The Drip
Rubim de Toledo
Independent (rubim.com)

If there exists one word to try and encapsulate the sheer abundance of groove in The Drip, it would be “punch” (“pop” would be a close second). In any case, this descriptor would need to be of the onomatopoeic variety, because this album is a verb, not a noun. Nine tracks of back-to-back-to-back momentum and drive, every break in the sonic stream implies re-entry. Syncopated bliss, tracks like Rhythm Chante deploy Karimah’s repeated phrases and Audrey Ochoa’s staccato trombone blasts to paint the proverbial town electric. One cannot help but feel that the totality of this experience is tailor-made to be taken beyond the studio, into a live space befitting its live energy. 

Switching between upright and electric bass, Rubim de Toledo is a curator of low end, opting with upright when more percussive attack is desired, and amping up when emphatically doubling horn lines. Across this galaxy of funk, it is de Toledo that remains integral to the sound of the ensemble. As much as there are standout tracks throughout, the elephant in the room here is certainly The Long Way (Up). Contrasting beautifully against the gauntlet of upbeat punchiness that proceeds it, this song has a very minimalist intro courtesy of guitarist Felix Tellez’s sustained arpeggios and Jamie Cooper’s ride cymbal alchemy. Just as that initial build to a climax begins to feel inevitable, Rubim de Toledo yanks on the reins and brings us home.

Canons
Lina Allemano
Lumo Records LM 2023-15 (linaallemano.bandcamp.com)

Trumpeter/composer Lina Allemano’s interest in the canon form, in which parts are repeated exactly within a composition, surfaced on her recent quartet CD, Pipe Dream, but here the form appears in various permutations, both in composed works with elements of improvisation and a series of improvisations by BLOOP, Allemano’s duo with Mike Smith contributing live processing and effects. While some playfulness is evident, Allemano’s expressive focus provides reflective balance.     

The opening 3 Trumpet Canon introduces a pattern of expanding complexity, one overdubbed trumpet following another until the initiating horn is sputtering a series of barely articulated sounds, the other parts following. There’s more playful creativity with German trombonist Matthias Müller as he and Allemano match wits on the duet of Canon of Sorts, while Bobby’s Canon, with cellist Peggy Lee and clarinetist Brodie West, is elegant chamber music. Butterscones and Twinkle Tones, with frequent collaborators bassist Rob Clutton, synthesist Ryan Driver and guitarist Tim Posgate emphasize collective creativity. 

The alternating improvised tracks by BLOOP are highlights, with Allemano’s spontaneous melodies “canonized” and altered in Mike Smith’s electronic repetitions and distortions, whether he’s slowing down the trumpeter’s phrases on Shadows or distorting and muffling her phrases within seconds of Wilds’ outset. On Moons, Smith turns Allemano’s shifting phrases and tonal explorations into a compound canon, while the concluding Ponds is also the richest track, with the keening lyricism of her trumpet lines multiplying in a warm universe.

SOG
Lina Allemano; Uwe Oberg; Matthias Bauer; Rudi Fischerlehner
Creatives Sources CD 777 CD (creativesourcesrec.com)

Having fully integrated herself into the burgeoning Berlin free improv scene, Toronto trumpeter Lina Allemano helps make SOG a memorable instance of stretching instruments to their limits without losing cadenced evolution. Associates are Germans, bassist Matthias Bauer and pianist Uwe Oberg and Austrian percussionist Rudi Fischerlehner.

Consisting of three extended tracks and a brief encore, the music touches on delicacy as well as dissonance. The former quality is expressed when focused trumpet grace notes brush up again chiming piano lines promoting quiet interludes among the generally invigorating sounds. A colourist, Fischerlehner’s wooden clave slaps, bell shakes and idiophone rattles pace the expositions, while Bauer’s sluicing bass line provides a proper pulse. That leaves space for Oberg and Allemano, who take full advantage.

Expressive at varied tempos, the pianist sweeps from singular clips to extended glissandi with ping-ponging emphasis maintaining linear flow. Allemano meets Oberg and Fischerlehner’s rhythmic animation on Il Vortice with squeaky slides and bitten off single notes. The extended El Remolino finds her intermittently exposing the melody above drum punches and keyboard rumbles as she slides through a practice book of technical development including hand-muted squalls, clenched teeth growls and half-valve spits. Like Oberg though she makes the exposition less about technique and more about emotional transference.

There’s no indication of what SOG translates to in any language. Maybe it stands for Session Obviously Good – but that slogan might itself be too limiting.

Nighttime Creatures
Angelica Sanchez Nonet
Pyroclastic Records PR30 (pyroclasticrecords.com)

Expatriate Canadian Kris Davis is developing her Pyroclastic record label into a stellar chronicle of a contemporary jazz idiom that’s often as distinguished by compositional content as improvisatory flair. The latest enlistee is Angelica Sanchez, a fellow pianist-composer whose intensely lyrical small-group work has been documented over the past two decades. Here Sanchez makes a dramatic leap as a composer, writing for a nine-member ensemble, while drawing inspiration from a nocturnal forest far from her New York City home. 

Rather than typical nocturnes, Sanchez’s compositions abound with contrast, from subtle dissonances to complex rhythmic overlays. There is a jagged spikiness to C.B. the Time-Traveler and waves of dissonant polyphony on Land Here, all of it somehow framed in discovery and surprise. Ring Leader moves from a rhythmically even guitar line with sudden brass punctuations to an improvised duet of multiphonic tenor saxophone and drums. 

While her fleetly inventive, sometimes multi-directional piano can come to the fore, Sanchez also surrounds herself with musicians whose individual voices go beyond ensemble skills, including saxophonists Michaël Attias and Chris Speed. Two musicians bring particularly unusual instruments to both ensemble and solo roles, Ben Goldberg his contra alto clarinet and Thomas Heberer his quarter tone trumpet.    

Occasionally referencing Carla Bley, Sanchez also includes works by two other composers, performing Duke Ellington’s Lady of the Lavender Mist and Chilean composer Armando Carvajal’s Tristeza, a mysterious wandering through the ensemble’s individual voice before an ultimate collective theme statement.

Continuing
Tyshawn Sorey Trio
Pi Recordings 98 (pirecordings.com)

In 2022 drummer/composer Tyshawn Sorey, largely associated with extended composition and cutting-edge free jazz, added another dimension to his wide-ranging practice, creating a traditional jazz trio with pianist Aaron Diehl and bassist Matt Brewer to explore the broad repertoire of mainstream modern jazz. It began with Mesmerism and continues here. 

The trio emphasizes understated virtuosity, developing themes with an almost orchestral feel, reminiscent of classic piano trios led by Duke Ellington, Ahmad Jamal and Red Garland in ways that expand both form and interaction. The possibilities for depth are enhanced by slower tempos and extended lengths (from 10’25“ to 15’43”). The trio isn’t simply playing these pieces: they inhabit them.     

Wayne Shorter’s Reincarnation Blues is magisterially slow, the tempo emphasizing the precise sonority of each instrument, represented almost equally in the mix, Diehl’s punctuating chords and phrases delivered with trumpet-like brightness. By the conclusion, the listener is swimming in Diehl’s dense arpeggios and clusters while Sorey and Brewer maintain a rock-solid architecture. The program only gets richer with Ahmad Jamal’s Seleritus, at once elegant and spare, initially highlighting Brewer’s bass. Matt Dennis’ Angel Eyes resides in a tradition of exalted ballads, while In What Direction Are You Headed? by the late pianist Harold Mabern, a teacher of Sorey to whom this CD is dedicated, demonstrates the persistent relevance of classic soul jazz, as codified by Horace Silver and Bobby Timmons.    

Like its predecessor, Continuing is music to be savoured.

Walking Through Fire
Indigenous Collaborations with Sultans of String
Independent MCK2301 (sultansofstring.com)

This powerful project is the result of inspired musical and poetic collaborations between an array of gifted Indigenous artists from a wide variety of musics and tribal identities, and the highly regarded, multiple award-winning Sultans of String, which includes producer Chris McKhool on violin and viola, producer Kevin Laliberte on nylon-, steel-string and electric guitars, Drew Birston on electric and acoustic bass and Rosendo “Chandy” Leon Jr. on drums and percussion. These diverse artists – Indigenous and non-indigenous have joined together in the spirit of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action and Final Report, which sparked the co-creation of Walking Through Fire – the title of both the CD and live touring performances, which began on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation this year. 

There are 14 original tracks here, each inspiring, thought-provoking and brilliantly produced. Works of particular beauty include A Beautiful Darkness featuring Ojibwe vocalist Marc Märileinen, backed by a thrilling wall of sound, punctuated by McKhool’s haunting violin lines; Kó, with luminous and resonant vocals by Dene artists Leela Gilday and Leanne Taneton and The Rez – a deeply moving ballad featuring both rock and fiddling motifs alongside a stirring, soulful vocal from young, contemporary Ojibwe performer Crystal Shawanda. 

Also unforgettable is the soul-searing Take Off the Crown, where the incomprehensible horror of the murdered children is explored in a place beyond tears, introduced by “Digging Roots” member Raven Kanatakta (Anishinaabe Algonquin/Onkwehón:we Mohawk). Our Mother The Earth is also a gem, featuring masterful work from the Sultans of String as well as the vocal gravitas of the eminent Dr. Duke Redbird (Chippewa/Anishinaabe). This project is a rare gift from all of the artists involved… the gift of creativity, collaboration and hope for our future.

Satyam
Vineet Vyas
Independent (vineetvyas.com)

Toronto-based tabla virtuoso Vineet Vyas’ musical path encompasses both the Canadian East Coast and one of the preeminent music traditions of India. Born into a family of Hindustani classical musicians in Nova Scotia, he began lessons on the tabla early. 

Already showing promise, in 1987 his studies modulated to the next level. That year he began instruction in the traditional guru-shishya parampara manner with tabla master Pandit Kishan Maharaj in Varanasi, India. Vyas credits that intense training and sadhana (dedication) to his guru for enabling him to establish himself as a tabla musician on the international stage. 

Vyas’ seven-track album Satyam, his third solo outing, was nominated for Global Recording of the Year at the 2023 (Canadian) East Coast Music Awards. Satyam – a Sanskrit concept referring to examining the truth – musically evokes the Hindu myth of princess Savitri, her husband prince Satyavan and their struggle with Yama, the goddess of death. Spoiler alert: after extensive musical conflict, the last track resolves in a peaceful coda. 

While the record features Vyas’ tabla mastery throughout, Satyam also leans heavily on seven skilled musicians who provide melodies based on Hindustani ragas. They contextualize, support and sometimes also defy the often sonically dense and mathematically intense drumming. In addition to the gripping Savitri narrative, Ajay Prasanna (bansuri), Rajib Karmakar (sitar), Pankaj Mishra (sarangi), Justin Gray (electric bass) and Bageshree Vaze (vocals) make substantial contributions to Satyam’s success as a listen-through album.

Listen to 'Satyam' Now in the Listening Room

Wanderlust
Lara Deutsch; Adam Cicchillitti
Leaf Music LM269 (leaf-music.ca)

During the mid-2010s I went to New York to research an article about some of the unusual characters that dot the historical jazz landscape. After a considerable crosstown public bus journey one day, I found myself sitting across from Bernard Stollman, whose career and life is too fantastical and wide-ranging to discuss here. Briefly, however, I was speaking to Stollman about that incredibly fertile 18-month period from 1963 to 1965, when he oversaw and released 45 largely freely improvised albums on his label ESP-DISK. Although the label would become best known for its association with Albert Ayler and Sunny Murray, ESP-DISK’s first release was Ni Kantu En Esperanto (Let’s Sing in Esperanto), a vocal album capturing a collection of folk songs in that “universal language” created by L.L. Zamenhof in 1887.

What, you may ask, does any of this have to do with Wanderlust, the terrific Leaf Music collection of folk pieces by flutist Lara Deutsch and guitarist Adam Cicchillitti? I suppose it is that while enjoyably listening to this 2023 recording – which threads together eight disparate pieces representing a multiplicity of musical regions and cultures by way of gorgeous playing, telepathic musical interaction and two expertly cultivated instrumental sounds – I was again reminded that Zamenhof’s quest for a “universal language” had, in fact, already been realized. It’s called music. This aptly named travelogue recording, treats the music of Argentina, Romania, Japan and elsewhere with the equity of aplomb and care it deserves, foregrounding beauty while ensuring that nothing is lost in translation. 

Listen to 'Wanderlust' Now in the Listening Room

My Heart Speaks
Ivan Lins
Resonance Records (resonancerecords.org/product/ivan-lins-my-heart-speaks-cd)

All of the compositions here were written by the esteemed Ivan Lins (who has penned more than 600 tunes in his illustrious 50-year career), and all arrangements are by Kuno Schmid. Lins’ dynamic core ensemble includes Josh Nelson on piano, Leo Amuedo on guitar, Carlitos Del Puerto on bass and Mauricio Zottarelli on drums and percussion, as well as the gorgeous inclusion of the Republic of Georgia’s Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Vakhtang Kakhidze. The recording was produced by Schmid and George Klabin and the stunning CD package itself features compelling liner notes from the eminent author and arts journalist, James Gavin.

The first selection is the sumptuous Renata Maria, which features Lins’ recognizable tenor in a lovely melodic foray, enhanced by lush symphonic string lines, a superb guitar solo by Amuedo and Lins’ palpable sense of joy. Next up is the title track, replete with a luminous Dianne Reeves sailing directly into the listener’s heart, effortlessly wielding her languid and sultry-four octave range. Congada Blues features the core ensemble, and surrounds us with a deep, percussion-enhanced tribal resonance, punctuated by a fine bass solo from Del Puerto. 

Other beauties here include the up-tempo, jazzy cooker Easy Going, the melancholy waltz, Corpos (Bodies) and Missing Miles, which features perhaps the most lush and thrilling symphonic elements on the project, as well as a superb wordless vocal from Lins and a deeply moving, muted solo from trumpeter extraordinaire, Randy Brecker. The final track, Nada Sem Voce (Nothing Without You) returns the music to the essential unit of piano and rhythm section – rendering it all the more emotional and directly communicative.

Poetry is Blood
Keith Garebian
Independent KGCD2301 (kgarebian@gmail.com)

Much in the same way that musical improvisation is sometimes referred to as “liquid composition,” and, conversely, composition as “frozen improvisation,” there exists a simpatico relationship to the best poetry and musical collaborations. Great poetry is indeed musical, and the best musical offerings poetic. 

Although prior to listening to the thoughtful, and thought-provoking, recording Poetry is Blood by Keith Garebian (with musical contributions from the great Ernie Tollar), my reference for successful fusions of poetry and jazz was limited to Jack Kerouac’s October in the Railroad Earth or American Haikus, where the late Beat writer’s prose is accompanied by some combination of Steve Allen, Al Cohn, and Zoot Sims. While admittedly genre non-adjacent to my aforementioned Kerouac reference, Garebian’s 2023 release, supported by a Mississauga Arts Council grant, is an equally compelling offering. Presenting 18 poems taken from some 40 contained within Garebian’s 2018 book of the same name, this recording explores both dark and introspective themes as related to the ongoing Armenian genocide. As such, engaged listeners once again bear witness to the power of art to comment upon, contextualize and humanize tragic events that, in our 24-hour news cycle, may wax and wane in our collective imagination, but are nonetheless important to be reminded of and educated about. 

Read by the author in his fine voice and accompanied by Tollar on both flute and percussion utilizing a call-and-responsive trope of effective musical communication, the recording is not an easy listen, given the sobering magnitude of the subject matter. But for those looking to expand their knowledge of this unfolding world event through deeply personal and effective poetry and creative reflection, this recording comes highly recommended. 

Trying to release more music than fits on a conventional album has been a situation artists have faced since the invention of recorded music. Although advances in technology now offer more space; exposing multiple artists’ ideas and/or exhibiting the scope of a career, call for more than one disc. That’s what these multiple disc sessions offer.

Born in 1942, UK saxophonist Alan Skidmore’s career has encompassed mainstream jazz with big bands and combos; studio work; R&B bands; early fusion; exploratory free music; and contemporary improvisation. Like players such as New York’s Dave Liebman and Toronto’s Pat LaBarbera, John Coltrane’s influence has been Skidmore’s touchstone. A Supreme Love (Confront Core Series Core 33 confrontrecordings.com.bandcamp.com/) shows his adaptation of the style in various settings on six CDs and 46 tracks from 1961 to 2019. If there’s one axiom that’s clear from the discs, it’s that Skidmore does his best work when challenged by other strong personalities, rather than being the focus of attention. Despite notable excursions on soprano saxophone, his most assured playing also a comes as a tenor saxophonist. While there may be a few too many tunes associated with Coltrane here, Skidmore’s are honest interpretations with flashes of originality. His ballad style on song standards can’t be faulted, but a combination of familiar material played with lugubrious sounding usually Continental big bands weighs down the performances. Two one-offs are particularly instructive. During a 1971 jam with Weather Report – keyboardist Joe Zawinul, percussionists Alphonse Mouzon and Dom Um Romao, soprano saxophonist Wayne Shorter and bassist Miroslav Vitous – his building solos help push the others towards unhyphenated pure jazz not the slicker fusion tropes dominated by keyboard tinctures the band helped to create and solidify. Seventeen years later he jammed with Elvin Jones, the drummer in Coltrane’s classic quartet on a simple blues, where he faced off against tenor saxophonist Sonny Fortune of the drummer’s working group. Propelled by Jones’ faultless beat that dovetails into an extended and propulsive solo, Skidmore demonstrates how he could have fit in Trane’s bands. Still, the most distinctive playing is in tracks featuring the all-saxophone free music SOS trio with himself, alto saxophonist Mike Osborne and baritone/soprano saxophonist John Surman; and a brief reprise with just Surman; quintet improv alongside Canadian trumpeter Kenny Wheeler in 1969 and 1980; plus fruitful individual meetings with fellow tenor saxophonist Paul Dunmall or drummer Tony Levin. Harmonized, 1974’s Country Dance by SOS shows how reed blending creates sounds both Arcadian and avant. The 1991 Skidmore-Surman three-track reunion is more coordinated, faster-paced bluesier and jazzier. The Wheeler tracks were the height of modernity in 1969 with the trumpeter more ebullient than remembered, a fiery rhythm section and the saxophonist negotiating the evolution from emotional hard bop to the ping-ponging textures of free jazz. By 1980, playing his own Just Once with a more intense rhythm team, Skidmore pushes himself further outside with bent notes and smears as Wheeler squeaks out positioned triplets, although exploratory sounds are embedded within linear evolution. Oxford Road #13 with Levin and Skidmore both initially playing percussion instruments, until Skidmore trills and snorts out the extended exposition on sax, confirms that in 1977 he was still exploring new sounds and methods. Dunmall, slightly younger than Skidmore, but whose style comes out of Coltrane as well, is emboldened by the backing of long-time associates Levin and bassist Paul Rogers on 1985’s Modal Tonic. The friendly battle includes a roistering drum detonation, features enough ferocious reed bites, wide cadenzas and soaring squeaks to satisfy any Postmodern sax fancier and climaxes with a distinctive a cappella face off with each saxist vying to outdo the other in invention. Leapfrog to 2019 and another rhythm section backs Skidmore, tenor saxophonists Ed Jones, Howard Cottle, other Trane interpreters during more than 30 minutes of intense deconstruction of two Coltrane classics. Energetic, with pianist Steve Melling’s dynamic note clipping spurring them on, dynamic motions define each player’s soloing until all reach the heights of near sonic ecstasy while maintaining the tunes’ thematic nubs. 

Taking place over three days in Kraków rather than multiple decades, The Small Group Formations (NotTwo MW 1027-2 Nottwo.com) is a slightly misnamed six-CD set celebrating the 50th anniversary of bassist Barry Guy’s London Jazz Composers Orchestra (LJCO).  Consisting of 17 musicians from Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Norway, France and the UK, the first four discs showcase the dazzling and intricate styles of individual LJCO members in formations ranging from duos to sextets, while the final discs are full-band performances of Guy’s compositions, Flow I and Flow II and Harmos–Kraków. Especially on the latter piece, singular reflections such as Swiss percussionist Lucas Niggli’s brace of noise makers couple with linear ruffs; German Konrad Bauer’s and Brit Alan Tomlinson’s bouncing flutters and portamento blasts; Spanish pianist Agustí Fernández’s sly comping; and UK tenor saxophonist Simon Picard’s linear routes contrasted with Swiss alto saxophonist Jürg Wickihalder’s more delicate options are expressed in solo breaks that are brief but more orchestrally integrated than in the smaller formation. Harmos–Kraków is arranged with a symphonic flair, linking the leitmotifs of the initial theme statement which appear through to compositional evolution and a restatement at the climax. Plus the additional players mean that the program includes as many passages of polyphonic connective swing as miasmatic fragmentation and exuberance. Interludes include heraldic fanfares from the six-member brass section and screaming and sway group section work from the five-person reed section. There’s slightly less intensity on the two Flow variations. But that’s before the entire group is involved in dynamic interpretations including a reed overlay of honks and smears, shuddering brass triplets and slick piano glissandi, the piece begins as a face-off between Guy’s moderated, but rugged double bass thumps and slaps and stunning string bending from violinist Phil Wachsmann involving whiny spiccato runs, pizzicato plucks and picking and a brief hoedown pivot. Overall, the set provides a complete LJCO sound picture in micro and macro forms.

Similar instrumental virtuosity, but expressed in a minimalist fashion, is what distinguishes next generation improvisers from those of the LJCO as the three-CD set Live at Plus-Etage Volume 1 (New Wave of Jazz nwoj 0060 newwaveofjazz.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-plusetage-volume-1) demonstrates. The duos of trumpeter/flugelhornist Charlotte Keeffe and drummer Andrew Lisle from the UK; double bassists Martina Verhoeven from Belgum and Portuguese Gonçalo Almeida; and the trio of Belgian guitarist Dirk Serries, UK violist Benedict Taylor and German saxophonist Stefan Keune show that collaborating improvisers are as international as always and with one CD for each configuration, all have space to display what they can do. Except for an unaccompanied interlude of cymbal vibrations and drum rumbles during the second and concluding set Lisle mostly limits himself to claves-like resonations, bass drum plops and rim shots accents. That way the figurative spotlight shines on Keeffe’s brass prestidigitation. Emphasizing non-valve movement breaths, broken-chord smears, aviary-like peeps, throaty squalls and tremolo brassiness her spikey asides don’t preclude portamento affiliation however. As much as her tongue jujutsu, swerves and swallows exposing usually unexplored inner portions of her horn’s lead pipe for unexpected tone variations each time sections are repeated, passages of near-lyrical melodies and feathery brassiness are also heard. Vaguely related to the William Tell Overture, a riff that gallops through her improvised variations during the first set is sounded again before the concert is completed adding a connective leitmotif. Contrasting arco and pizzicato techniques characterize the Verhoeven/Almeida single track as they constantly switch roles with buzzing spiccato tones from whistling screams to woody rubs met with repeated strums and lowing stops that sometimes approximate a washtub bass’ single-string thud. More sophisticated than that primitivism, the sequences include interludes of ratcheting slices, string pops, vibration of implements placed among the strings, and heightened pressure that suggests the bow is cutting through the instrument’s wood finish. During the penultimate section bell shakes and ratcheting whirs add novel patterns as stropped strings expose the highest pitches and col legno pops the lowest. Eventually billowing arco strokes are heard from both, which gradually fade from staccato to connective. Interestingly enough, the two improvisations from three players seem most separated. The transformative program includes multiple instances of almost complete silence, while, except near the conclusion where Serries unleashes a string of mandolin-like twangs, the guitarist restricts himself to connective comping. Emphasis is on how Keune’s often singular irregularly vibrated split tones and narrowed peeps meet Taylor’s equally jagged bow slices, stops and sul tasto pressure. Although the two confront one another head on at intervals, fury among the calm is commonly given over to sequential timbral elaboration. Emphasizing melodic and rhythmic ambiguity, alternating expressions include the saxophonist’s dexterous bubbling trills, tongue stops and vibrated tone scoops, while the violist’s strained glissandi and squeaky rests are as distinctive as they are numerous. Preceding and expanding on the guitarist’s one showcase, linear advancement is emphasized in a climatic motif as pointed string scrubs, reed whorls and finger-style guitar chords are patched together. 

Sometimes exemplary creativity must be expressed in larger than usual forms and these multiple sets prove that truism.

Tchaikovsky – Eugene Onegin (Glyndebourne)
Soloists; London Philharmonic Orchestra; Andrew Davis
Opus Arte OA1374D (naxos.com/Search/KeywordSearchResults/?q=OA1374D)

Glyndebourne, England’s private opera house is close to 90 years old, supported entirely by private donations. It was established in 1934 by John Christie on the principle “Not just the best we can do, but the best that can be done anywhere!” and ever since it has been a great honour for any artist to be invited as a guest of the Christie family. In 1994, they built a state-of-the-art opera theatre, and this archive production is from the very first season in 1994.

Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece, this most beautiful of Russian operas, is based on Pushkin’s epic poem which is a morality tale. Tatjana’s innocent love is rejected by a bored, high-handed Onegin but later he regrets it bitterly. Now desperately in love himself he is rejected by Tatjana who in the meantime has become rich and married into high society. During the opera Onegin because of a foolish, jealous quarrel even kills his best friend in a duel that he regrets all his life. Tatjana’s rejection is the ultimate tragedy for him. Sad story.

The director, the late Sir Graham Vick rightly concentrates on two key scenes, the two rejections and emphasizes the alienation between Onegin and Tatjana. The stage is empty except for two chairs diagonally opposite at either end, as if they don’t even want to listen to each other and hear the pronounced rejection.

Woytech Drabowitz, a mellifluous baritone is an elegant Onegin; his friend Lensky is Martin Thompson, a passionate tenor, whose famous aria before the duel is movingly sung. The crucial Letter Scene is sung passionately by Elena Prokina (Tatjana) and basso profundo Frode Olson as Prince Gremlin, who sings proudly to Onegin about how much he loves Tatjana in another highlight. All these are interspersed with the dances Tchaikovsky is so famous for, the lovely Waltz and the Mazurka in the second act and the gorgeous Polonaise in the finale. 

The London Philharmonic in the orchestra pit is conducted sensitively by Toronto’s beloved Sir Andrew Davis.

Elgar & Lalo Cello Concertos
Ofra Harnoy
Sony Classical 19658824342 (ofraharnoy.ca)

There’s a fascinating story behind the release of Ofra Harnoy Elgar & Lalo Cello Concertos. When Harnoy joined the international artists roster of RCA Victor Red Seal in 1987, she became the first Canadian classical instrumental soloist since Glenn Gould to gain an exclusive worldwide contract with a major record label. The Elgar was recorded with George Pehlivanian and the London Philharmonic Orchestra in April 1996 at the Abbey Road studios, but was never edited and released, apparently due to the ending of Harnoy’s association with RCA/BMG, now part of Sony Classical. 

After repeated enquiries and searches over the years the master tapes were finally located in 2022. Fortunately, notes from the sessions survived, and the original producer, Andrew Keener, was available to advise Harnoy’s husband and manager Mike Herriott, who edited the tapes in their own home studio. Ron Searles of Red Maple Sound in Toronto mastered the final edit, as well as remastering the Lalo Concerto in D Minor, a reissue of the 1995 recording with Antonio de Almeida and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

In an interview just after the recording sessions Harnoy said that the Elgar “is one of those pieces that just wrings me dry; I always end up crying.” It’s a truly beautiful performance, emotionally searching and full of warmth. There is also a direct link to Jacqueline du Pré, with whom the concerto is inextricably associated, through mutual teacher William Pleeth as well as Harnoy’s participation in a du Pré masterclass. 

Lalo’s Concerto in D Minor was recorded at the Poole Arts Centre in Dorset in May of the previous year. It’s a fine addition to a significant release.

With the July release of her new CD Eugène Ysaÿe Six Sonatas for Violin Solo Op.27 violinist Hilary Hahn celebrates the centenary of these remarkable and challenging works, each dedicated to a younger contemporary of the aging Belgian composer (Deutsche Grammophon 00028948641765 store.deutschegrammophon.com/p51-i0028948641765/hilary-hahn/eugene-ysa-e-six-sonatas-for-violin-solo-op-27/index.html).

The impetus for their composition was Ysaÿe’s experiencing a performance of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas by the young Joseph Szigeti in 1923. Like the Bach cycle, the Ysaÿe set starts with a G-Minor work and ends with one in E Major. Szigeti is the dedicatee of the first; Jacques Thibaud, George Enescu, Fritz Kreisler, Mathieu Crickboom and Manuel Quiroga are the other five.

Hahn spent seven years studying at the Curtis Institute with Jascha Brodsky, the last living student of Ysaÿe, so has a direct link with these sonatas. As always, her playing is remarkably strong and quite brilliant, anchored by flawless technique and a profound musicality.  

The reasoning behind the digital-only release from Leaf Music featuring Orchestre Symphonique Laval principal violist Fédéric Lambert and Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal principal double bassist Ali Kian Yazdanfar is that Iridescence – the variability in an object’s colour when you change the viewing angle – here refers to our viewing the two instruments from a different perspective (LM268 leaf-music.ca).

The duet works are Evan Chambers’ 1997 The Fisherstreet Duo, Efraín Oscher’s 2008 Escenas del Sur and the 2000 three-movement Duo for Viola and Double Bass by the Welsh composer Gareth Wood.

Each player has a solo piece, completely different in style and effect. Lambert’s is the quiet, contemplative in manus tuas, a 2009 work by Caroline Shaw based on a Thomas Tallis motet and originally written for solo cello, but Yazdanfar steals the show with the dazzling Thème Varié pour Contrebasse solo, a 1976 composition by Jean Françaix with variations built on trills, sixteenth notes, double stops, pizzicato and harmonics.

Listen to 'Iridescence' Now in the Listening Room

I’m not sure exactly what the reasoning was behind the selection of works on Mythes, the latest CD from violinist James Ehnes and his regular pianist partner Andrew Armstrong, but there’s no doubting the quality of the recital of two major works and a series of encore pieces (ONYX4234 onyxclassics.com/release/james-ehnes-andrew-armstrong-mythes).

When Szymanowski wrote his Mythes Op.30 in 1915 he felt that he and the violinist Pavel Kochanski were developing a new mode of expression for the instrument. Certainly the three sensuous pieces are full of brilliantly coloured and nuanced violin effects, all superbly captured by Ehnes.

The original keyboard part for Handel’s Sonata in D Major HWV371 exists only as a figured bass line, with Armstrong here using a version that the duo has essentially adapted from various performing editions. A varied selection of seven encores completes the CD: Kreisler’s arrangements of a Tchaikovsky Chant sans paroles and Grainger’s Molly on the Shore; Heifetz’s arrangements of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee and Ponce’s Estrellita; James Newton Howard’s brief 133...At Least; Josef Suk’s Burleska; and the Sicilienne attributed to Maria Theresa von Paradis.

When pianist Kit Armstrong and violinist Renaud Capuçon played all 16 of the mature Mozart violin sonatas at the Mozart Week festival in Salzburg in 2016 Capuçon says that they “knew at once that we wanted to record them.” The result is the outstanding four CD box set of Mozart: Sonatas for Piano & Violin, works that mark Mozart’s development of the genre from keyboard sonatas with violin accompaniment to the fully fledged violin sonatas of the nineteenth century. The 12 Variations in G Major on “La bergère Célimène K359 and the 6 Variations in G Minor on “Hélas! j’ai perdu mon amant” K360 complete disc two (Deutsche Grammophon 486 4463 deutschegrammophon.com/en/catalogue/products/mozart-sonatas-for-piano-violin-capucon-armstrong-12981).

Armstrong’s booklet note perfectly describes their approach and the result: “However, we did not historicize in our playing: on the contrary, it was particularly rewarding to see beauties brought forth by later techniques blossom in Mozart’s music. When I hear Renaud render Mozart’s lyrical flights with all the sumptuousness and refinement that modern violin playing can have, I am convinced: it is beautiful, and that is what matters.”  

Bach’s sonatas for violin and piano, predating Mozart’s by some 60 years, are essentially extensions of the Baroque trio sonata. Probably dating from 1720-23 during his time at Cöthen, they were reworked in later years but never published in his lifetime. Several contemporary manuscripts exist, but no autograph copy. They are presented on a 2CD set by violinist Ambroise Aubrun with Mireille Podeur on harpsichord on J.S. BACH Sei suonate a Cembalo certato e Violino solo (Six Sonatas for Obbligato Harpsichord and Violin BWV1014-1019) (Hortus 228-229 editionshortus.com).

The idiomatic performances are delicate and refined, perhaps a bit lacking in warmth. An excellent booklet essay by Podeur with some fascinating technical insight adds to a top-notch release.

On Spanish Light the violinist Franscisco Fullana returns to his Andalusian roots in an outstanding recital with the Spanish pianist Alba Ventura (Orchid Classics ORC100250 orchidclassics.com).

Turina’s Violin Sonata No.2 Op.82, Sonata española from 1934 incorporates Andalusian and gypsy melodies in a work that also shows the influence of Turina’s studies in Paris. Sarasate’s Romanza andaluza is from the second volume of Spanish Dances Op.22, while his Zigeunerweisen Op.20, originally for violin and orchestra is heard in the piano arrangement made by the composer and recorded by him with one of the three Catalan composers featured here, Joan Manén (1883-1971) in 1904.

Written for Jacques Thibaud, the single movement Granados Violin Sonata H.127 is a real gem; of uncertain date, it wasn’t published until 1971. The two movements IV Oració al Maig and VI La font are from the Seis sonetos of 1921-22 by Eduardo Toldrà (1895-1962). The Manén piece is his terrific Caprice catalán No.3 Op.23.

The traditional Catalan Christmas song El cant dels ocells (Song of the Birds) adapted by Fullana from the Pablo Casals cello arrangement, ends a superb disc.

If you like putting on a CD and just relaxing to a stream of beautifully played popular melodies then you should love Estrellita, the new album of “a selection of encores:  small but sparkling gems of the repertoire” from Korean cellist Hee-Young Lim and Chinese pianist Chuhui Liang (Orchid Classics ORC100227 orchidclassics.com).

Sandwiched between Saint-Saëns’ The Swan and Schubert’s Ave Maria are two pieces by Ravel, including the Pavane pour une infante défunte, two by Tchaikovsky, including the Souvenir d’un lieu cher, Godard’s Berceuse from Jocelyn, Amy Beach’s Romance, Rubinstein’s Melodie, the Ponce title track and pieces by Liszt, Debussy, Brahms and Ysaÿe. The Liszt, Brahms and Beach arrangements are by the cellist. BBC Music Magazine noted the warmth and expressiveness of her tone, “which is of truly rare beauty.” Indeed it is, across the full range of the instrument.

Butterfly Lovers, the popular violin concerto at the heart of the new CD from Joshua Bell with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra under Tsung Yeh (Sony Classical 19658810972 joshuabell.com) was written in 1959 by Chen Gang and He Zhanhao, two students at the Shanghai Conservatory. Despite its use of Chinese folk melodies and pentatonic scales it was scored for a standard late-Romantic symphony orchestra, presumably to widen its appeal beyond China’s borders.

Here, though, it’s performed in a rarely heard arrangement by Yan Huichang and Ku Lap-Man for an orchestra of traditional Chinese instruments, the only Western exceptions being cellos, double basses, harp and some of the percussion section. Described as being more of a rediscovery than a mere reorchestration, it’s a remarkable listening and musical experience, making you wish – unrealistically, it must be said – that this could be the standard performing edition.

Bell and Yeh don’t stop there, however, presenting the three other works on the disc in arrangements for the same orchestra. Massenet’s Méditation from Thaïs doesn’t sound a whole lot different, but the Saint-Saëns Introduction et rondo capriccioso in A Minor Op.28 and Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen Op.20 certainly display a quite different and fascinating tonal palette. Bell’s beautifully subtle phrasing seems to mirror the Oriental nature of the soundscape.

Although it was released in January the CD Woven Lights, featuring the Violin Concerto and the Chaconne for electric violin (five strings) and electronics by Italian composer Vito Palumbo (b.1972) only recently came to my attention (BIS-2625 bis.se).

The 2015 Violin Concerto was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in September 2016 with soloist Francesco D’Orazio and the London Symphony Orchestra under Lee Reynolds. It’s a quite fascinating work, albeit difficult to describe; in the booklet notes the description is “a work of bittersweet lyricism,” the composer himself noting the echoes of Alban Berg, especially towards the end of the piece.

D’Orazio recorded the two-part Chaconne of 2019-20 in Italy in January 2021 and it is much more difficult to assess objectively. Francesco Abbrescia realizes the sampled sounds and electronics in I. Woven Lights, where the chaconne principle of variation in the opening section gradually transforms into a dialogue with initially sparse electronics that become thicker and denser, while II. The Glows in the Dark is for electric violin and 30 pre-recorded electronic violin parts, pre-recorded by the same performer. 

Listen to 'Woven Lights' Now in the Listening Room

The Danish String Quartet completes a journey of almost eight years with PRISM V – Beethoven Webern Bach, the final volume in a series where connections are drawn from a Bach fugue through one of the five late Beethoven quartets to a quartet by a later master – “a beam of music split through Beethoven’s prism” (ECM New Series 2565 485 8469 ecmrecords.com).

Beethoven drew many melodic motifs from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier for his late quartets. The opening track here is the Chorale prelude Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit BWV668. The Beethoven is the String Quartet No.16 in F Major Op.135, and the later master is the young Anton Webern, whose richly chromatic 1905 String Quartet, written while he was studying with Arnold Schoenberg quotes the Op.135 and also shows the influence of Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht.

Bach’s unfinished Contrapunctus XIV from The Art of Fugue brings a superb series to a somehow perfectly appropriate conclusion. “We have worked hard on these pieces for almost a decade,” say the quartet members, “and we have done our best.” 

Their best is simply as good as you could wish to hear.

Two complementary and contemporaneous works are presented on Dvořák String Quartet Op.106, Coleridge-Taylor Fantasiestücke in beautiful performances by the Takács Quartet (Hyperion CDA6813 hyperion-records.co.uk/r.asp).

Coleridge-Taylor made three trips to the United States, and his use of indigenous American melodies shows an affinity with Dvořák, who was a major influence. His 5 Fantasiestücke Op.5 though, is a competent and pleasant early work, written when he was a student at the Royal College of Music in London.

The Dvořák String Quartet No.13 in G Major Op.106 was the first composition written after his return from America in 1895 and reflects his happiness at being home again. Completing the CD is Dvořák’s Andante appassionato B40a from 1873, the original slow movement from an early A-Minor quartet listed as Op.12 and discarded when the composer revised the work. 

As always, there’s faultless, gorgeous playing from this superb ensemble.

On Earthdrawn Skies the Aizuri Quartet explores deep connections between humans and the natural world with music that “draws from the earth as it reaches upward and outward” (Azica ACD-71359 azica.com).

Hildegard von Bingen’s chant Columba aspexit is heard in Alex Fortes’ commissioned arrangement which cleverly builds through a series of solos, duets and trios to a full-group unison.

The String Quartet No.1 by the British-Jamaican composer Eleanor Alberga is described as an exploration of the cosmos, launching us into space with jagged rhythms and melodies, contemplating the star-filled sky and energetically returning to earth. 

The Armenian composer and ethnomusicologist Komitas Vardapet is represented by Sergei Aslamazian’s arrangement of five Armenian Folk Songs, and an excellent CD ends with the Sibelius String Quartet in D Minor Op.56, Voces Intimae, written in self-imposed isolation in Aiola while he tried to overcome the alcoholism that plagued him in Helsinki and reconnect with his natural surroundings.

Guitarist Emma Rush grew up in Hamilton, Ontario and had a family connection to the Canadian Impressionist painter William Blair Bruce, whose paintings she saw in the homes of her grandparents and aunts. In 2020 she commissioned seven new Canadian compositions inspired by Bruce’s paintings, and her new CD A Dream of Colour – Music inspired by the paintings of William Blair Bruce is the result (emma-rush.com).

The subject paintings are beautifully reproduced in colour in the CD booklet, accompanied by a brief note by the composers – Christine Donkin, Amy Brandon, Dale Kavanagh, Craig Visser (a striking piece for guitar and tape), christina volpini, Daniel Medizadeh and Jeffrey McFadden.

Rush is an outstanding player, and her beautifully clean, sensitive and nuanced interpretations of exquisite additions to the contemporary Canadian guitar repertoire, beautifully recorded and presented, make for a terrific disc.

El último aliento (The last breath), the new CD from the Hungarian guitarist Zsófia Boros features music from Argentina and the compositions of the contemporary French composer Mathias Duplessy (ECM New Series 2769 485 8302 ecmrecords.com).

There are six pieces by Duplessy: De rêve et de pluie, Le secret d’Hiroshigé, Le labyrinthe de Vermeer, Berceuse, Valse pour Camille and Perle de Rosée.  All display Duplessy’s distinctive Romanticism, a mix of traditional tonality with contemporary forms and structure.

Four Argentinian composers are featured, with Quique Sinesi’s El abrazo and Tormenta de ilusión of particular interest: for the former, Boros stretches a rubber band over the fretboard to mute the sound, and for the latter switches from guitar to ronroco, an instrument from the Andean region with ten strings in five double-courses.

Joaquin Alem’s Salir adentro, Ginastera’s Milonga and the title track by the Buenos Aires composer and guitarist Carlos Moscardini complete a CD of quiet, atmospheric music, all played with warmth, sensitivity and admirable technique.

We usually encounter guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan with his New Lullaby Project CDs, but his tenth solo album, Spanish Candy reflects his work with the Spanish classical music and flamenco dance ensemble ¡Con Fuego!, which reimagines Spanish classical compositions with flamenco techniques and flavours while also adding flamenco works to the standard repertoire (Tiger Turn 888-10 alcguitar.com).

There are three pieces by Albéniz here – Zambra Granadina and Larget-Caplan’s own arrangements of Sevilla and Granada – Five Pieces by Tárrega, including Recuerdos de la Alhambra, the flamenco solo Mantilla de Feria by Esteban de Sanlúcar, and Larget-Caplan’s arrangement of Pascual Marquina’s España Cañi.

Larget-Caplan’s aim to “juxtapose the fiery passions of flamenco with the subtle colors and harmonic riches of classical music” results in an entertaining – if somewhat brief at 33 minutes – CD.

Art Choral Vol. 4 – Classique
Ensemble ArtChoral; Matthias Maute; Ilya Poletaev
ATMA ACD2 2423 (atmaclassique.com/en)

Some choirs and their musical projects have clearly defined areas of focus. Others, such as Ensemble ArtChoral, directed by Matthias Maute, think bigger: the ArtChoral series is a unique and ambitious three-year, 11-volume project surveying the history of choral singing over six centuries, from the Renaissance to the present day. Classique, the fourth release in the series, focuses on the Classical era and contains music by Gasparini, Bierey, Haydn and Mozart, accompanied by fortepianist Ilya Poletaev. 

Much of the music on this disc was composed for liturgical use, including Johann Michael Haydn’s Agnus Dei, Bierey’s Kyrie (which is based on the first movement of Beethoven’s “Moonlight” piano sonata) and Mozart’s ubiquitous Ave Verum Corpus, as well as a set of fascinating vocal trios and quartets by Franz Joseph Haydn. This thoughtful programming provides a convincing overview of the era’s styles and sounds through smaller forms, at a time when much of the choral music being composed was large scale, such as the masses and oratorios of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.

Ensemble ArtChoral is in fine form throughout, and their skillful approach to this music is apparent from the first notes. Using the fortepiano as the sole source of accompaniment is a thought-provoking choice, with its unique timbre and relatively inflexible dynamic range leading to an increased attention toward expressive boundaries; the listener must reorient themselves to understand that, while they are still hearing the juxtaposition of fortes and pianos, the extremes are less pronounced than might be expected from performances with modern instruments.

It is a monumental task to summarize six centuries of anything, let alone such a vast expanse of composers and their music; Ensemble ArtChoral continues to prove that they are up to the challenge with Classique.

Listen to 'Art Choral Vol. 4 – Classique' Now in the Listening Room