Poulenc – La Voix Humaine
Felicity Lott; Graham Johnson
Champs Hill Records CHRBR045

La Voix Humaine, the third and last opera written by Francis Poulenc, is based on the play by Jean Cocteau and well known as the solitary “tour-de-force” for any soprano gifted with an acting ability. The piece is a bit of a curiosity, as Poulenc apparently detested all “mechanical” forms of communication, preferring face-to-face encounters. The lonely voice of a woman, whose lover’s cruel comments we can only imagine, is a surprisingly relevant tale now, in the age of text-message and Facebook breakups. The inherent inability (as Cocteau insisted) of two human beings to fully communicate causes the piece to be touching, irritating and sorrowful in parts.

The novelty of this recording is that it eschews the traditional Poulenc orchestration in favour of solo piano accompaniment. It is the first time (since Poulenc’s own performances, accompanying Denise Duval over 50 years ago) that permission has been given for La Voix Humaine to be recorded with piano accompaniment. Rosine Seringe, the composer’s niece, has granted a special dispensation to Felicity Lott and Graham Johnson — as a token of decades of special friendship between the artists and the Poulenc Estate — for this work to be produced (according to Champs Hill Records).

Does it change the work significantly? I would insist that yes, it is a different La Voix Humaine — a lonelier, sadder, but by no means less satisfying experience.

SounZSCApes: From Our Lands
Toronto Children’s Chorus; Elise Bradley
Marquis MAR 439

Following in the footsteps of Jean Ashworth Bartle (who founded the Toronto Children’s Chorus and shaped its sound for 29 years), Elise Bradley emigrated from New Zealand in 2007 to take the helm. This recording honours her journey with a collection of songs from both New Zealand and Canada, including Maori chants alongside compositions celebrating the traditions of Canadian First Nations peoples. Other Canadian favourites such as Song of the Mira and songs by Eleanor Daley and Srul Irving Glick, are paired with New Zealander Dorothy Buchanan’s Peace Song as well as many other compositions, sacred and secular, from both countries.

One continues to be struck by the disciplined care that goes into shaping the sound of young voices in this choir as well as the juxtaposition of seasoned musicians recruited to accompany, teaching excellent musicality to the choristers by example. In this recording the children perform with (amongst others) organist Christopher Dawes, TSO principal oboe Sarah Jeffrey and clarinettist Joaquin Valdepeñas. Elise Bradley hopes to share this music by taking the choir to her native country in the near future; I’m sure they will enjoy the partnership (and the chorus) just as much as we do here.

Zimmermann – Die Soldaten
Laura Akin; Gabriela Beňačková;
Renée Morloc; Daniel Brenna;
Tomasz Konieczny; Alfred Muff;
Wiener Philharmoniker; Ingo Metzmacher
EuroArts 2072588

Salzburg’s Felsenreitschule, a 17th-century riding school carved into a cliff, makes a brilliant setting for this must-see production of Bernd Alois Zimmerman’s landmark opera. It was filmed at the 2012 Salzburg Festival, where director Alvis Hermanis staged the non-stop action in front of a series of archways, with live horses parading around behind.

Die Soldaten (The Soldiers) tells a bleak, violent story. But Hermanis avoids sensationalizing it, and instead takes a poetic approach. So at key moments, like the pivotal rape scene, his dramatic use of the bales of hay that are strewn around the stage makes the impact all the more powerful.

The cast is stellar. But it’s Laura Aikin’s tour-de-force performance as Marie that ultimately grabs attention. It’s not just her fearless delivery of the treacherously jagged vocal lines. Her characterization of a naive young lady who is just trying to get ahead is utterly convincing, even when, at the end, she is so brutalized by the soldiers that her own father doesn’t recognize her. Right from the explosive opening chords, the Vienna Philharmonic under Ingo Metzmacher projects the vivid colours and textures that make this opera, now 50 years old, sound thoroughly contemporary.

Unfortunately there are no views into the huge orchestra, while the stage is too often filmed in close-up. When Marie walks across a tightrope suspended high above the stage, it is filmed so closely that it’s evident she’s an acrobatic double dressed as Marie, undermining the potent image of Marie balanced precariously on a high-wire.

La Voce del Violoncello: Solo Works of
the First Italian Cellist-Composers
Elinor Frey; Esteban la Rotta; Susie Napper
Passacaille 993
passacaille.be

The program of this very welcome new disc spotlights the earliest solo repertoire for the violoncello, dating from the mid-1600s to the first half of the 18th century in Italy, showcasing music by Colombi, Vitali, Galli, Ruvo, Domenico Gabrielli, Dall’Abaco and Supriani. Not household names to be sure, but they all wrote some great music for the cello — and in Elinor Frey, they have an advocate of the first order.

As one might expect from a recording of early Baroque music, many shorter pieces are featured here: ricercars, toccatas, capriccios, short sonatas and a few pieces on dance basses. Most are unaccompanied, with a few accompanied in tasteful fashion by theorbo or guitar by Esteban La Rotta, or by the continuo team of La Rotta and cellist Susie Napper.

The variety of this well-paced program makes for intriguing listening, as does the use of various historical tunings and pitches — what a palette of colours! Vitali’s lovely Bergamasca and Passa galli, Giulio de Ruvo’s diminutive Romanelle and Tarantelli, Dall’Abaco’s sonatas and Colombi’s Ciaccona were my personal favourites the first time around, but as I revisit this CD I’m sure that every piece will get its turn in the limelight. What a pleasure. Frey’s playing is adroit, expressive and engaging; and she also appears to have the happy ability to marry her own voice to those of the composers, rather than getting in their way.

Bach – Reconstructions and
Transcriptions for Strings
Furor Musicus; Antoinette Lohmann
Edition Lilac 110910-2
editionlilac.com

When I first learned of this disc, I had it in my mind that it was no more than a compilation of Bach arrangements along the lines of those overly lush and romantic versions as orchestrated by Leopold Stokowski c.1958. On the contrary, nothing could be further from the truth on this Edition Lilac label CD titled Reconstructions and Transcriptions for Strings with music by the Leipzig cantor stylishly presented by Furor Musicus under the direction of Antoinette Lohmann.

Formed by Lohmann in 2008, Furor Musicus comprises a group of Dutch musicians who have all played together in various other ensembles over the years and who wished to continue to perform music from the Baroque period. This is a delightful disc featuring four works, the Orchestral Suite No. 2 BWV1067, a short fugue, the Concerto BWV1053 and seven movements from the famous Goldberg Variations, all the pieces in the form of reconstructions or transcriptions that could have existed for strings.

Lohmann points out that the suite — most often heard performed by flute and strings — was probably based on an earlier work written a whole tone lower and conceived for strings alone. With all due respect to flutists, this interpretation is utterly convincing, the ensemble achieving a wonderful sense of poise and transparency. On the other hand, the concerto is most often heard performed by keyboard, although Bach’s original intentions remain unclear. Nevertheless, Lohmann’s skilful and elegant performance on the viola in the solo part seems very natural, and that Bach was a violist himself makes for a convincing argument that he may well have intended this concerto for his own use. The two remaining pieces — the short Fugue BWV539 and seven movements from the Goldberg Variations— are both transcriptions, and once again demonstrate a keen affinity for the music and further proof that under Lohmann’s careful direction a baroque string ensemble is a viable means of enjoying this well-known fare.

Carnaval – Robert Schumann’s Carnaval and Kinderszenen
Canadian Brass
Opening Day ODR 7438
openingday.com

The Canadian Brass has their work cut out for them in this recording of brass adaptations of Robert Schumann’s piano compositions Carnaval, Op.9 and Kinderszenen, Op.15.

Both works are mainstays of the piano repertoire, being musically and technically daunting, humbling and gratifying to perform. In these versions by Brass members Chris Colleti and Brandon Ridenour, the same challenges are remarkably conquered.I am familiar with the original piano compositions so I do miss the subtlety of colour and sentiment in both the fast contrapuntal lines and slower melodic sections that the pianist achieves. However, the performances on brass instruments add new elements of expression.

The brass choir sound such as in the opening “Preambule” of Carnaval works extremely well. The technical brilliance of the ensemble is proven again in the speedy Intermezzo: Paganini. Surprisingly, the most “piano specific” movements work the best. In Chopin, the pianistic arpeggio-like lines are transformed into a steady backdrop against the soaring melody. “Traumerei” from Kinderszenen transforms into a brass anthem of contrasting instrumental phrases. Also fun is to hear the low instruments in “Fast zu Ernst” and in the closing cadence of final track “Der Dichter spricht.” I only wish there was more sense of spontaneity and abandon in the performances.

No surprise in the excellent sound quality achieved by recording in Toronto’s Christ Church Deer Park. This is a worthy venue to record in. And this is a worthy recording to listen to.

Piano Titans
Anagnoson & Kinton
Opening Day ODR 7432
openingday.com

Has it really been almost 40 years that the Toronto-based pianists James Anagnoson and Leslie Kinton have delighted audiences with their exemplary keyboard skills? The two pianists met as students while at the Aspen Music Festival. Nine discs and more than 1,000 performances later, they’re recognized as one of the world’s foremost piano duos and this latest CD, titled Piano Titans with music by Clementi, Beethoven and Schubert, is a testament to their ongoing success.

To be honest, the title may be a bit of a misnomer. While Anagnoson & Kinton could rightly be regarded as piano titans, (as could Beethoven and Schubert), most of the music on this CD — apart from the great Schubert Fantasie — wouldn’t be regarded as “titanic.” Instead, it comprises small musical gems, as pleasing to listen to as they are to perform.

The disc opens with two short piano sonatas by Clementi, famous during his lifetime as a pianist, composer and piano manufacturer. Nowadays Clementi’s works are performed more by students than by professionals, but his music is not without its charm, and the duo does it justice, exhibiting a particular precision and elegance of phrase. Three Marches Op.45 by Beethoven follow, scored for four hands at one piano. Complete with musical depictions of treading feet and drum-roll effects, these pieces are great fun, undoubtedly conceived for performance in amateur Viennese drawing rooms.

Anagnoson & Kinton save the best for last in a compelling performance of the great Schubert Fantasie in F Minor D940. Written for one piano, four hands, the piece is now regarded as one of the finest piano duet compositions in the repertoire. Here the two are in perfect sync, easily capturing the dramatic intensity of the music through a strong and assured performance, thus rounding off the CD in a most satisfying way.

Well done, gentlemen. May you continue to face each other across the expanse of two grand pianos for many years to come!

Fauré – Piano Music
Angela Hewitt
Hyperion CDA67875

In her informative liner notes, pianist Angela Hewitt writes in her commentary about Gabriel Fauré’s Nocturne No.5 in B-Flat Major, Op.37 that “there is a grace combined with a contained strength behind every note.” This description can also be used to describe Hewitt’s powerhouse performances here.

Thème et variations, Op.73 opens with a march-like statement reminiscent of Hewitt’s Bach performances. The abrupt changes in dynamics from loud to soft are executed perfectly by Hewitt, with heartfelt beauty and an inherent sense of romantic melodic line. Each variation is flowing, clear and spontaneous. After variation 10, Allegro vivo’s dramatic ending, it is Hewitt’s intelligent and emotional interpretation of the more sparse variation 11, Andante molto, moderato espressivo that foreshadows more moving performances of the following two sparkling Valse-caprices and three dreamy Nocturnes. The slightly chromatic nature of the opening melody combined with the darkness of the harmonies of the above-mentioned technically demanding Nocturne No.5 leads to a carefully crafted work of wide-ranging moods. The Ballade pour piano seul, Op.19 is the earliest piece featured. Hewitt’s sense of cadence resolution and manipulation of tempo supports well-defined and tonally colourful melodies and trilling ornamentation.

Hewitt writes that she was first introduced to and learned Fauré’s Ballade as a 15-year-old student. Her decades-long dedication to his work is apparent here. This is not salon music — it is substantial piano repertoire performed unforgettably by a passionate and brilliant pianist.

The terrific Matt Haimovitz is back with another fascinating CD, this time featuring the Cello Concerto No.2 “Naqoyqatsi” by Philip Glass (Orange Mountain Music OMM 0087). Long-time Glass champion Dennis Russell Davies provides excellent support with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

The bulk of the music dates from the 2002 score Glass wrote for Naqoyqatsi: Life as War, the third film in a Godfrey Reggio trilogy that featured only music and images. The prominent solo cello part was played by Yo-Yo Ma. When Glass became a creative director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in the 2011/12 season, a commission from the orchestra gave him the opportunity to re-work the film score as a full concerto for cello and orchestra.

It’s not a concerto in the traditional formal or structural sense, but neither is it always what you might expect to hear if you are familiar with Glass’ music. Glass acknowledges that the film’s largely digital images steered him towards “a very acoustic, symphonic piece” which would make the images seem less synthetic and more approachable, thus hopefully making it easier for audiences to connect with the film.

There are seven movements, all shorter than eight minutes in length, with the solo cello third and fifth movements acting as connecting passages within the overall structure. The faster movements certainly have the typical Glass sound, but the cello writing throughout is contemplative and more rhapsodic than virtuosic. Haimovitz plays beautifully throughout this intriguing and highly satisfying work.

If you come across a performance of the Elgar Cello Concerto that puts the iconic Jacqueline du Pré recording with Barbirolli completely out of your mind, then you know you’ve found something really special. That’s exactly what the French (but Montreal-born) cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras manages to do with his stunning new harmonia mundi CD, which couples the Elgar concerto with Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations and two short pieces by Dvořák (HMC 902148).

It’s clear from the opening solo bars of the Elgar that Queyras understands the inner soul of this quintessentially English work by the most English of composers. It’s a simply beautiful opening — thoughtful, probing and expansive. Jiří Bĕlohlávek draws a performance from the BBC Symphony Orchestra that is perfectly attuned, catching the mood of wistful Romanticism with playing that always has weight and depth, but is never heavy.

The performance level never drops throughout the remainder of the CD. Dvořák’s Rondo Op.94 and Klid (Silent Woods) Op.68/5 were originally written for cello and piano, and orchestrated by the composer in 1893, shortly before he began work on his Cello Concerto. Again, Queyras’ tone is quite beautiful.

The Tchaikovsky Variations were extensively revised and rearranged, prior to publication, by the cellist Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, the composer’s colleague at the Moscow Conservatory, not exactly with Tchaikovsky’s approval, but apparently without much complaint either. It’s still the version we usually hear. Another dazzling performance by Queyras rounds out a marvellous CD.

The Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey has compiled an extensive and impressively varied discography, ranging from the Bach Solo Suites (reviewed in this column last April) to works by Shostakovich, Ligeti and Britten. His latest CD on Onyx Classics pairs two rarely heard works: the Lalo D Minor Cello Concertoand theConcerto No.2,also in D minor, by Saint-Saëns (Onyx 4107).

Wispelwey is in terrific form; indeed, on the strength of these performances it’s difficult to understand why we don’t hear these two outstanding concertos more often. The Lalo is a powerful work with a charming slow movement. Wispelwey’s line is strong and fluent, offering wonderfully assured playing with never a hint of empty bravura. The Saint-Saëns No.2 is a striking concerto that has been unjustly overshadowed by No.1, and reminds us just how much this often-marginalized composer has to offer. Wispelwey displays terrific agility in an extremely difficult and challenging work, with some particularly tender and heartfelt high register playing in the slow movement.

The Flanders Symphony Orchestra under Seikyo Kim provides top-notch support throughout, and also performs the filler on this CD, the Love Scene from Berlioz’ dramatic symphony Roméo et Juliette. It’s Berlioz at his best and beautifully performed, but this is a CD you’ll be buying for the Lalo and Saint-Saëns.

Violinist Isabelle Faust and conductor Daniel Harding team up on another outstanding harmonia mundi CD, with marvellous performances of the Violin Concertos Nos.1 & 2 by Béla Bartók (HMC 902146). The orchestra is the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Harding has been their principal conductor since 2007. He has already recorded highly successful concerto discs with violinists Nicola Benedetti, Janine Jansen and Ray Chen, and this latest CD is the equal of any of them. Faust is a consummate artist, and her rapport here with Harding is palpable.

For many years the 1938 concerto we now refer to as No.2 was regarded as Bartók’s only violin concerto, but 30 years earlier he had written a concerto for the violinist Stefi Geyer, with whom he was deeply in love. The relationship didn’t last, though, with Geyer rejecting not only the composer but also the concerto. She did keep the manuscript the composer sent her, however, and bequeathed it to the Swiss conductor Paul Sacher, who conducted the premiere in Basel in 1958; it was published in 1959 as Violin Concerto No.1, Op.posth. In her preparation for this recording Faust went back to the various original sources for this early concerto, and discusses the process in fascinating detail in her excellent — and extensive — booklet notes. The depth of her understanding is evident in the depth of her interpretation; this really is an exceptional performance in all respects.

The same innate grasp of the material is just as evident in the Concerto No.2, which also receives an outstanding performance. What makes it even more special is that Faust and Harding choose to use the original ending for the work, which has no solo violin part over the closing bars. Zoltán Székely, for whom the concerto was written, asked the composer to write an alternative ending where the violin could play to the end of the work along with the orchestra and Bartók obliged. The original ending is well worth hearing!

The young Dutch violinist Rosanne Philippens is a new name to me, but if Rhapsody, her debut CD on Channel Classics (CCS SA 35013), is anything to go by, we’ll all be hearing a lot more of her in the future. She is accompanied by her regular keyboard partner Yuri van Nieuwkerk in a recital of works by Ravel and Bartók. This may seem like an odd pairing at first glance, but the performers note that both composers worked in a period when a wide range of musical styles — jazz and blues, for instance — were influencing the European musical world; almost all of the works here were written in the 1920s.

Ravel’s Tzigane is given a straightforward but very solid performance, but the real Ravel gem here is the Violin Sonata No.2, which showcases Philippens’ big, expansive tone. There is a perfect balance between the two performers in the first movement; a lovely Moderato: Blues middle movement; and some outstanding playing and great dynamics in the Perpetuum Mobile: Allegro finale.

The Bartók pieces are equally well-served, with just the right mix of spikiness and lyricism in the two Rhapsodies from 1928 and the Rumanian Folk Dances from 1915.

The final track is the short Scène de la Csárda No.4 – Hejre Kati by Bartók’s fellow-countryman Jenö Hubay. Written some 40 years before the other works on the disc, it seems a bit of an odd choice, but it provides a rousing ending to an excellent debut CD that suggests there are great things ahead for this duo.

I must admit to being quite astonished to find that Britain’s Brodsky Quartet has been around for over 40 years — two founder members are still there — and has over 60 recordings to its credit. Their latest Chandos CD, In the South (CHAN 10761) is typical of their wide-ranging and intelligent programming, exploring the attraction of the South in musical history, and its relationship with and influence on the North.

It’s essentially a recital of short, almost light classical works by composers from both hemispheres, although the programmatic link does seem a little stretched at times. The Brodsky members play with a lovely sensitivity and a great dynamic range throughout the disc, and really seem to get to the heart of these works, which are not insubstantial despite their brevity.

Hugo Wolf’s Italian Serenade opens the disc, followed by Puccini’s soulful Crisantemi (Chrysanthemums). Verdi’s String Quartet in E Minor, the composer’s only work in the genre, was an attempt to marry the Italian vocal tradition with the German classical quartet form. Critical opinion differed on its success, but here it is handled quite beautifully and with great sensitivity; it’s never too heavy or serious and the lyrical qualities are never over-stressed.

I don’t recall ever having heard Turina’s La oración del torero (The Toreador’s Prayer) before, but it really is a quite beautiful and very effective work. Astor Piazzolla’s Four, for Tango was written four years before the composer’s death, and is typical of his later tango compositions. Its dissonances and percussive effects should come as no surprise, as it was written for the Kronos Quartet.

The disc ends with two of the Paganini 24 Solo Caprices, arranged for string quartet by the Brodsky’s violist Paul Cassidy. No.6 is particularly attractive, and No.24 has some fascinating instrumental effects. The programmatic link, apparently, is that Paganini represented the instrumental “southern individualism” of the 19th century,which is viewed here through the “northern” string quartet form. A bit of a stretch, perhaps, but nonetheless a terrific CD.  

Magnus Lindberg – EXPO;
Piano Concerto No.2; Al largo
Yefim Bronfman; New York Philharmonic; Alan Gilbert
Dacapo 8.226076

Magnus Lindberg was the Marie-Josée Kravis composer-in-residence at the New York Philharmonic from 2009 to 2012 and this CD was recorded live with the New York Philharmonic under the leadership of music director Alan Gilbert. You couldn’t ask for a better orchestra or performances. The New York Philharmonic and Israeli/American pianist Yefim Bronfman are both incredible virtuosos who can play anything and make it sound effortless.

EXPO (2009) is a dynamic piece using contrasting fast and slow tempi. Friction is created when the pulse is calm and the quicker-paced music begins to agitate nervously, merging the various layers of flowing music in a kind of perpetuum mobile. This is a stunning opener for the CD and it is no surprise that EXPO has received numerous performances.

The Piano Concerto No.2 (2012), a veritable cornucopia of styles, begins with the solo piano in a slow, hesitating quasi-improvisatory cadenza which is most appealing. Except for a few more quiet moments the concerto continues in a classic dialogue between piano and orchestra in a menu of flashy pianistic tricks requiring a virtuoso technique and stamina from the soloist. Yefim Bronfman does not disappoint. He has the skill and energy to make scales, arpeggios and fast repeated notes sing and flow. Only chords could have been played with more voicing and colour. But this is a live recording and the excitement that was prevalent is intoxicating. There are many references to the Ravel piano concerti and I could hear Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Rachmaninoff as well. The movements are played without interruption but I would have liked a few more sections of repose and tranquility to break up the continual technical display. However, I applaud the work and performance. This should become a standard in piano concerto repertoire.

The Al largo (2010) is almost symphonic at about 24 minutes. The New York Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert showcase the horns in the opening fanfares with energy but also highlight the lyrical strings with their lush intensity. It is an extraordinary mix of fresh chamber music and Mahler-like symphonic grandeur. These are excellent performances from all the musicians and conductor.

But Beautiful
Monica Chapman
Independent
monicachapman.net

With the release of her latest recording, refreshing, Romanian-born vocalist Monica Chapman displays a superb vocal instrument with impeccable intonation, as well as a tasty menu of elegant jazz “standards” framed by the skilled arrangements and inspired, rhythmic and zesty piano work of producer Bill King. The tight ensemble of first-call players includes Duncan Hopkins on bass, Mark Kelso on drums, Reg Schwager on guitar, Luis Jorge Papiosco on percussion, William Sperendei on trumpet and Anne Lindsay on violin (whose sensitive and evocative work enhances the entire project).

With an extensive background in opera, theatre and classic cabaret, Chapman moves effortlessly between styles and eras, as well as seamlessly embodying both the French and English lyrics. Her highly trained vocal instrument is a rich, precise, alto that easily transmits the emotional intent of the material, whether interpreting a melodic post-war ballad such as the Van Heusen/Burke title track, or a depression-era Rodgers and Hart favourite such as Ten Cents a Dance, or the heart-rending ballad L’amour Le Vrais.

In addition to her innate musicality, Chapman is defined by her strong theatrical sensibility and holds her own on the Ellington/Strayhorn opus, Lush Life and also swings Ella-style on Someone Like You. A true standout is the rarely performed Johnny Mercer tune This is Always, which was a 1950s hit for another gorgeous alto, the late, great Irene Kral. Chapman’s version is a total delight and features a moving and harmonically thrilling piano solo from Bill King.

Concert Note:Monica Chapman launches
But Beautiful at the Pero Lounge, 812 Bloor St. W. on October 4 at 8pm.

June 16th
Hübsch/Martel/Zoubek
Schraum 17
schraum.de

Having adopted the venerable viola da gamba as his main instrument, Montreal-based former double bassist Pierre-Yves Martel is also adapting it to unusual sonic situations. On this notable release named for the day on which it was recorded, Martel, who directs a different ensemble October 11 at the Music Gallery, mainly uses the timbres of his bowed viol as a sound source, the better to intersect with the equally extended techniques of his German bandmates: tubaist Carl Ludwig Hübsch and pianist Philip Zoubek. Although the results are at a far distance from the consort and sacred compositions from the height of the instrument’s popularity before the turn of the 18th century, they suggest a beguiling future for pre-modern instruments.

Hübsch and Zoubek, who have worked with some of the continent’s most advanced musicians, specialize in subverting expected sounds as well. Throughout the five tracks here for instance, Zoubek frequently buzzes harsh cadenzas by plucking, stopping or strumming the piano’s strings. Additionally, when the keys are put to use the resonating clangs produced are marimba-like. For his part the tubaist shuns the instrument’s familiar guttural lows. Instead, using a variety of mutes, valve-twisting and embouchure refinements, he expels whistles and clicks and vibrates unaccented air from his horn. Harshly scraping the tuba body with other objects, the resulting scuffs onomatopoeically integrate with Martel’s agitated spiccato pumps and Zoubek’s rubbed strings and semi-depressed key patterns.

On Top, the appropriately titled, most spectacular and longest track, the polyphonic texture-layerings duplicate these and other sounds, including flute-like peeps and organ-resembling swells. Overall, the key to this track and the fascination of the entire disc’s production is how ancillary tropes such as the viola da gamba’s string sweeps and the piano’s single-note examinations calm staccato interjections to create a still spiky but compelling narrative. Plus it proves that traditional instruments, appropriately used, can generate a thoroughly modern tonal experience.

Montreal pianist Marianne Trudel assembles her music from a spectrum of elements, mixing jazz, folk, pop, classical and world music into a compelling original mix. She’s performed in a number of contexts, including a septet, but few of her ensembles have possessed the immediate allure of the trio Trifolia with bassist Étienne Lafrance and percussionist Patrick Graham heard on the group’s debut Le Refuge (TRUD 20131, mariannetrudel.com). Part of the trio’s charm is its sheer stylistic and sonic breadth, including Trudel’s willingness to overdub different keyboards, Lafrance’s sheer virtuosity and Graham’s expanded drum kit. Steppes has the feeling of a French music hall, with Trudel playing accordion and adding a wordless vocal while Lafrance adds embellishments in his extreme upper register. As Possibilités et Limitations grows in intensity, Graham adds sparkling accents with tiny cymbals. It’s amiable, unusually tuneful music that just keeps surprising.

Montreal guitarist Gary Schwartz has put together an 11-piece band for the CD Lettingo Live: The Music and Influence of Ornette Coleman (thejazzbox.ca/gary-schwartz-lettingo-live), drawing on key members of the Montreal free jazz community like saxophonists Alex Côté and Frank Lozano, violinist Josh Zubot and bassist Nicolas Caloia. The result is a thorough re-thinking of some of Coleman’s more familiar works, an orchestral view of pieces originally conceived for piano-less quartets that adds shifting textures, a certain brassiness, electric guitar and keyboards, and an expanded harmonic palette. Alexandre St. Onge’s arrangement of Coleman’s signature Lonely Woman reveals a knack for unusual voicings, while the band’s power and Schwartz’s guitar come to the fore on Law Years.

Canadian jazz composers are more apt to celebrate expansive prairies, mountain vistas or maritime shorelines than Sudbury, the Northern Ontario city best known for standing in as the moon in NASA equipment tests. But the city has produced a small cadre of gifted musicians, amply demonstrated by the Quatuor Philip May Quartet’s Sudbury (Romhog 122, philipmay.ca). Drummer May has assembled former Sudbury associates guitarist Reg Schwager and trumpeter Kevin Turcotte along with bassist Clark Johnston and special guest Jeannette Lambert, Schwager’s sister and another former Sudbury resident. Tunes like Schwager’s Pick-up Trucks and Hockey Pucks and Turcotte’s Theme for Tony’s Basement are evidently fuelled by reminiscence, achieving the lyrical sublime on Schwager’s Sudbury Sunday Morning. Lambert makes notable contributions with André Paiement’s Dimanche après-midi and two takes of Stompin’ Tom Connors’ unlikely Sudbury Saturday Night, adding a jazz touch to Connors’ trenchant homespun observations.

Toronto drummer/composer Barry Elmes opts for a relaxed, ebullient swing on his new Quartet’s Happy Hour (Cornerstone CRST CD 142, cornerstonerecordsinc.com). The band’s sound is largely set by Hammond organist Vanessa Rodrigues, whose smooth, bubbling sound creates a gentle, continuous swing. The band’s featured soloists are guitarist Reg Schwager (again: he may be Canada’s most frequently recorded jazz musician — if he’s not, he should be), contributing thoughtful, luminous solos and tenor saxophonist Perry White, who brings a special intensity to every occasion, even one as laid back as this. The repertoire is largely familiar standards, and each one shines, from the sinuous Comes Love to the charmingly antique When You’re Smiling. Schwager’s finest moment comes on Jerome Kern’s Yesterdays, while White brings a harder edge to Softly as in a Morning Sunrise. The mood may be low-key, but these are masters at work, creating one of the year’s more memorable recordings.

Vancouver drummer Jesse Cahill leads another organ combo, The Nightcrawlers, on Volume 3 (Cellar Live CL030913, cellarlive.com). The style is strongly shaped by 60s soul jazz with elements of blues, funk and gospel, whether the tunes are fresh offerings by guitarist Dave Sikula and Hammond organist Chris Gestrin or covers of compositions by the idiom’s original masters, like Brother Jack McDuff or Big John Patton. Everything about the band’s vibe resonates with the 60s Blue Note and Prestige recordings: it’s hard-driving, soulful music with tenor saxophonist Steve Kaldestad summoning up some of Stanley Turrentine’s tight vibrato and Cory Weeds, playing alto for the occasion, blending equal parts bop and blues. Cahill sounds born to the style, animating the proceedings with patterns that are at once tight and loose. The Latin funk groove of Patton’s Latona is especially good.

Expatriate Toronto drummer/composer Harris Eisenstadt has different bands for different occasions: his September Trio may be reserved for his most concentrated and pensive work, as evidenced by its second CD, The Destructive Element (Clean Feed CF276 CD, cleanfeed-records.com), which takes its title and epigram from Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim, significantly a work driven by multiple narrative perspectives. There’s something similar going on in this music. Completed by New York-based tenor saxophonist Ellery Eskelin and pianist Angelica Sanchez, the group creates textures of extraordinary density, as in Back and Forth, in which composed and spontaneously generated patterns seem to wrestle in time in a piece that at times suggests an attenuated blues. That complexity is a key value here, with the musicians achieving a kind of continuous interdependence and isolation of voices, as if everything both fits and doesn’t fit, whether it’s the sun-and-cloud play of harmony on the title track or Eskelin’s frequently cheery brushwork. It’s challenging work that rewards close and repeated listening. 

Standardization is a thing of the past when it comes to recorded music and listeners who get too far ahead of, or behind, the curve are likely to miss interesting sounds. Just as the production of movies didn’t cease with the acceptance of television, so the manufacture of LPs continued even as the CD became the format of the moment. As artisans continue to craft fine furniture despite the availability of mass-produced items, so too LPs are being created in limited quantities. This situation appears tailor-made for experimental sounds. Similarly since advanced players are often as impecunious as they are inventive, the ubiquity of the Internet means that some music is only sold digitally through the Web. The option of not having to create a physical product is a boon for non-mainstream performers.

Probably the most spectacular recent example of vinyl-only releases is Just Not Cricket: Three Days of Improvised Music in Berlin (Ni-Vu-Ni-Connu nvnc lp001/004, ni-vu-ni-connu.net). A four-LP set pressed on 180-gram virgin vinyl, the box set also includes a copy of the festival’s lavishly illustrated full-colour program plus a 20-page, LP-sized booklet featuring black and white photographs from the event, an essay about Free Music, plus a transcribed conversation with the 16 British artists who participated. As much an artifact as a musical keepsake, Just Not Cricket showcases many of BritImprov’s most important players. With a cast of characters ranging from Free Music pioneers such as saxophonist Trevor Watts and percussionist Eddie Prévost to younger stylists including trumpeter Tom Arthurs and saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, plus representation of the so-called Second Wave such as pianist Steve Beresford and harpist Rhodri Davies, the selection is all-embracing as well as varied. There’s high-quality music represented by all three groups. Prévost’s duet with saxophonist Lol Coxhill, for instance, demonstrates that by maintaining the proper pulse, an atonal reed and percussion duet can suggest Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa while still outputting kazoo-like blats and scattered drum pumps. Energetic and atonal, a blow-out featuring players such as Arthurs, Hutchings, guitarist Alex Ward, bassist John Edwards and drummer Mark Sanders, is invested with Free Jazz energy. Yet among the freak brassy triplets, saxophone honks and near slack-key guitar lines, Ward’s comping, Edwards’ robust bowing and Sanders perfectly timed accents turn bluster into satisfying sonic alliances. There are also elements of humour, most apparent the moment Beresford’s slick keyboard glissandi turn to kinetic smacks and splashes replicating both bebop and lounge piano playing, as Edwards’ pumps and trombonist Gail Brand’s wide snorts and flutters add a layer of laughing euphoria to this trio interaction. Other highlights include bass saxophonist Tony Bevan using his widening cavernous resonations to create perfect counterpoint to the rhythms from dual bassists Edwards and Dominic Lash; while on another track, Watts’ splintering alto saxophone intensity is brought to a higher level as horizontal sticks vibrations among Davies’ harp strings and Orphy Robinson’s ringing vibraphone licks produce more polyrhythms than would be found in an orchestra’s percussion section.

A quintet of Scandinavian musicians, Erik Carlsson & All Stars use an even more venerable configuration for their recreation of so called Swedish [j]azz of the 1950s and 1960s: the 10-inch LP. The appeal of these one-track-per-side performances on this 2-LP set is how the players stay true to the pieces, pop-bop origins while retrofitting (post)modern sequences. A tune such as the folksy Du Glädjerika Skona is propelled by subtle emphasis from Kjell Nordeson’s vibes plus snorting flutters from Mats Gustafsson’s baritone saxophone and vibrating puffs of Per-Åke Holmander’s tuba until near tactile clatters and scratches sourced from Dieb13’s turntables roguishly interrupts the proceedings. Similarly a treatment of Umepolskan & Nybyggarland links the variable speeds of Nordeson’s motor-driven instrument with Dieb13’s sampled aviary squawks and trills until basso saxophone burps introduce a waltz-like turnaround played straight with supple mallet clicks and rat-tat-tat drumming from Carlsson. Finally the tune exits as a contest between Gustafsson’s barking reed lines and the initial theme propelled by vibes and tuba.

Moving ahead a half century to the second decade of the 21st, and preserved on a far different medium, are concerts recorded at a music festival in Rimouski, Quebec, only available for download. The slyly titled Invisible (Tour de Bras DL #1, tourdebras.com) captures an intense interaction among German analog synthesiser player Thomas Lehn, Montreal percussionist Michel F. Côté and local electric bassist, Éric Normand. Lehn is also present on Sources (Tour de Bras DL #2), but here his playing partner is Montreal-based, American violinist Malcolm Goldstein. Most of Invisible’s 36 minutes is concerned with understated crackles, cackles and clacks, with none of the players outputting expected timbres. Still, a climax of sorts is reached at mid-point, after a klaxon-like blat, likely from Côté noisemakers, cuts through the waves of tripartite soundscapes, presaging emphasized percussion thumps, distorted bass flanges and sweeping oscillations from the synthesizer. Following a prolonged silence, the single track’s latter half is more distant and melancholy with intermittent milk bottle-like pops and door-stopper-like quivers, bass string sluices and jittery synthesizer pulsations fading to obtuse squeaks.

With Goldstein’s so-called classical techniques on show, Sources is a stimulating sashay between two masterful improvisers as the fiddler’s staccato and strident scrubs and stops bring out the humanness of Lehn’s machinery. With bubbling hoedown-like slides, flying spiccato plus multiple jetées sounding concurrently, Goldstein coaxes lightening quick responses from Lehn, which take the form of thick tremolo modulations and grinding processed vamps. Flamboyant enough to intimate a passionate middle sequence studded with stops and strums, the violinist’s exposition eventually blends with the synthesizer player’s processed drones and ring-modular-like flanges to create a conclusion enlivened by Lehn’s unexpected piano-like keyboard expression and staccato string stops.

Turning on its head McLuhan’s dictum that the medium is the message, these projects prove that exceptional messages can appear in any medium.

It may have occurred to regular readers and those who listened to “Records in Review” on CJRT that I am enamored by Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, written in 1899 for string sextet. The composer made his final arrangement in 1943 for string orchestra. Schoenberg wrote it in just three weeks when smitten by his teacher’s sister, Mathilde von Zemlinsky, and motivated by Richard Dehmel’s melodramatic poem. He married Mathilde and Verklärte Nacht became his most popular opus.

Naïve has produced “La Collection Naïve ... sixteen rare and precious jewels waiting to be discovered or revisited.” Verklärte Nacht played by the Arditti Quartet is one of them.

The Arditti string quartet, founded in 1974, specializes in contemporary music. Over the years there have been exits and entries in the personnel, and for this 1993 recording there were violinists Irvine Arditti and David Alberman, violist Garth Knox and cellist Rohan de Saram plus Thomas Kakusa, violin, and Valentin Erben, cello (Naïve NC 40022). Their version is completely new to me and this re-issue is a first hearing. It is cast in the mould set by the Hollywood String Quartet in 1950, which was, I believe, the very first recording of the sextet. Schoenberg stated that the music “does not illustrate any action or drama but was restricted to portray nature and to express human emotions.” His notes for the Hollywood recording conclude ... “It should not be forgotten that this work, at its first performance in Vienna, was hissed and caused riots and fist fights. But it soon became very successful.” The very fine Hollywood performance borders on the passionate, and that differs from many of the subsequent readings from other groups that strive for a harmonious approach. However, it wasn’t until I heard the Arditti disc that it became clear that the Hollywood Quartet did not go far enough in articulating the raw emotional conflicts and the final resolution. The Arditti’s is a thrilling, sinuous performance, fervent and intense, unlike any other of which I am aware. The passionate conflicts between the woman and man overflow as all six musicians vehemently climb the top of their “voice.” The recording is first rate and the dynamics are thrilling. Lasting less than 28 minutes, a CD of only one work may seem pretentious but in this case it’s a very good buy. The work could easily pass for absolute music and many will hear it this way without regard to the inspiration.

Supraphon has released an irresistible 2-CD set entitled Rostropovich plays Shostakovich that is self-recommending (SU 4101-2). In 1958 Shostakovich, reviewing a Rostropovich concert, wrote in Pravda, “I am overpowered by the artist’s authoritativeness. He is always convinced of the correctness of his opinion, which he expresses with such zealousness that it is impossible not to believe him.” With Rostropovich in mind he wrote the First Cello Concerto. There are two performances here, both live; the world premiere recording, from Moscow on October 6, 1959, conducted by Aleksandr Gauk and from the following May in Prague with the Czech Philharmonic conducted by Kirill Kondrashin. The premiere performance is carefully played and amply virtuosic from all concerned but some eight months later the audience heard a stirring performance, refreshingly played with irresistible enthusiasm. In the Second Cello Concerto (1966) the conductor is Yevgeny Svetlanov from a concert in Prague on December 11, 1967. Of the two cello concertos, I do prefer the second. It is a contemplative work that presages much of what the composer would express in his later works right up to the 15th Symphony. No quibbles about this performance. Lastly Rostropovich, with the composer at the piano, plays the lyrical Cello Sonata, Op.40 (1934) recorded in 1959. Rostropovich later recorded this sonata accompanied by Benjamin Britten in 1964 but that must take second place to this one. Shostakovich plays Shostakovich! The recordings are all mono which is of little consequence as the sound is crystal clear with a front to back perspective.

Robert Lortat? Have you ever heard of him? Today, very few have. Lortat (1885–1938) was a French pianist, renowned for his interpretation of Chopin and who made one of the very first recordings of any Chopin in 1904. He was a very successful concert pianist in his youth. The reason for his obscurity was chronic ill-health, the memento of a poison gas attack while serving in the French army in WWI. This severely curtailed his concertizing and he turned mostly to teaching and, as it happened, to recording. As one of the most respected interpreters of his generation, the Columbia Graphophone Company (later Columbia Records) invited him to record the music of Chopin. Lortat recorded the Waltzes, Etudes, Preludes and the Second Sonata. These recordings were so successful that Columbia issued them in five continents. Unfortunately, Lortat did not complete the Chopin project, nor continue with any other recordings. It is likely that with the wide availability of his recordings in these late years of the 78rpm era that the leading pianists of the day heard them. It would not be at all fanciful to believe that pianists of Dinu Lipatti’s time were influenced by Lortat’s interpretations. A new release from DOREMI (DHR-7994/5, 2CDs) contains all these recordings. Lortat plays with ease and authority, arguably more appealing than Cortot with the advantage of being virtually note-perfect. This set is a real find, both welcome and necessary, reintroducing these cornerstones of the modern French school of piano playing. These recordings from the 1920s and early 30s are a credit to engineers in Paris. Now faultlessly restored and most certainly belying their vintage, they are easy on the ears and listening to these performances was a great pleasure. A well-merited release.

Doremi has issued Volume Two of Julian von Karolyi, the Hungarian-German pianist who enjoyed tremendous success for his Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Chopin and other Romantic composers. Volume I featured Tchaikovsky, Schumann and Liszt. On this new CD (DHR-8009) Karolyi plays the Emperor Concerto with Robert Heger conducting (1958); the Haydn Piano Concerto in D, Hob.XIII/11 with Richard Schumacher conducting (1967) and Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy (1958). As in the first volume, the unanimity between soloist and orchestra, particularly in the Haydn that sparkles and is laced with humour, makes this a very attractive offering. The sound, by the way, is exemplary.

Nathan Milstein was one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century, along with Heifetz, Oistrakh, Menuhin and Francescatti, all of whom had long, illustrious careers. Milstein’s attributes were his pure, unaffected stylistic approach and violin technique that was breathtaking, athletic and secure. He came to North America in 1929 as did Horowitz and Piatigorsky, with whom he had played trios earlier. As with many artists, Milstein’s live performances had an extra sizzle. Listening to a new CD from Doremi (DHR-7752) makes this point. We hear the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, from Paris in 1969 with Jean Martinon conducting; Mozart Violin Concerto No.5, K219 in 1961 with Carl Schuricht conducting, along with Bach’s Chaconne and three Paganini Caprices from 1957, all from Ascona, Switzerland. Another disc for the fans presented in fine sound.