the highest level, although the big vibrato and the occasional “scoop” give it a somewhat dated feel. The sound quality is very resonant, in places almost too much so.

Vadim Gluzman turns his attention to the music of Max Bruch on his latest Super Audio CD (BIS-SACD-1852), with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under Andrew Litton. Given that Bruch wrote three violin concertos plus the Scottish Fantasy it’s a bit disappointing, albeit not particularly surprising, to see that once again it’s the Concerto No.1 in G minor – “the” concerto – that is the main work here. Bruch himself was constantly exasperated by the popularity of this concerto over the others: apparently little has changed! Still, it’s an impassioned and extremely satisfying performance from Gluzman, perfectly showcasing his rich, warm tone, and with Litton providing a sympathetic and glowing accompaniment. The Romance in F major was written for viola and orchestra, but rather than switching instruments (as did Janine Jansen on her 2008 CD) Gluzman uses the violin part from the violin & piano version prepared by the composer. It works very well, but if you know the viola version this one loses something in the translation. The third work on the CD, the String Quintet in A minor, has much in common with the Saint-Saëns String Quartet No.2 reviewed above. Bruch and Saint-Saëns had almost identical life-spans – 1838-1920 and 1835-1921 respectively – and the works were both written in 1918, when the world that both composers still belonged to had vanished completely. Like the Saint-Saëns quartet, Bruch’s quintet gives absolutely no hint of the new world order. It’s a well-crafted, lovely work, but it comes as no surprise to hear 19^th century voices – particularly Mendelssohn and Brahms – in the melodies and harmonies.

Gluzman is joined by Sandis Steinbergs on violin, Maxim Rysanov and Ilze Klava on violas, and Reinis Birznieks on cello in a finely-balanced and well-recorded performance.

This May, Virgin Classics released the final CD in the complete cycle of Beethoven quartets by the German Artemis Quartet. Their 2010 release of the String Quartets Op.18/6 and Op.130/133 (50999 694584 0 8) has just reached me, and presents the perfect opportunity to mention the project. The series started on the Ars Musici label, and Virgin reissued two single Ars Musici CDs as a Virgin Classics 2-CD set last year. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to write a full review at the time, but the CDs were top of my list of highlights of the year. The playing on each CD I’ve heard so far is as good as any you will encounter, and the recorded sound is full and warm, although the cello tends to “boom” a bit on this latest disc. According to the Quartet’s website, the entire project will be issued as a box set in the near future - definitely something to look out for, especially if it’s attractively priced.