Young & Foolish

Sophie Berkal-Sarbit

Independent KEC-CD-5150 (www.sophieberkalsarbit.com)

To have one CD under your belt when you’re only 19 is quite an accomplishment. For Sophie Berkal-Sarbit to be releasing her second at that age is a marvel. Berkal-Sarbit has a background in musical theatre that shows in her singing style, which has a gutsiness and assurance beyond her tender years.

Piano master Bill King produced and arranged the 12 covers on the album that opens with the heart-starter I’m Gonna Live Till I Die and moves through songs by a range of old and new composers including Porter’s Love for Sale and Strayhorn’s gorgeous, desolate Lush Life. Refreshingly, newer songs like Sting’s Until and Pick Somebody Up by Raul Midón also get reworked here.

King has assembled a roster of local luminaries like drummer Davide di Renzo and Duncan Hopkins on bass. As always, Rob Piltch brings much to the mix with his gorgeous nylon-string guitar work. “Young and Foolish” can be found on iTunes as well as in stores across Canada.

nota bene

PJ Perry

Independent (www.pjperry.com)

Take five great standards, a Charlie Parker blues and five originals, add PJ Perry - surely one of the best straight ahead saxophonists in the country, or any country for that matter - and a rhythm section that really knows how to swing and you have a CD deserving of a place in your collection.

The standards include the familiar Limehouse Blues and Georgia On My Mind along with Be My Love, The Gypsy and What’ll I Do. Add Parker’s Mood and the five interesting PJ originals and you have just over an hour’s worth of honest jazz. On one of the original pieces, Salsa Saxofono, the regular rhythm section takes time out in order to feature David Verelles on piano and Jalidan Ruiz on congas and timbales.

Recorded in August at Humber Recording Studios and October at Inception Sound, this recording shows that not only is Mark Eisenman an inventive soloist but also a sympathetic accompanist, adding just the right touches behind the leader’s forceful saxophone playing. PJ is a joy to listen to and bassist Neil Swainson and John Sumner on drums provide the icing on the cake.

Fringe Percussion

Fringe Percussion

Independent FP2009

(www.fringepercussion.com)

From the first ten seconds of the first track of “Fringe Percussion”, I was held spellbound. The Vancouver group of the same name is able to hold their own in the diverse and talented pool of Canadian percussionists and percussion ensembles by performing an interesting program with consistent precision and musicality.

John Cage’s Dance Music for Elfrid Ide was an unknown work until its 2005 discovery in the Mills College archives. Composed for dancer/student Elfrid Ide, it is a charming three movement work. The performers capture Cage’s nuances with elegance, especially in the softer sections. Jocelyn Morlock’s Darwin’s Walken Fish Quartet is all musical fun and games, with a splashy percussive ending that contemplates what life would be like if fish were four-legged creatures. The Fringe Percussion recording of John Wyre’s Marubatoo is based upon the work’s unrecorded trio version. Composer Colin MacDonald’s contribution is Enginuity. This feels more like a work in progress, with the clever idea of having the vibraphone and marimba supporting the drumming really coming to fruition in the final third of the work. The energetic Latin flavoured Los Forwards by Graham Boyle completes the release.

What strikes me in listening to Fringe Percussion is the meticulous rhythmic ensemble playing which is overshadowed only by a formidable musical sense. Jonathan Bernard, Martin Fisk, Brian Nesselroad and Daniel Tones play together like lifelong friends. Here’s hoping that they continue drumming together for a long time!

Creating A Landscape

Réa Beaumont

Shrinking Planet Productions SPP 0089 (www.creatingalandscape.com)

Sometimes the planets align, and fortune favours the bold. These sayings only partially do justice to Réa Beaumont, who takes command of the stage of Glenn Gould Studio with a stunning set of contemporary piano works.

Opening with Arvo Pärt’s groundbreaking tintinnabular work Für Alina, the dynamic continues to remain below mezzo piano for an astonishing 13 minutes. Cage’s very early In a Landscape, played as it was written with no prepared piano devices, rounds out this episode. As you proceed through the works, the material grows gradually denser and more adventurous. Beaumont chose another early work, Colin McPhee’s Op. 1 Piano Sketches from 1916, showing the composer in great form before his exposure to the gamelan. Barbara Pentland’s relatively late (1983) Vincula is an adventurous bit of polyphony, and sensitively played. Chan Ka Nin cascades arpeggiated lines in Vast. Brent Lee’s Subjective Geometries restores the tranquility. The surprise ending is Anton Kuerti’s 6-movement Six Arrows (1974) in a thoroughly 20th century idiom, far removed from anything remotely related to Beethoven.

Beaumont handles all this repertoire with enviable ease. Glenn Gould Studio’s hand-picked Steinway D274 is sensitively recorded by the legendary team of Jaeger and Quinney, with help from Dennis Patterson. The recorded sound is not “in your face”, but nonetheless you can clearly hear subtle nuances of pedalling. You absolutely must hear this.

Villa-Lobos - Complete Symphonies

Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra WDR; Carl St. Clair

CPO 777 516-2

The eminent Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) took as his model for symphonic compositions the cyclic approach endorsed by Vincent d’Indy, regarded in the conservative Brazilian musical circles of his day as quite innovative. Though Villa-Lobos was to discover on first visiting France in 1923 that he was a generation behind contemporary trends in this regard, he doggedly held on to this model for the remainder of his works in this genre. The 12 symphonies are almost entirely cast in four often quite lengthy movements with very few traces of the indigenous Brazilian characteristics for which he is best known. His symphonies have never been as popular as his celebrated Bachianas Brasilieras and Chôros cycles and the majority of them have not previously been available in recordings. Fortunately the American conductor Carl St. Clair began the project of documenting these works in Stuttgart in 1997 for the innovative CPO label and we now have the complete works in an attractively priced box set.

The early symphonies date from 1917 to 1920; symphonies 2-5 are part of a cycle documenting the course of the First World War (the score of the fifth symphony however is lost). The French influence is prominent, including Debussian whole tone passages, lush harmonies and programmatic quotations of La Marseillaise. The Stuttgart forces cope admirably with the often cruel string writing and congested scoring. The later symphonies date from 1944 to 1957 and were commissions from various orchestras; the most impressive of these, the grandiose “Amerindia” choral Symphony No. 10, was written for the 400th Anniversary of the City of São Paulo. The harmonic language of these later works is considerably more interesting and the orchestration marginally more concise, though there is sometimes a surfeit of counterpoint that suggests mere note-spinning.

Carl St. Clair is to be commended for his patience in deciphering the error-ridden manuscripts and contributing the essential interpretive decisions this notoriously prolific composer neglected to indicate. Though these self-consciously cosmopolitan symphonies may lack the charm of his overtly nationalist works they are typically impassioned, energetic, and well worth listening to. This is a well-recorded landmark set and a must-have item for aficionados of Latin America’s greatest composer.

Sibelius; Prokofiev - Violin Concertos
Vilde Frang; WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne; Thomas Søndergård

EMI Classics 6 84413 2

I don’t know how to start... she’s too good to believe! Even though Vilde Frang is new on the recording scene, her debut CD has tremendous impact, driven by her talent and intelligence. This kind of supreme violin playing is rare.

Vilde Frang was born in Norway in 1986 and made her debut with orchestra at the age of ten. She concertizes throughout Scandinavia, Europe and the Balkan countries. She has shared the stage with such luminaries as Martha Argerich, Gidon Kremer, and Maxim Vengerov. She toured Europe and the USA with Anne-Sophie Mutter (her mentor) and the Camerata Salzburg. The recordings heard here were made when she was 22.

There are several recent recordings of the Sibelius, both new and historic, re-issues and discoveries, but this one stands out. Not since Ivry Gitlis’ legendary recording from the mid-fifties (VOX) have I been so taken.

From the opening bars the mood is set and the heartfelt scenario unfolds. Her playing is not only beautiful, it is original with genuine style and personality... attributes that have characterized the greatest music masters throughout a century of recordings. From the lyrical first movement to the energetic frisson of the finale I was mesmerized. That she feels a close relationship to this concerto is unmistakable.

For the Prokofiev concerto, too, she plays with great authority. After the eerie opening, she introduces a measure of frivolity and rhythmic vitality, always with taste and respect for the composer. Altogether, another magnificent performance.

A compelling case is also made for the rarely heard Humoresques.

Throughout the coherence and rapport between soloist, conductor and orchestra is captured on a dynamic recording with a real-life balance between soloist and orchestra. I am certain that we’ll be hearing much more from Vilde Frang.

Migot - Suite à trois; Le livre des danceries

Robert Cram; Trio Hochelaga

ATMA ACD2 2543

Intense in his spirituality, drawing on the rich diversity of French music, and inspired by the Touraine landscape, Georges Migot (1891-1976) could not fail to achieve fame as president of La Spirale, the Parisian society dedicated to offering performances of new French works.

Migot’s Trio of 1935 commences with the Modéré, an intense - and clashing and disjointed - movement. It is almost a duel between piano and violin. It is followed by an Allègre. Both movements make great demands on the skills of cellist Paul Marleyn and violinist Anne Robert; their skills ensure that this recording matches up to the description of the Trio as one of the most arresting pieces of French chamber music.

Third movement is the Danse, where Stéphane Lemelin’s piano-playing comes into its own, as intense as the string parts, but more disciplined as the piano is denied the liberty that the latter enjoy as they invoke France’s varied heritage. Last is the Final: no instrument dominates and Migot allows each to test its player’s skill. This is an intense suite of chamber music, a challenge to preconceived ideas of classical ensembles.

In very different spirit is the Livre des Danceries where flautist Robert Cram introduces a sprightly quality which is eventually taken up by the piano part in the second - Gai - movement. At last, the CD’s pianist can relax! Next is Réligieux, longest of the four movements, drawing on melodic religious sources. And then Conclusion, from the earliest bars a celebration of the other movements and an exciting way to round off Trio Hochelaga’s vigorous interpretations.

English Music for Viola

Eniko Magyar; Tadashi Imai

Naxos 8.572407

There is something about the viola’s tonal quality that makes it seem quintessentially English; appropriately so, given that it was an Englishman – Lionel Tertis – who almost singlehandedly established the viola as a legitimate solo instrument in the early 20th century. Tertis had connections with most of the music on this outstanding debut CD by the London-based Hungarian violist Eniko Magyar.

The Bliss Sonata is the most challenging of the works, with a turbulent, restless and dissonant start and a passionate third movement. It was written for, and dedicated to, Tertis, who gave the first performance in 1933.

A year earlier, Tertis had transcribed Delius’s Third Violin Sonata and had played it for the ailing composer at the latter’s home in Grez-sur-Loing. Written in 1930, it is Delius at his distinctively lyrical best.

The seven attractive miniatures by Frank Bridge date from 1901 to 1908, when Bridge was in his 20s. Most were originally written for violin or cello; only two – Pensiero and Allegro appassionato – were written specifically for the viola, Bridge’s own instrument, and were published as the first titles in the Lionel Tertis Viola Library in 1908.

Magyar plays her c.1700 Grancino viola (on loan from the Royal Academy) with warmth, sensitivity, and a superb technique, and is ably and sympathetically supported by pianist Tadashi Imai. The recording quality and booklet notes are both excellent.

Elgar - Violin Concerto

Nikolaj Znaider; Staatskapelle Dresden; Sir Colin Davis

RCA Red Seal 88697 60588 2

Nikolaj Znaider has not yet attained universal fame but, be assured, he is on the way. He is an exclusive RCA recording artist and has several fine concerto discs including the Brahms and Korngold with Valery Gergiev, the Beethoven and Mendelssohn with Zubin Mehta, the Nielsen and Bruch with Lawrence Foster, and the Prokofiev No.2 and Glazunov with Mariss Jansons. This new recording of the Elgar is clearly one of the finest versions this concerto has enjoyed.

Connoisseurs know well the historic recording with the teen-aged Yehudi Menuhin and Elgar conducting the London Symphony Orchestra from 1932. Although Fritz Kreisler premiered the concerto in 1910 it was the Menuhin/Elgar that had the music world talking.

Znaider impresses me with a seemingly effortless command of his instrument and his silky, singing tone. A performance aided by the authoritative collaboration with consummate Elgarian Colin Davis, under whom one could believe that the German orchestra was a traditional English ensemble steeped in the tradition. Not that I have auditioned the others recently but I believe that this performance is not bettered by any version that I have previously heard.

Top marks are also due the production and sound engineering, naturally balanced and detailed. One caveat, the timing for this concerto is less than 50 minutes - RCA should have included an appropriate filler.

Mendelssohn - Piano Trios

Emanuel Ax; Yo-Yo Ma; Itzhak Perlman

Sony Music 88697 52192 2

Menahem Pressler, the pianist who for more than half a century was the driving force behind the Beaux Arts Trio, is inclined to take a jaundiced view of piano trios cobbled together on a temporary, ad-hoc basis. “Three fine fellows do not make a trio!” he pointedly remarked.

Yet when the “three fine fellows” happen to be Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma and Emmanuel Ax, Pressler’s concerns may be set aside. Although this group hadn’t played in public before last year and has given only handful of concerts, their collective interpretation is decisive and secure, banishing any hint of the wimpy playing that sometimes finds its way into Mendelssohn performances.

The two Mendelssohn trios on this disc are paired on countless recordings – but they’ve probably never been played or recorded better than they have here. From the outset of the D Minor Trio, the group’s playing is taut, nuanced and intricately interwoven. The dramatic first movement is nicely contrasted with the introspective second. The third movement is all coyness and charm; and the last movement is effervescent, with muscular outbursts.

Perhaps the group might have taken the opening movement of the C Minor Trio a little faster – but the tempo they chose provides some breathing room for the expressive range of this movement: the sotto voce string passages, and surprising outbursts from the piano. The second movement is all sweetness; and the third scampers lightly, as a Mendelssohnian scherzo should. The finale does not lack grandness, but there’s a spring to the rhythm that propels the music forward.

I’m reminded of one other thing Pressler has said about piano trios: the heart of the ensemble is the piano. Violinists and cellists may not like this proposal – but it’s well borne out on this recording, which is solidly founded on Ax’s superb playing.

Gossec - Aux Armes, Citoyens: Royal and Revolutionary Music for Winds

Les Jacobins; Mathieu Lussier

ATMA ACD2 2595

Absolute monarchy, revolution, terror, Napoleon, restored monarchy - François-Joseph Gossec lived through all of this over his 95 years. And he orchestrated La Marseillaise.

Despite name and title, this CD features both royalist and revolutionary music. So, with our six period-woodwind instrumentalists, we aristos can ride with the Grande Chasse de Chentilli to the accompaniment of clarinets, horns and bassoons. Then, revolutionaries, we lower our flags as we remember assassinated Deputy Feraud.

Back on course we hear La Marseilaise. Gossec’s arrangement starts at a quick revolutionary pace but ends in a more stately, Royalist, tempo. Gossec hedges his bets...

And so to five revolutionary airs under Mathieu Lussier’s artistic direction. Ça ira leads. It inspired the French revolutionaries (and one English officer who actually made it his regimental march). In fact, most of this suite is rather un-revolutionary in its tempo - but still a wonderful opportunity to hear authentic Baroque woodwind solos. We arrive at the battlefield with four short pieces. Clarinets, bassoons, and horns boost our morale as we march, playing spiritedly as we engage our foe at close quarters, and with dignity as victory is ours.

More relaxing are Gossec’s Andante and Chasse d’Hylas et Sylvie. Gossec’s interest in the clarinet, new in France when he was composing in the early 1770s, is ably demonstrated by Jane Booth and Martin Carpentier.

Gossec’s hymns to liberty are more reflective than brash; the same is true of his Simphonie à 6. What Les Jacobins have done here is to publicise the vast store of undiscovered French revolutionary music.

Verdi - Opera Scenes

Dmitri Hvorostovsky;

Sondra Radvanovsky

Delos DE 3403

Among Giuseppe Verdi’s gifts to the opera repertoire is a welcome body of duets for baritone and soprano. Unless baritones can cultivate a credible upper range to allow for occasional forays into tenor repertoire, they often languish for opportunities at musical dalliance with sopranos.

Moreover, matching vocal colour and weight in a baritone/soprano duo can be tricky… but happily not impossible, as this recording demonstrates so well. Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s long career and vocal gifts have placed him in that small group of must-hear Verdi baritones. Pairing him with the beautifully matched voice of Sondra Radvanovsky makes for a wonderfully compelling recording of Verdi opera excerpts.

Hvorostovsky brings tremendous vocal security and experienced dramatic delivery to his various roles. Radvanovsky matches him measure for measure and the results are stunning. The recording’s producers have wisely selected Un Ballo’s Act 3 Scene 1 duet by Amelia and Renato to open the CD. Beautifully executed, this track firmly holds the listener’s attention for the balance of the disc.

In addition to the duets, 3 solos let us enjoy the voices in their own spotlight. Radvanovsky performs “Song to the Moon” from Dvorak’s Rusalka in a way the composer must have imagined a Slavic voice should sing it. Her semi-spoken ending is especially poignant. Further, Hvorostovsky sings Mozart’s “Deh vieni” from Don Giovanni, lightening his approach as much as possible but perhaps leaving us appreciating the more natural airiness of his Italian counterparts.

However, one cannot fault the authentically Russian colour and tone of Hvorostovsky’s voice. While artfully managed in the Verdi repertoire, it flowers fully and richly in another recent recording of Tchaikovsky Romances (DELOS DE3393).

Radvanovsky finally closes the live performance with a powerfully and flawlessly executed “Vissi d’arte” (Tosca). The audience in the Moscow Conservatory’s Great Hall reportedly applauded for twenty minutes after this concert – and they had every reason to do so.

Concert Note: Sondra Radvanovsky and Dmitri Hvorostovsky are featured in “An Italian Opera Spectacular” at Roy Thomson Hall on March 20.

Berlioz - Benvenuto Cellini

Wiener Staatspernchor; Wiener Philharmoniker; Valery Gergiev

Naxos 2.110271

One could be hard pressed to give an unbiased judgment on this “controversial” production of Berlioz’ first opera and undoubted masterpiece. Controversial, as director Philipp Stölzl created a fun filled futuristic fantasy extravaganza, placed in a New York-like setting filled with helicopters, robots and even a whale. So one could ask: what has this got to do with 16th century Rome? However, if you think about it, swashbuckling Cellini was himself no ordinary person, but one whose life story could fill a novel, and the first truly Romantic hero, ahead of his time. Obviously no ordinary treatment would do and so the director created a vastly different, anachronistic but constantly fascinating and innovative theatrical experience. Perhaps he went overboard a bit with the robots, but his imagination really knew no limits. In this respect he emulates the composer, young Berlioz who also “pushed the envelope” musically with extremely difficult singing roles, double, triple, quadruple choruses and cross rhythms etc.  

To control this mammoth task a master conductor is required, of course. About 30 years ago it was Sir Colin Davis who rediscovered and recorded the opera, but now it is the incomparable Valery Gergiev who can propel his orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, into the Berliozian stratosphere.

Burkhard Fritz as Benvenuto is a strong heroic tenor and copes well with the vocal demands of the role, while Maria Kovalevska as his beloved Teresa enchants us with her lovely voice and physical beauty. English baritone Brindley Sherratt is very capable and convincing as Balducci, the Pope’s treasurer. In the supporting cast American soprano Kate Aldrich is superb as Ascanio and Russian bass Mikhail Petrenko creates a hilarious cameo role as the Pope. The production is a visual stunner and comes together wonderfully, particularly at the carnival scene with a Brueghelesque feel about it. And just wait till you see the ending which is like a Vesuvian eruption with a giant foundry engulfed in flames, smoke and molten iron!

Schubert - Winterreise

Mark Padmore; Paul Lewis

Harmonia Mundi HMU 907484

Known primarily as a baroque tenor, Mark Padmore turns out be a first class lieder singer. This is a personal opinion and I am well aware of opponents who would argue that Schubert must be sung by a singer whose native tongue is German. Padmore, who sings in the original key, communicates Wilhelm Müller’s lyrics with disarming, heartfelt sincerity. The tenor possesses a tender, floating voice that illuminates the cycle with a fresh and contagious approach. He projects the texts in such a way that he seems to be singing directly to the listener and not to an anonymous audience. There is not another version that comes even close to this one. One can only marvel at its daring originality and compassion.

In comparison with the version by Peter Pears and Benjamin Britten I was really surprised to find that Padmore and Lewis’s is interpretatively superior in every respect. Paul Lewis is a perfect partner. He is highly respected as a Beethoven and Schubert exponent and, as we now witness, proves an ideal collaborator in this genre.

While I remain enchanted by the timeless, sublime versions of the three Schubert song cycles sung by Herman Prey that I wrote about in the December issue - Winterreise was particularly moving as interpreted by that late German baritone accompanied by Helmut Deutsch (CMAJOR 700208) – Padmore’s new recording is perfectly balanced, clear and enjoyable, making his Winterreise a stand out. Harmonia Mundi promises that the other two cycles will follow.

Mozart Arias for Male Soprano

Michael Maniaci; Boston Baroque;

Martin Pearlman

Telarc TEL-31827-02

Michael Maniaci apparently does not mind being a Canadian. In one interview he admitted that frequent performances in Toronto (with Opera Atelier and others) convinced some of his fans that he must be a Canuck. He may not be one by birth, but he certainly was born to share his rare gift with us.

Male soprano has the same ring to it as narwhal – a rare, almost mythical creature, barely known and even less understood. By an accident of nature, Maniaci’s larynx did not grow to a full size in puberty and produces sounds that best can be described as unusual. Much higher than a countertenor, much more robust than a boy soprano, his voice is one of a kind, possibly approximating what castrati might have sounded like. It is a perfectly pitched instrument, with a lot of agility and great technique.

For his first solo album, Maniaci chose music written by Mozart especially for castrati, including the celebrated “Exsultate, jubilate”. This voice takes some getting used to – at first, Alleluja! sounds strange and not entirely convincing. Once you get over the shock of the unknown however, especially in the Lucio Silla arias, this new interpretation triumphs over pre-conceived notions. Our initial resistance to what is in effect a return to Mozart’s preferred interpretation is a testimony to the way in which performance standard shapes our listening ability. So, open up your ears (and minds) to Michael Maniaci’s unique voice and indulge in what could be considered full period performance of the familiar music.