Comedie et Tragedie Vol.1
Tempesta di Mare Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra
Chaconne CHAN 0805

Louis XIV’s cultural offensive involved the arrival of Giovanni-Battista Lulli, duly converted to Jean-Baptiste Lully. Lully then became director of the Petite Bande of string musicians. Combine Lully’s genius for composition with Molière’s brilliant social satire Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme and you have a magnificent comédie-ballet.

Tempesta di Mare’s interpretation of the overture to the comedy gives a flavour of what to expect; a rather clumsy and pompous nature admirably reflects Molière’s social climber Monsieur Jourdain. By contrast, the real dancers enjoy Lully’s graceful country dances in their 17th-century French heyday. Add to this the slightly oriental quality of the Cérémonie des Turcs and you realize how suited to each other Molière’s words and Lully’s music truly were.

On to Les Éléments by Jean-Féry Rebel (a pupil of Lully) who won great respect for his dance music. Le Chaos started life as an instrumental piece but was incorporated into the ballet. It is not what one expects from a baroque entertainment. Parts for bass, flutes, piccolos and violins represent respectively earthly tremors, the flow of water, air and fire. All attempt to impose themselves vigorously on the ballet and to be distinctive from one another. More soothing is the following Loure-Chaconne; earth and water are reconciled before we hear Rebel’s sprightly interpretations of traditional dance movements.

Marin Marais is best known as a bass viol composer, his prowess enabling him to come to the attention of, yes, Lully. Alcyone is a classically themed opera comprising an overture and five acts. The dramatic plots in each act would unfold until interrupted by a divertissement (entertainment). The 13 suites performed by Tempesta di Mare reflect this accurately whether with the stately prologue: ouverture or the relaxed airs for a whole sequence of characters such as sailors, magicians and priestesses of Juno. Enjoy above all the sarabande, tempest and concluding chaconne.

After listening to both Lully and Marais, listeners will have received a textbook introduction to the French baroque music which enhanced comedy and tragedy alike.

Schumann – Violin Concerto; Piano Trio No.3
Isabelle Faust; Jean-Guihen Queyras; Alexander Melnikov; Freiburger Barockorchester; Pablo Heras-Casado
harmonia mundi HMC 902196

Among the violin concertos by the great masters of the middle Romantic era, Brahms, Bruch, Mendelssohn and even Sibelius, Schumann’s is least popular and is infrequently performed. Also, it is considered of lesser value and impact among the composer’s own concertos. Both the piano Op.54 and the cello Op.129 are each at the summit of their genre and favourites for well over a century. Was the violin concerto inconsistent with his output and indicative of lessening musical genius? Written in 1853, the concerto, his last major work, remained without opus number and was secreted for 80 years until November 26, 1937 when it received its debut played by Georg Kulenkampff in Berlin with Böhm and the Philharmonic. On December 20 that year Telefunken recorded it there with Kulenkampff and Schmidt-Isserstedt conducting. Yehudi Menuhin championed the work in concert and in 1938 he recorded it in New York with the Philharmonic under Barbirolli. The value of the work however remains in controversy.

Isabelle Faust and the Freiburg Baroque make a convincing case for it in which the clarity and texture of the period instruments present a refreshingly different palette. The bonus DVD in this release contains the concert performance in the Berlin Philharmonie, revealing unexplored contours and textures characteristic of a baroque orchestra. From the very first bar this is echt Schumann! There are pros and cons of such treatments and while this concerto may not be the very best of Schumann, this sit-up-and-take-notice performance could change a few minds.

The Trio Op.110 in G Minor is another matter. While it may be thought of as the least of Schumann’s three trios, listening to it here challenges that opinion. It is assuredly worthy of a fine performance which it certainly receives. Faust and her colleagues radiate ardour and optimism, performing with sensitivity, sincere musicality and flawless ensemble that hold the listener’s attention. A genuine must-have.

This is the first of three albums by Faust and her colleagues (all passionate about Schumann – me too!), of all the concertos and trios using a historic piano and instruments with gut strings.

Prokofiev; Shostakovich – Cello Concertos
Steven Isserlis; Frankfurt Radio Symphny Orchestra; Paavo Järvi
Hyperion CDA68037

Prokofiev began this concerto in Paris in 1934, where he was urged by fellow émigré Gregor Piatigorsky to write such a work. Piatigorsky was enthusiastic over the first movement and the opening of the second but at that point Prokofiev returned to Russia. The work waited until 1938 to be completed in Moscow where it debuted to resounding indifference. The cellist had played it, against the composer’s wishes, as a sentimental piece and the conductor had no opinion. In 1940 its debut in the United States by Koussevitzky and Piatigorsky in Boston was hardly a triumph.

The 1956 recording of the concerto by János Starker and the Philharmonia under Walter Susskind is a polite affair and while beautifully played the overall mood misses the pungency that Prokofiev must have intended. The 1972 performance by Christine Walevska conducted by Eliahu Inbal is a far cry from the Starker, animated and alert and well recorded by Philips.

Recorded in concert in 2013, Steven Isserlis and Paavo Järvi together have set the record straight with new eyes on the score, delivering a fresh, vital interpretation. The first pages of the first movement announce that this is to be a compelling performance. The third movement, a set of theme and variations, is totally engaging, more rhythmic and interesting than previously revealed.

Their Shostakovich, too, is outstanding. One would believe that in his several recordings Rostropovich, the dedicatee, had the field covered. Easygoing tempo and high-spirited playing provide a most attractive alternative, especially with the tidy yet dynamic orchestral collaboration. The sound and wide range of the recording are state of the art. The Prokofiev solo March, arranged by Piatigorsky, is a jaunty little encore.

Aaron Jay Kernis – Three Flavors; Two Movements; Superstar Etude No.3
Andrew Russo; James Ehnes; Albany Symphony Orchestra; David Alan Miller
Naxos 8.559711

Aaron Jay Kernis was all of 23 back in the early 1980s when he first attracted attention with the premiere of his composition Dream of the Morning Sky by the New York Philharmonic. Since then, the Pennsylvania-born composer has earned a reputation as one of the most distinguished of his generation – a winner of not only a Pulitzer Prize, but also the Prix de Rome and the Grawemeyer Award. His large output is characterized by an affable and eclectic style, clearly evident on this Naxos recording which features three of his compositions performed by the Albany Symphony, conducted by David Alan Miller with Andrew Russo, piano, and James Ehnes, violin.

Three Flavors initially began as a concerto for toy piano, but it was later adapted for a modern instrument. To say the least, the piece is a study in contrasts. The first movement abounds in driving repetitive motives and modal harmonies – do I hear a hint of Stravinsky and a nod to Indonesian gamelan? In total contrast, the second movement, Lullaby-Barcarolle, is all gentleness, containing a lyricism not dissimilar to that found in works by Samuel Barber. Blue Whirl, the third movement finale, is clearly influenced by jazz rhythms and blues that Andrew Russo performs with great bravado, while the Albany Symphony provides a solid foundation.

It was in homage to his late father that Kernis composed Two Movements (with Bells) in 2007, a BBC Proms commission for James Ehnes. Scored for violin, piano and orchestra, the two movements each begin wistfully, but the mood soon becomes more flamboyant. Together, Ehnes and Russo engage in an animated and lively discourse, adroitly handling the energetic angular lines. Russo returns for a solo in Ballad(e) out of the Blue(s) – Superstar Etude No.3.  Although the piece was inspired by Gershwin, there are also echoes of Oscar Peterson, Art Tatum and Errol Garner through its jazz harmonies and improvisational quality.

Kudos to all the artists on this CD for showcasing music by one of America’s most eclectic contemporary composers.

Missy Mazzoli – Vespers for a New Dark Age
Victoire; Glenn Kotche; Lorna Dune
New Amsterdam Records NWAM062

Missy Mazzoli is a young American composer based in New York who continues to receive critical acclaim for her concert works. This release contains a new piece, Vespers for a New Dark Age, for female voices and instrumental ensemble that was commissioned by Carnegie Hall for the 2014 Ecstatic Music Festival. The music is set to fragments of text by poet Matthew Zapruder replacing the sacred vesper text. It is interesting to note that in traditional Catholic liturgy, the Vespers are to be sung as evening prayer at sunset. Further, Mazzoli describes the piece as, “…distorted, wild, blasphemous...” However, despite brief moments in the text that only occasionally reveal mildly blasphemous suggestions, the music, on the contrary, is full of light and optimism, a mood that remains relatively unvaried throughout the piece. While the work is divided into nine movements, the listener is treated to a continuous unfolding of broad and lyrical vocal weavings floating above punchy percussion rhythms and edgy folk-like violin gestures. At times, we hear passages containing obvious reminiscences of 1970s progressive rock akin to bands like Yes or Genesis. Any abrasiveness in the music is quickly balanced with soaring vocal washes that shimmer and infuse the music with a crystalline sheen. Perhaps the strongest section of the piece occurs in the seventh movement, providing the listener with a striking contrast to the rest of the piece stylistically. In this movement, the dramatic harmonies in the vocal part seem to occupy a different sonic environment than previously heard. This piece is a strong statement from a composer who is comfortable writing to the strengths of the performers she is working with. This music is perfect for those seeking a moment of respite and release within a contemplative and reflective listening experience.

The Throne
Ochs-Robinson Duo
NotTwo MW 918-2 (nottwo.com)

Eschewing all regal trappings, this game of throne strips interactive improvisation to its bare bones, demonstrating how expansive a duet between one saxophonist and one drummer can be. Rova member, soprano and tenor saxophonist Larry Ochs, doesn’t need other reed backup on these nine tracks, carving out strategies involving sharpened abstraction plus an underlying swing, which at points is surprisingly harmonious. Responsive rather than confrontational, Donald Robinson uses all parts of his kit from cymbals to bass drum to push, promote or punctuate the interface.

Tarter tunes such as Red Tail and Breakout give Ochs a Sonny Rollins-like showcase to extract all possible tonal consideration from a theme, abandoning it like a dog with a bone only when maximum improvisational nourishment has been extracted; other lines are more sympathetic. Push Hands for instance, one of two memorials to departed musicians, is a study in pinched chromatics. Here Robinson bends his beats with an Africanized lilt, in order to accompany Ochs’ gravelly threnody. Song 2 is another revelation. What starts off as an essay in modulated reed slides and smears wedded to a rumpled pulse becomes a vibrant, coherent narrative that assumes song form.

Near-human vocalized cries which Ochs pulls from both his horns throughout are refined from stacks of timbral smears to a growly renal-like exposition that defines the concluding title track. At the same time Ochs’ thematic exposition relates back to Open to the Light, the first track, memorializing another musician. Ultimately Robinson’s emphasized ruff marks a distinct ending both to the final piece and this well-balanced program.

Lucidity
Atomic
Jazzland Recordings Norway No. 2
471-991 B (jazzlandrec.com)

First formed in 2000, the quintet Atomic has developed into a key voice in current jazz, its distinct identity comprised of strong rhythmic grooves, free jazz fireworks and the edgy ensemble precision of post-bop jazz. The Scandinavian band has honed its art in the furnace of frequent tours over years, becoming a genuinely international presence. Lucidity is the band’s first CD since drummer Paal Nilssen-Love’s 2014 departure and Hans Hulbœkmo’s arrival, the band’s first personnel change. Atomic has done more than survive the loss of Europe’s most dynamic younger drummer: it’s found a new balance.

With compositions provided by saxophonist and clarinetist Fredrik Ljungkvist and pianist Håvard Wiik, Atomic presses forward on strong personalities and rare flexibility, with the aggressive brassy presence of trumpeter Magnus Broo defining the ensembles and bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten the group’s molten core. While Ljungkvist’s Major swings hard and continuously, Wiik’s Laterna Interfuit touches down on many bases, a gentle folk-like opening, a brashly dissonant fanfare and improvised passages that range through collective blowing from the horns and Wiik’s own airy, post-bop interlude.

That quicksilver creativity extends to Ljungkvist’s descriptively titled Start/Stop, from its eerie and slightly muffled night music beginning to its eventual rapid theme filled with wide intervals and accompanying clusters. Negotiating a shifting ground between composition and improvisation and a host of sounds, moods and methodologies, Atomic is devoted to keeping themselves and the audience engaged.

Two Piano Concert at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Michael Snow; Thollem McDonas
Edgetone EDT 4148 edgetonerecords.com

Besides distinguishing himself as one of Canada’s most lauded filmmakers and visual artists, Toronto’s Michael Snow maintains a parallel career as an improvising pianist. Most frequently working as a charter member of the local CCMC, on occasion he matches wits with outsiders. A bonus as part of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s retrospective of his work Two Piano Concert featured a duet with peripatetic American improviser Thollem McDonas. Although both are pianists, the selections clearly outline the individuality of each so-called avant-garde player.

With the metronomic 176-key assault only brought to the fore for emphasis, the most frequent strategy in this three-track recital is for one pianist to squirm and skip a theme to a certain point where it’s either embellished with arpeggios and strums or challenged at half speed with contrapuntal asides by the other. Besides this, the keyboardists often converse like an old married couple, finishing each other’s phrases. More like hearing two Cecil Taylors, rather than any conventional piano duo, the two utilize all parts of their instruments. Shrill key clips and tremolo backboard echoes are only part of this; so are wood-rending scratches and harp-like inner string strums. Snow identifies himself most clearly on Two even as McDonas pounds out sardonic Chopstick-like rhythms or identifiable bop runs. Unexpectedly, the Canadian, who apprenticed playing classic jazz, sounds out a perfect stride piano lick which would have done James P. Johnson proud. McDonas’ response is to swell his glissandi to such an extent that they fill every molecule of the resulting soundscape. That challenge met, the final track features a satisfying return to carefully timed sympathetic patterning.

There’s no way Snow will ever have to fall back on his second career, but Two Piano Concert confirms that his keyboard inventiveness and professionalism allow him to hold his own with – and sometime best – a full-time improviser.

Purcell’s Revenge – Sweeter Than Roses?
Concerto Caledonia; David McGuinness
Delphian DCD34161

Listening to this CD, I felt as though I’d mysteriously stumbled onto the playlist of a stranger who had searched using the keywords “Purcell, Scottish, early music, folk, crossover, James Oswald.” Anyone looking for multiple ways to reinvent Purcell and traditional tunes connected to him will find much to enjoy in the broad swath that this program cuts; but cohesive it’s not.

James Bowman makes a cameo appearance singing Sweeter Than Roses with viol consort, and Jim Moray sings a convincing and innocently folky Fairest Isle. Olivia Chaney’s singing in her wonderful arrangement of There’s not a swain on the plain reminds me of the great Maddy Prior; and Pamela Thorby does an excellent job of whistle-izing a recorder. The connection between Purcell’s New Scotch Tune for solo harpsichord and a hook harp version of the tune speaks elegantly for itself, as does a broken consort version of Purcell’s Fantazia 11, and there are a couple of delightful new pieces by Chaney and Ana Silvera.

But some of the other material left me cold, such as the revamp of Purcell’s Evening Hymn, the original of which is so gorgeous I don’t know why anyone would want to mess with it. Elsewhere there’s some very good harmonica playing, and “rock on” amplification, of which I’d have liked either more, or none. There’s much cleverness and musical delight here, but this particular “anything goes” program doesn’t quite satisfy.

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The wonderful Hilary Hahn has a new CD that features two concertos that have a strong personal resonance for her. On Violin Concertos: Mozart 5 Vieuxtemps 4 (Deutsche Grammophon 4793956) Hahn plays two concertos that she first learned at the age of 10. The Vieuxtemps Concerto No.4 in D Minor Op.31 was the last work she learned with Klara Berkovich, her first main teacher, and Mozart’s Concerto No.5 in A Major K219 was the first work she learned with Jascha Brodsky when she moved to the Curtis Institute of Music later the same year.

Hahn notes that both works have been pillars of her performance repertoire ever since, and her familiarity with and deep understanding of these works is evident throughout the CD, the Mozart in particular benefitting from her usual crystal-clear tone and her immaculate and intelligent phrasing.

The Vieuxtemps Concerto No.4 has always lived in the shadow of his Concerto No.5 in A Minor, and will probably be new to most listeners; I don’t recall having heard it before. It’s somewhat unusual in that it has four movements instead of the customary three, although Vieuxtemps did indicate that the Scherzo third movement could be omitted in performance. You can perhaps understand why: the Scherzo has a very strong ending that sounds for all the world like the end of the concerto,while the Andante opening to the actual Finale feels more like the start of a completely new work. Still, it’s a fine concerto, with a particularly effective slow movement, and it’s difficult to imagine it receiving a better performance.

Hahn is accompanied by the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen under Paavo Järvi, whom she describes as “musical partners for a long time.” It certainly shows in these terrific performances.

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Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5 - Allegro aperto
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Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5 - Adagio
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The Bach Goldberg Variations have been the subject of many varied instrumental arrangements over the years, with one of the best being the transcription for string trio that the violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky made in 1985 to mark the 300th anniversary of the composer’s birth. The string trio version serves the predominantly three-part keyboard writing particularly well, and Sitkovetsky later expanded this into a transcription for string orchestra; it is this version that is given a beautiful performance by England’s Britten Sinfonia, directed by their associate leader Thomas Gould, on a new harmonia mundi Super Audio CD (HMU 807633).

The larger forces involved (the string strength is 6-5-4-3-2) don’t ever seem to present a problem with regard to the intimacy and nature of the music, partly because it’s not a case of everybody playing all the time; there is a judicial use of solo instruments, especially in the really tricky fast passages, and the playing is always beautifully measured.

The CD jewel case quotes a Guardian newspaper review of a concert performance of this version of the Variations by the Britten Sinfonia, calling it “an astonishing performance that preserved the delicate contrapuntal intricacy of Bach’s original.” The same can confidently be said of this CD.

There are more Bach transcriptions available in a 4 CD box set of the works for solo violin and solo cello, Sonatas & Partitas, Suites, this time in transcriptions for lute and theorbo by the American lutenist Hopkinson Smith (naïve 8 22186 08939 2). The set is a reissue in box form of Smith’s previous CDs; the Violin Sonatas & Partitas were recorded in 1999 and the Cello Suites in 1980, 1992 and 2012. A theorbo is used for the first three cello suites and a 13-course baroque lute for the violin works and the cello suites four to six.

The two individual cello CDs were reviewed in this column in April 2013, but these performances of the violin works are new to me. They are naturally in much the same style as the cello transcriptions, with a good deal of filling-in of harmony – although an underpinning of the implied harmonic structure might be a more accurate description – and a softer sound and smaller dynamic range than the original. Multiple stopping is much smoother, making it easier to hold and bring out the melodic line. The English composer and guitarist John Duarte, in his July 2000 Gramophone magazine review, called these performances “arguably the best you can buy of these works – on any instrument.”

In the expansive and detailed booklet notes, Smith makes a strong case for transcribing this music, pointing out that Bach himself played the violin works on the harpsichord with full accompaniment. These CD performances, however, make the strongest case you could ever need. It’s a marvellous set.

Another work presented in a transcribed version on a new CD is Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross, performed by the Attacca Quartet in a new arrangement by their cellist Andrew Yee (Azica ACD-71299). Although this is a work that is now most commonly performed by a string quartet it does exist in several versions, and Yee has chosen a new and creative approach with his arrangement.

Haydn wrote the work in 1786 on a commission from Cádiz Cathedral for an orchestral setting to be used in their Good Friday service, in which the reading of – and short sermon on – each of the seven quotes from scripture was followed by a musical interlude appropriate in expression to the preceding reflections. The work proved to be extremely popular, and Haydn clearly considered it valid outside of the liturgical framework, the publication of the orchestral version in 1787 being accompanied by both a Haydn-approved piano four-hand reduction and a string quartet version. The latter (which may not have been entirely Haydn’s work) essentially followed the violin, viola and cello parts from the orchestral version and ignored the wind parts. Haydn apparently wasn’t too happy with it, and although it probably wasn’t intended for anything other than amateur home performance it is the version we usually hear today.

In 1795 Haydn heard a performance of the work in a German choral version by Joseph Friebert, and was sufficiently impressed to make his own oratorio arrangement for soloists, choir and orchestra, a version which incorporated significant changes to the original work. All but one of the seven sections were preceded by a chorale setting of the relevant scripture passage, and the work was split into two sections, with a new introduction to the second half.

For this Attacca Quartet arrangement, Yee studied the original orchestral, string quartet and oratorio settings, with many of the editorial decisions based on the oratorio version; indeed, the jewel case blurb calls this recording “a new arrangement of the oratorio version.” It’s certainly extremely effective, and is beautifully played by the quartet, with a sensitive and spare use of vibrato and a clear empathy for the nature and meaning of the music. It’s easily the most satisfying string version of the work that I’ve heard.

Autumn of the Soul is a charming new CD by the Italian guitarist Lorenzo Micheli featuring works by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Vicente Asencio, Angelo Gilardino, Alexandre Tansman and Pierre de Bréville (Contrastes Records CR9201409).

Andrés Segovia is not directly represented on the CD, but his influence links all the pieces together. Tansman and de Bréville were two of the composers who wrote works for Segovia following his groundbreaking 1924 solo guitar recital in Paris. Tansman, whose association with Segovia lasted for over 50 years, is represented by two works: the three-movement Hommage à Chopin and the Variations sur un thème de Scriabine. The French composer de Bréville’s short untitled composition from 1926 was never performed by Segovia, and remained unknown until the discovery of the manuscript in the Segovia archives in 2001.Gilardino was one of the two editors who published the work under the title Fantasia. Gilardino’s own Canzone notturna is included here. Asencio’s Suite mistica consists of three short movements inspired by the New Testament; the work was dedicated to Segovia, who suggested the title.

The CD opens and closes with selected movements from Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Platero y yo, a work inspired by the 1914 book of children’s prose by the Andalusian poet Juan Ramón Jiménez that tells the story of the donkey Platero and his owner. It was written in 1960, coincidentally the same year a similar suite with the same name was composed by Eduardo Sáinz de la Maza, and was originally meant to be played in conjunction with a reading of the poems. Segovia intended to record it this way, but only managed ten of the pieces without narration. Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s work perhaps doesn’t have quite the Spanish warmth of the Maza version, but the eight movements here are quite delightful. Micheli’s playing is clean and accurate throughout a quite challenging selection of works.

The young American violinist Emil Altschuler has a terrific pedigree, having studied with the legendary Dorothy DeLay at Juilliard and with Erick Friedman at the Yale School of Music. His self-titled and independently released CD (emilaltschuler.com) – apparently his second solo album – features works by Falla, Ravel, Albèniz, Poulenc and Bartók, with pianist Keunyoung Sun as accompanist.

There’s a decidedly old-style feel to Altschuler’s playing, with the almost constant fast vibrato and the bright, slightly nasal tone very reminiscent of Heifetz. His website says that he plays with gut strings and without a shoulder rest, and notes that his sound is indeed reminiscent of old school masters such as his former teacher Friedman, and Heifetz and Kreisler. Friedman was in turn a student of Heifetz, so the link is a valid one.

There is no booklet with the CD, just a single slip of paper in the jewel case front flap, so there is a complete lack of details regarding the recordings; the program, however, is apparently one which Altschuler has been touring for several years. Falla is represented by the Siete canciones populares Españolas and the Danse Espagnol from La Vide Breve; Ravel by the Pièce en forme de Habanera and the Tzigane; and Albéniz by the Tango Op.165 No.2. Poulenc’s Violin Sonata Op.119, written in 1942-43, seems to be a bit out of place in a predominantly Spanish program, but a passionate performance proves that it’s a terrific work which really should be heard more often. Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances are listed as bonus tracks – possibly because they were not part of Altschuler’s regular recital program – and provide an energetic end to the CD.

I originally knew Nina Simone only from her 1960s hit I Put a Spell on You, and then later as a jazz singer with a highly distinctive voice and style, but Little Girl Blue, the new CD from cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton (naïve V 5376), shows how little I actually knew about the range of this artist’s work. Pianist Bruno Fontaine and percussionist Laurent Kraif join the cellist in a program, sub-titled From Nina Simone, that explores Simone’s legacy – “her repertory, her arrangements, her harmonic universe and her story too,” says Wieder-Atherton in the sparse booklet notes, although the significance of one or two of the tracks isn’t made clear.

Simone was a classically trained pianist who won a scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music (she left after running out of money) and was then denied admission to the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, a rejection she always believed to be racially motivated. She was also an accomplished jazz pianist. Little Girl Blue was the title of Simone’s debut album in 1958, and the Rodgers & Hart song is presented here (with a nod to Simone’s own interpolation of Good King Wenceslas in the number) along with four compositions by Simone and a selection of songs by, among others, Duke Ellington, Billy Taylor, Fritz Rotter and Oscar Brown Jr., and two classical works: the Brahms setting of the Bach choral prelude Schmücke dich, o liebe seele and the Andante middle movement from Rachmaninov’s Cello Sonata in G Minor.

The mood throughout the CD is predominantly quiet and introspective, but it is full of lovely moments. The tracks with just piano accompaniment fare much better than some of those with percussion – bells and clusters, hand pans, water drum, grain basket and body percussion (including popping the finger from the mouth) for example – which sometimes seems to detract from the music rather than add to it. Wieder-Atherton’s style in the ballads is quite affecting, and there is some lovely playing from Fontaine, particularly in Fritz Rotter’s That’s All I Want From You, the title track and the two classical items, neither of which sounds the least bit out of place in this setting. Indeed, Simone’s own composition Return Home, the final track on the CD, ends with a whimsical quote from Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.

Pianist Brian Dickinson continues to build on a distinguished career that reaches back to the 1980s. The latest release by his trio, a nominee for the 2015 JUNO Jazz Album of the Year – Group, Fishs Eddy (Addo Records AJR023, addorecords.com) matches him with young drummer Ethan Ardelli and senior bassist George Mraz, whose long CV includes work with Oscar Peterson, Stan Getz and Elvin Jones. It’s a perfect match given Dickinson’s roots in Bill Evans’ harmonically rich, lyrical style and Evans’ evolution of the piano trio, giving a prominent place to the bass to develop strong countermelodies. There’s a keening, reaching, welling lyricism here, a passionate rush of emotion rising from reverie. It begins on familiar melodic ground, George Gershwin’s I Loves You Porgy, explored for over nine minutes, then turns largely to Dickinson’s originals, the trio developing intense interactions around their harmonies and repeating figures.

Quantum (Effendi FND 139, effendirecords.com) is the third CD from the Emie R Roussel Trio, a young group that has been consistently nominated for Quebec festival and media awards since its inception in 2010. It’s easy to hear why. It’s consistently engaging music, well thought out with an almost architectural sense of form. Building on rock-solid foundations provided by bassist Nicolas Bédard and drummer Dominic Cloutier, pianist and composer Roussel compounds a personal idiom that fuses post-bop jazz with R&B (think Joe Sample and George Duke), the instrumentation moving readily from acoustic to Fender Rhodes piano and electric bass. The acoustic highlight is Ipomée, a fine demonstration of Roussel’s ability to construct tension by making incremental shifts in short figures, then contrasting short and long phrases; the electric Marée haute combines a deep groove and extended melodic development.

While the Roussel trio is happiest with a detailed road map, trombonist Jean-Nicolas Trottier builds energy through the exchange of ideas based on brief heads. Trottier is something of a big band specialist, but he pares it down to a trio on Acid Bunny (Effendi FND135). His JNT3, with bassist Rémi-Jean LeBlanc and drummer Rich Irwin, is a band of rare chemistry, quickly overcoming anyone’s doubts about the limited range of a trombone and rhythm trio. Trottier has technique and energy to spare, making effective use of mutes and a bright high register to change things up. Reemy-Jeeny-Leblee is a fine example of the band’s detailed rhythmic interaction and intense swing, while the elegiac Nouveau Patente has LeBlanc’s arco bass line countering Trottier’s elegant line, Irwin negotiating a ground between military ceremony and rubato.

Michel Lambert is a real creative force, whether considered as a painter, percussionist or composer. His compositional vision is particularly evident in Journal des Épisodes II (Rant 1448, jazzfromrant.com), an exploration of a daily diary of compositions and paintings from the last six months of 1988. His group here is a traditional piano trio with pianist Alexandre Grogg and bassist Guillaume Bouchard; what makes it highly untraditional is the presence of 97 tracks on a 44-minute CD. Lambert’s compositions can be as brief as seven seconds, as long as a couple of minutes, but whether microscopic or developed, they’re compelling musical messages that achieve a kind of formal perfection, continuous with their surrealist aesthetic of the unconscious and their Webern-like economy. The material is at once so fragmentary and dense that each trip through the CD is another experience, tiny fragments in time creating new refractions with one another and with the sustained trio pieces.

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Éric Normand is another fount of creativity, working from his unlikely home base in Rimouski to form both a large improvising ensemble, the Grand Groupe Régional d’Improvisation Libérée, and the wide-ranging Tour de Bras record label, as creative in its design as in its music. While a recent GGRIL release appeared as a red vinyl LP, Normand takes a diametrically opposed route to packaging for Philippe Lauzier and Éric Normand’s Not the Music / do (Tour de Bras, tourdebras.com), issuing the CD in a brown paper lunch bag with a printed cover. The music is just as provocative – sustained minimalist improvisations in which Lauzier’s soprano saxophone and bass clarinet extend from single tones to circular breathing against a backdrop of Normand’s electric bass and a snare drum that Normand sometimes plays and often uses as a vibrating surface.

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Montreal sound artist Pierre-Yves Martel creates dauntingly minimalist improvisations contrasting single tones on a renaissance viola de gamba and a harmonica with silences on Continuum (Tour de Bras TD89011CD). It’s demanding work (Martel’s intent extends to letting “the music ‘play’ both the performer and the listener”), an experience in which the act of listening may be dissected and stitched back together, the music developing a severe and icy beauty in the process. Available as limited edition CDs or downloads, extensive portions can be heard at the label’s website.

Among music’s stranger documents is a letter from Woody Guthrie to John Cage, greeting his music as “a keen fresh breeze.” It might have inspired The/Les Surruralist(e)s on Sortablue (SURRU 01, actuellecd.com). The duo of Nova Scotia-based Arthur Bull (guitars, harmonica and voice) and Normand (electric bass, tenor banjo and voice) explore early blues and folksongs from perspectives shaped by free jazz and improvised music, adding a raw electric edge and weirdly dissonant accompaniments to traditional instrumental approaches and songs like La Femme Du Soldat and Stagger Lee. The two create a new tradition in the same breath that they pay homage to others.

When it comes to welcoming immigrants to North America, Canada and the United States have long had different policies. To Americans the ideal is the melting pot with all foreigners persuaded to become true-blue Yanks. Modern Canada, once it shook off fealty to Britain, has long promoted multiculturalism, where immigrants become Canadians without giving up their homeland identity. Generalities should be avoided, but it’s informative to see these concepts played out in improvised music. Thus Neelamjit Dhillon, born in Vancouver of Sikh background, has created a notable CD based on the infamous 1914 incident when 376 mostly Sikh immigrants were refused entry to Canada. To do so he mixes traditional Indian instruments with Western ones. In contrast, American performers who are his contemporaries, and with similar immigrant roots, have recorded sessions exclusively linked to the un-hyphenated jazz continuum.

A notable work, that evolves through nine related sequences, Komagata Maru (neelamjit.com) manages to tell this shameful story of anticipation, betrayal, violence and ultimately hope for the future with only four musicians, admixing Indian sub-continental and Western sounds. Besides Dhillon, who plays alto saxophone, tabla and bansuri, a transverse bamboo flute, the others are bassist André Lachance and drummer Dan Gaucher plus Chris Gestrin, who plays sympathetic, whimsical piano throughout; and who produced, recorded and mixed the disc. With Gestrin’s strong accompaniment, Dhillion’s proficiency allows him to create swinging, unforced jazz lines throughout, no matter which instrument he’s playing. Even the tabla’s distinct timbres are used to make specific points rather than for exoticism. On Shore Committee: Bonds of Ancestral Kinship and later on British Clash at Budge Budge, for instance, the Carnatic drum’s textures contrast sharply with Gaucher’s martial-styled drumming, together symbolically depicting a full-scale riot on the first tune; and add to the sonic bellicosity of the second, further intensified by keyboard clips and harsh reed slurps. In the same way the expansive Munshi Singh: Trial for a Sanguine Tomorrow has its relaxed mood, set up by Lachance’s double-time strumming, disrupted by contrapuntal screeds, although they come from the bansuri rather than an alto saxophone. Crucially as well, the sonic representation of police-passenger combat on Debris from the Sky: Confront with the Tools at Hand, relies on the divergence between very Westernized double bass strokes and the distinctively Indian tabla patterns. Finally, the unforced Lee Konitz-like saxophone riffs Dhillon uses to underline the exposition here not only relate back to the introduction but portend the concluding Reconciliation: Evoke the Fallen and Persevere. Part elegy and part anticipation, the tune’s mellow hopefulness suggests why incidents like that of the Komagata Maru are rare in Canadian history. As well this meticulously crafted CD posits that Dhillon and company will soon be creating more intriguing sounds, either straight ahead or with a sub-continental lilt.

As more immigrants or children of immigrants begin to fill the ranks of Canadian improvisers it will be instructive in the future to observe whether an American-inflected national style takes hold, or if Canadian musical sensibilities will still include distinctive overseas links.

Moving south of the 49th parallel a different musical ethos takes hold. Alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, whose parents are Indian, and guitarist Rez Abbasi, who was born in Pakistan and immigrated to the U.S. as a small child, have in the past recorded discs reflecting their South Asian roots. But both these New York-based players’ newest sessions are jazz, without ethnic subtitles. Mahanthappa’s Bird Calls (ACT 9581-2 actmusic.com) consists of 13 of the saxophonist’s compositions based on familiar Charlie “Bird” Parker lines; while Abbasi takes on eight jazz-rock classics of the 1970s on Intents and Purposes (Enja Records ENJ-952-2 enjarecords.com), and recasts them using only his acoustic guitars, Bill Ware’s vibes, Stephen Crump’s bass and the drums of Eric McPherson. Although hints of sarod-like shimmers from Abbasi’s fretless instrument peek through on Herbie Hancock’s Butterfly, the intent and purpose of this disc lies in post-modern interpretation. Decelerating and relaxing the themes, Abbasi and company transform them from arena jazz-rock showpieces to subtle improvisational vehicles. Instructively enough the tracks that work best are those such as Joe Zawinul’s Black Market, Chick Corea’s Medieval Overture and Tony Williams’ There Comes a Time written by composers who played other instruments than the rock-associated guitar and who had the strongest pre-fusion jazz bona fides. With McPherson’s percussion hovering in the background, these restrained interpretations usually take impetus from Crump’s bass line; while leaving room for his solo work as well. Medieval Overture for instance, features a sequence of time and tempo changes where the string build-up is divided between, and nearly identical from, bass and guitar interpretations. Ware’s buoyancy animates most of the sequences as well, showcasing resonating textures that are often voiced alongside Abbasi’s finger-style lead. Meanwhile There Comes a Time, the concluding – and climatic – track is painted in the most vibrant and captivating colours, with strong four-mallet vibraphone smacks blending with thick baritone guitar strums that almost resemble tenor saxophone licks. Keeping it and the other pieces in a proper groove, Intents and Purposesreclaims them all for the jazz canon.

If transforming fusion into straight-ahead jazz is the attained challenge of Abbasi’s CD, then Bird Calls is an even more daunting task: finding a new way to interpret Parker’s legacy. Using a standard bop formation of saxophone, trumpet (Adam O’Farrill), piano (Matt Mitchell), bass (François Moutin) and drums (Rudy Royston), Mahanthappa’s contrafacts are up-to-the-minute statements which still intuit Parker’s essence. Putting a brake on bebop’s sometime frantic performance velocity, these interpretations are helped immeasurably by the saxophonist’s tone, which is wider and more rounded than Bird’s, often moving into the tenor range. In contrast, while O’Farrill frequently shows his age (20), by incessantly reaching for the most elevated capillary patterns, his excesses are reined in by the others. Oddly enough it’s the trumpeter’s Hispanic background which also comes into play giving a Latin feel to some of his work. As for Indian echoes, they’re practically non-existent, unless the obvious references to Hindu chanting on Gopuram can be counted. But even so this contrafact of Steeplechase gives more prominence to breakneck ripostes from piano, trumpet and saxophone. The remainder of the disc emphasizes a variant of mainstream jazz over all else. The rhythmic riffs that characterize Talin is Thinking (taken from Parker’s Mood) for example, go back as far as the Count Basie band’s elevation of the bluesy harmonies that came from Parker’s Kansas City hometown. Meanwhile Chillin’ (based on Relaxin’ at Canarillo), takes its shape from classic bop. The trumpeter and saxophonist face off with equivalent harsh lines while the bassist’s woody clunks and the drummer’s rolls and ruffs properly pace the galloping rhythms. Seconding both horns and carving space for himself throughout the tune, Mitchell demonstrates a command of the idiom as well as a casual, almost carefree pacing in his solos.

Yet another variation on this theme shows up on For The Blue Notes (Ogun Records OGCD 042 ogunrecords.com). Although the musicians featured have ancestral backgrounds from Martinique, Guyana and South Africa as well as parts of the United Kingdom, these ancestral memories are subsumed in this salute to the combo that left Apartheid-era South Africa to mingle high-life rhythms with British free jazz, creating an unmatched hybrid sound. Led by percussionist Louis Moholo-Moholo, the last surviving Blue Note, the octet’s repertory was mostly composed by original Blue Note members. What that means is that tracks such as Sonke and Zanele are fully in the South African style even though the associated vocals are by French-born (of Martinique background) Francine Luce. When she trades licks with the horns as well, the end product is high quality jazz that soars without labels or hyphens. Furthermore, listening to other creations like the title track, it’s bassist John Edwards’ solid timekeeping and pianist Alexander Hawkins’ kinetic chording that drive the undertaking as much as tie keening solos from saxophonist Jason Yarde and Ntshuks Bonga. Closer to the American rather than the Canadian concept here, the ancestral background of the players hardly influences the notable sounds issuing from their instruments.

As more immigrants or children of immigrants begin to fill the ranks of Canadian improvisers it will be instructive in the future to observe whether an American-inflected national style takes hold, or if Canadian musical sensibilities will still include distinctive overseas links.

It is Friday afternoon and my daughter Adrienne just called me and asked what I was doing now. “I’m having a wonderful afternoon, wallowing in the music from a box of mono recordings.”

The Decca Sound The Mono Years 1944-1956 (Decca 4787946, 53 CDs) is a treasure trove of exemplary performances of symphonic and instrumental music by artists in the Decca stable at the time. FFRR, the ear and ffrr logo, standing for “full frequency range recording,” were registered trademarks and their appearance on the label informed the consumer that this recording sounded better than anything else on the market. For sure, the tipping point into the classical market was when Ernest Ansermet came to London and recorded Petrouchka with the London Philharmonic Orchestra to be released on five 78rpm records. Records are what recordings were called at the time. In November 1949 Ansermet recorded Petrouchka once more, this time in Geneva with the orchestra he had founded in 1918, L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Issued, as before on ten 78rpm sides, it also appeared as Decca’s first Long Playing Microgroove record in June 1950 (years ahead of EMI, as usual) and three months later on, yes, as five 78s. As American Columbia, who developed the LP, had trademarked the name and the lp symbol, other companies could not call their LPs, LP. Phillips, who was Columbia’s partner in Europe, for example, coined “mini-groove.” Eventually however LP became generic.

That Geneva Petrouchka elevated Decca as a label and equally important spotlighted Ansermet and his orchestra. The Petrouchka is on the first disc in this Decca box along with their Le Sacre du Printempsrecorded in October 1950. Both are fine performances that are still admirable, dynamic and cleanly recorded, the harbinger of the many wonderful, highly sought-after Decca recordings to come from Ansermet conducting the Suisse Romande and other orchestras in an astonishingly wide repertoire. Included here are Roussel’sThe Spider’s Feast; Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin; Rachmaninov’s Isle of the Dead; Dukas’ Le Peri and Debussy’s Six Epigraphes antiques and Jeux.

The world’s expanding demand for more ffrr recordings necessitated finding new artists and the recruiting began, acquiring many now-familiar names. The young Georg Solti was signed in 1947 as a pianist and made several recordings with violinist Georg Kulenkampff. Solti was itching to conduct and so he did with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra in Beethoven’s Egmont Overture. Many of his recordings from the time are included here: with the LPO are Bartók, Kodály and Haydn and with the LSO Mozart. In March 1946 The Concertgebouw Orchestra under Eduard van Beinum visited London and in the Walthamstow Assembly Hall they had their first recording session with Decca. Their sessions in mid-March 1947 included the Leonore Overture No.2 that was issued on two 10” 78s and hasn’t been heard since. Decca made regular trips to Amsterdam, where in September 1948 Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra was taken down and in 1953, Decca’s final year before the orchestra went to Philips, van Beinum recorded William Pijper’sThird Symphony and a suite from Diepenbrock’s Marsyas produced by John Culshaw who had joined Decca in 1946. Many more items of the Eduard van Beinum recorded legacy with Decca are available on a 5-CD set Decca Original Masters (4731102).

One wonders why EMI let Benjamin Britten change record companies. Britten and Peter Pears had already recorded folk songs for EMI who also released an abridged Peter Grimes and Rape of Lucretia but as heard here, Decca has Britten conducting his Sinfonia da Requiem, Diversions for Piano left hand (with Julius Katchen),Four Sea Interludesand Passacaglia from Grimes and The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.

On a personal note; from 1952 to 1955 Decca had recorded Sir Adrian Boult in the complete Vaughan Williams Symphonies (seven at the time) with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Those performances were assembled and issued in a uniquely packaged set soon after. My wife presented me with that set for my 25th birthday. Some great wife!

Long gone are the many, many artists who live on in their performances documented by Decca, always in technology ahead of state of the art. The hi-fi era was ushered in by Decca’s ffrr recordings. The CDs in this set are sensibly arranged by artist with a composer’s directory in the booklet. Surprisingly, there is no duplication of any work. Here are but a few of the artists represented in this collection with a significant work:

Alfredo Campoli: Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole (with van Beinum), Elgar Violin Concerto (with Boult); Amadeus Quartet: Mozart Piano Quartets (with Clifford Curzon); Adrian Boult: Vaughan Williams Job and the Suite from the Wasps; also Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev; Sir Arthur Bliss conducts his Colour Symphony and his Violin Concerto (with Alfredo Campoli); Anthony Collins: Walton/Sitwell Façade (with Sitwell and Pears) and Elgar, Falstaff; Clifford Curzon: Brahms Piano Concerto No.1 (van Beinum); Mischa Elman: Beethoven Violin Concerto (with Solti); Christian Ferras: Brahms Violin Concerto (with Carl Schuricht); Anatole Fistoulari: Graduation Ball and ballets by Gluck, Grétry and Tchaikovsky’s usual three; Pierre Fournier: Brahms’ two cello sonatas (Backhaus); Maurice Gendron: Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata (Jean Françaix), Schumann Cello Concerto (Ansermet); Griller Quartet: Bloch’s four string quartets and Sibelius Voces Intímae; Friedrich Gulda: Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas 26 & 29 and Eroica Variations; Quartetto Italiano: Quartets by Haydn, Boccherini, Schumann and Verdi; Thomas Jensen: Sibelius Lemminkäinen and Karelia Suites; Erich Kleiber: Beethoven Symphonies 6 & 9 plus Wagner; Hans Knappertsbusch: Bruckner Third Symphony (third version, Schalk & Loewe) VPO; Moura Lympany: Rachmaninov Third Concerto (Anthony Collins), Khachaturian Concerto (Fistoulari); Peter Maag: Mozart Symphonies 28 & 29, Serenade in D major K203I; Jean Martinon: Lalo, two Namouna Suites; Fauré and Françaix Concertino (with Kathleen Long); Boyd Neel: Handel 12 Concerti Grossi, Op.6; Zara Nelsova: cello sonatas by Rachmaninov and Kodály; Ruggiero Ricci: two violin concertos by Paganini (with Anthony Collins); Trio de Trieste: Beethoven Archduke Trio, Brahms Trio No.1; Erik Tuxen: fifth symphonies by Prokofiev and Sibelius; Vegh Quartet: string quartets by Smetana, Kodály and Schubert; Wiener Oktett: Mozart Divertimenti 10 & 17, Mendelssohn Octet, Brahms Clarinet Quintet (Alfred Boskovsky).

Because British Decca and American Decca were unrelated, the records were re-labelled London for distribution in North America and elsewhere. The offerings in this box are not presented as a sonic spectacular but as a true reproduction of the original truth of the monaural recordings heard better now than then.

Last month I mentioned attending a Boulez 1969 concert in the Royal Festival Hall that included the Berg Violin Concerto with Isaac Stern. There is no Boulez/Stern recording but in 1959 Stern recorded the concerto in New York with Leonard Bernstein conducting. Praga has produced an SACD “DSD remastered from the original quadraphonic tentatives…without artificial back effect.” (Praga PRD/DSD 350099 hybrid). The disc-mates are the Bartók Violin Concerto and Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra. Stern had a unique, recognizable timbre that makes this an attractive disc particularly in view of the interpretative insights all around and the ideal sound.

Back in the days of classical AM stations, there was a place for attractive works of lasting interest but of shorter rather than longer duration. There was a Dohnányi piece that surfaced regularly, the Rhapsody in C Major, Op.11 No.3 played by the renowned pianist Eileen Joyce. Testament has issued some previously unissued concert performances by Ernö Dohnányi (AKA Ernst von Dohnányi) recorded live at the Edinburgh Festival in 1956, at Florida University in 1959 and a couple of BBC transcriptions (SBT2 1505, 2 CDs). Born in 1877 in Bratislava (then Pozsony), Dohnányi attended the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest where he studied with Istvan Thomán, a pupil of Liszt. As did Béla Bartók and György Cziffra. Dohnányi became a composer, pianist and conductor. Through the first half of the last century he was regarded as a pianist of the first rank but today most music lovers might only recognize him as the composer of Variations on a Nursery Tune for piano and orchestra. He did however write a significant amount of chamber music, which is well represented in the catalogue, and composed major symphonic works.

The Florida recital opens with Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No.16, Op.31. No.1, Schubert’s No.18 D894 and three pieces of Dohnányi’s  own. Disc two contains six solo pieces and a concerto, Symphonic Minutes, Op.36. This is a brilliant, interesting four-movement work of which there are another two performances in the catalogue – neither of which I have heard – but this one has the composer-pianist playing. It must be noted that because of the variation of recorded quality of the originals, this release is intended for avid collectors and archivists who can listen through the artifacts. However, I find that the brain soon adjusts and diminishes the steady extraneous distractions. 

I was intrigued to receive a package from Woody Guthrie Publications in New York City and more so when I opened it to find it contained This Land: Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie by David Amram performed by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra (coloradosymphony.org). I first encountered the music of David Amram almost half a century ago on the soundtrack to the seminal Beat Generation film Pull My Daisy directed by Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie. The film included Amram’s jazz setting of the title poem written by Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady. The somewhat haunting theme proved to be an earworm that has stuck with me since first hearing. (If you haven’t seen the film you can check it out at ubu.com/film/leslie_daisy.html.) My next exposure was at the Mariposa Festival one of the years it took place on the Toronto Islands where Amram was featured in a variety of guises, including in the children’s tent with Raffi who sang a catchy song to the tune of Arkansas Traveler with the words “Peanut butter sandwich made with jam, One for me and one for David Amram…” which still pops up in my ears from time to time. Amram is a renaissance man who is seemingly comfortable in all genres and on almost all instruments. A pioneer of jazz French horn and a trailblazer of the World Music movement, he is equally at home in the concert hall, having conducted more than 75 orchestras and performed as orchestral soloist on a host of different instruments. In 1966 Leonard Bernstein appointed him as the first composer-in-residence with the New York Philharmonic and his oeuvre extends to more than 100 orchestral and chamber works, several operas and a couple of notable film scores (Splendor in the Grass and The Manchurian Candidate). All of which is to say that he has impeccable credentials to pay tribute to one of the most iconic songwriters and chroniclers of American life.

Lasting nearly 40 minutes, This Land uses the orchestral palette to paint a vast pastoral portrait of the land that Guthrie traveled so extensively and described so aptly in his songs. The work is divided into six main movements with descriptive titles: Theme and Variations for the Road (in which we first hear the familiar tune from the marimba) & Variation I: Oklahoma Stomp Dance; Variation II: Sunday Morning Church Service in Okema (Guthrie’s home town); Variation III: Prelude and Pampa Texas Barn Dance; Variation IV: Dreaming of Mexico; Variation V: Dust Bowl Dirge; Variation VI: Street Sounds of New York’s Neighborhoods (which includes Caribbean Street Festival, Klezmer Wedding, Salvation Army Hymn and Block Party Jam). The melody of This Land Is Your Land is cleverly woven throughout the textures of the work, sometimes hidden but never far from the surface, and appears in some surprising contexts such as the ground bass for the klezmer clarinet solo. My only concern is the overall subdued nature of the work. It never gets truly raucous or rambunctious and we never hear the hard edge of Guthrie’s gritty side, his working class hero with the emblem “this guitar kills fascists” etched on his axe. This Land is complemented with another pastorale, a mellow set of variations for flute and strings on the American classic folk song Red River Valley.

A disc that met all my expectations was recently released by New World Records (80765-2). Soft Horizons features works by Canadian composer Barbara Monk Feldman performed by pianist Aki Takahashi, the Flux Quartet and the DownTown Ensemble. It opens in a very contemplative mood with the title piece, a solo piano work reminiscent of the composer’s late husband and mentor Morton Feldman. The sparse, gentle, meandering work gives each note time to breathe before moving on, producing a wondrous sense of calm while at the same time creating a sense of anticipation as we await the next quiet event. Written in 2012, Soft Horizons is the most recent work presented.

Although currently residing in Guelph, Monk Feldman lived for many years in New Mexico. Her 2004 String Quartet No.1 is subtitled Desert Scape and presents two visions of that geological phenomenon. The first begins with a consonant viola melody commented upon by bird- or insect-like sounds from the violins. As the movement develops the harmonies get closer in a kind of gentle abrasiveness which is supplanted by melodies echoed in higher octaves and later a Bartókian “night music” section, but in slow motion. The second movement maintains the sense of uneasy calm, this time with high melodies and commentaries in the lower strings. As the piece gradually unfolds we are drawn into a delicate soundworld where the sense of disquiet gradually seems to become the new normal.

The final piece, The Chaco Wilderness (2005), while maintaining the overall sonic mood of gradual progression adds a wealth of colour to the textures through its use of vibraphone, flute, clarinet, guitar/mandolin and piano. The work is in three contrasting movements and is the shortest by far on the disc. It may seem surprising that it contains the most “activity” per se, but I rather think that this is indicative of Monk Feldman’s style. The pieces in which “nothing happens” need a longer time frame to unfold.

All of the artists on this recording are masters of the genre. Aki Takahashi has been in the forefront of the avant garde since the 1970s, working with Cage, Xenakis, Boulez and Takemitsu to name but a few. In 1980 she was invited by Morton Feldman as a Creative Associate of the Center of the Creative and Performing Arts at SUNY, Buffalo. FLUX, which includes Canadian violist Max Mandel, was founded nearly 20 years ago and has been active on the New York scene ever since. Among their achievements is the performance (and recording for Mode Records) of Morton Feldman’s stunning five and half hour String Quartet No.2. The DownTown Ensemble, founded by Daniel Goode and William Hellermann, is now in its fourth decade of presenting experimental music in virtually all of its diverse forms.

Coming at it from a very different angle, Europeanized Canadian MC/pop arranger/composer/performer Chilly Gonzales (aka Jason Charles Beck) has been working extensively with the Hamburg-based Kaiser Quartett lately and has just released a disc of original compositions for piano and string quartet. Chambers (Gentle Threat Records GENTLE016, chillygonzales.com) is intended as a reimagining of “Romantic-era chamber music as today’s addictive pop” and the project succeeds, with catchy melodies and warm harmonic writing. While it certainly doesn’t push any boundaries of new classical vocabulary it will open the ears of people who don’t normally have occasion to listen to string quartets or thoughtful instrumental music. The overall feeling of the disc is surprisingly laid-back, with only three of the twelve tracks proceeding at anything faster than a moderato pace, but this makes for a sense of continuity throughout. The titles are playful, including clever wordplay as in Prelude to a Feud, Freudian Slippers, and Green’s Leaves. One surprise is a slightly melancholy piece called Odessa, dedicated to the Ukrainian-born Russian composer Reinhold Glière. Another is a haunting vocal ballad, Myth Me, the earworm which concludes the disc. Concert Note: Chilly Gonzales and the Kaiser Quartett perform at Koerner Hall on April 21.

Another album with a somewhat similar feel comes from renowned classical pianist Alain Lefèvre who is known for his recordings of Chopin, Liszt and Mozart and also for his championing of the music of Canadian wunderkind André Mathieu (1929-1968). Rive Gauche (Analekta AN 2 9295) is a collection of Lefèvre’s own compositions, in his words “films for the ear, images for the piano” so it is likely no coincidence that the disc begins with a piece entitled Cinema Lumière. There is an overall sense of nostalgia in these warm, melodic pieces that range from swinging solo piano miniatures to chamber jazz tunes with the addition of bass (Michel Donato) and drums (Paul Brochu). Violinist Angèle Dubeau makes a cameo appearance on the tune Paris de mes souvenirs, a lovely ballad full of longing, and Léane Labrêche-Dor adds her pleasing jazz-infected voice to the closing track Au bout de mes rêves.

When we think of Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) such works as the Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre and the magnificent Organ Symphony come most readily to mind, but he also left some chamber gems behind, including a number of sonatas for various instruments, a piano quintet, a piano quartet and two piano trios. It is the Piano Trios which are featured on a new disc by Trio Latitude 41 (Eloquentia EL 1547 eloquentia.fr). The curious name of the trio stems from the geographical placement of both their first engagement in Rhode Island and the city of Rome, where the Italian cellist Luigi Piovano lives. The other members are American violinist Livia Sohn and Canadian-born pianist Bernadene Blaha, who for the past two decades has made her home in Los Angeles where she teaches at the University of Southern California.

While far from unknown, these trios are quite underrepresented in the catalogue – only three other recordings of the two together, including one by the Vienna Piano Trio who appeared in Toronto recently courtesy of Mooredale Concerts, turned up on a quick search at Grigorian.com – and these sensitive and nuanced performances are a welcome addition. The trios were composed three decades apart, the first having been written in 1863 and the second not until 1892. The disc opens with the latter, with rumbling bass from the piano’s left hand and a welcoming melody from the strings accompanied by ebullient passages from pianist’s right hand. Although not a work we hear very often it sounds familiar in wonderful way, with hints of Mendelssohn’s A Minor Trio without seeming derivative. At 35 minutes it is an exhilarating and at times intense journey. The charming earlier trio, itself nearly half an hour long, is lighter and more playful, perhaps indicative of the youth of the composer, but balanced and well crafted. Both receive compelling performances in this rewarding release. I thank Trio Latitude 41 for bringing these works (back) to my attention.

We welcome your feedback and invite submissions. CDs and comments should be sent to: DISCoveries, WholeNote Media Inc., The Centre for Social Innovation, 503 – 720 Bathurst St. Toronto ON M5S 2R4. We also encourage you to visit our website thewholenote.com where you can find added features including direct links to performers, composers and record labels, expanded and archival reviews. David Olds, DISCoveries Editor discoveries@thewholenote.com

Handel – Ariodante
Ann Murray; Joan Rodgers; English National Opera Orchestra and Chorus; 
Ivor Bolton
ArtHaus Musik 100065

Ariodante is a late opera by Handel. It is also one of his finest. It broke new ground in a number of ways: there are important ballet scenes; there is a real chorus; and there are substantial parts for the tenor and for the bass. This DVD is a record of the English National Opera production of the work, first mounted in 1993, then revived in 1996. Like all ENO productions it is sung in English. I think there is some point in translating a libretto into the language of most people in the audience in the case of comic operas or works with spoken dialogue. I don’t think it helps with an opera seria by Handel.

The production is by David Alden, who has in recent years given us several controversial productions for the Canadian Opera Company. There are a number of directorial excesses such as the quite gratuitous dream sequences, while the ballets that conclude both the second and third act are abominable. Moreover, the artists whom we see and hear are singers, not film stars. Several of the women are heavily made up and would no doubt look splendid from the second balcony. They do not in close-up and yet close-ups are what we get much of the time.

The conductor, Ivor Bolton, is very good and there is some fine singing from Ann Murray and Joan Rodgers, from Lesley Garrett and Gwynne Howell. But if your main interest is in the music you are better off listening to one of the CD sets available such as the version conducted by Raymond Leppard on Philips (with Janet Baker and Norma Burrowes) or that conducted by Alan Curtis on Virgin (with Karina Gauvin and Marie-Nicole Lemieux).