But Beautiful
Monica Chapman
Independent
monicachapman.net

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The extra month off since the publication of our extended summer issue has made it even harder than usual to return to the task at hand. Where to begin after three months of eclectic listening? One ongoing project over the summer involved more reading than listening, although it certainly sent me back to my collection to revisit some of the great works of the 20th century. Stravinsky – Discoveries and Memories is kind of a tell-all book by Stravinsky’s amanuensis Robert Craft (Naxos Books ISBN 978-1-84379-753-1). Craft worked intimately with Stravinsky over most of the last 25 years of the composer’s life and we are treated to a “fly on the wall” view not only of his creative but also his social activities. The book is divided into three sections: The Music; The Man; Friends and Acquaintances. It is the first of these that I found most interesting, primarily the debunking of the myth of animosity between the “rivals” Stravinsky and Schoenberg. The second and third sections with their focus on more prurient themes was less satisfying although there are fascinating moments involving Stravinsky and some of the notable giants of the past century. This includes not just the usual suspects — musicians and artists Prokofiev, Diaghilev, Picasso, Dali, Gershwin, Copland, Carter, Sessions and Berio — but also literary and scientific figures like T.S. Eliot, Thomas Mann, Aldous Huxley, Kenneth Clark and Edwin Hubble, plus a few seemingly unlikely figures such as Mussolini and Warren Zevon. It’s like a Who’s Who of the 20th century, but of course Stravinsky himself would be at the top of that list. The book includes a CD with an outstanding performance of The Rite of Spring with Craft conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra in 2007 using the composer’s corrected 1967 edition based on the 1913 original.

One of the most recent discs to cross my desk came from a local cellist I have long admired, Coenraad Bloemendal, who produced it. Couleurs (Erdeco recordings triodesiree.ca) is a collection of French art songs by Duparc, Fauré, Debussy and Damase featuring Swiss-born Dutch soprano Désirée Till and one of Canada’s national treasures, harpist Erica Goodman. The Fauré and Debussy transcriptions are by Goodman with Charles Heller handling the Duparc. Till’s credits stem mostly from the world of operetta on the European stage but she achieved her masters in Music Interpretation at the Université de Montréal in 2009 and the following year founded Trio Désirée with Goodman and Bloemendal. Although at times I find her voice a bit too “big” for the intimacy of this repertoire, she works well with Goodman in the bulk of the selections, consisting of harp transcriptions of piano accompaniments. Most effective for me are the tracks that include Bloemendal’s expressive cello lines which greatly add to the contrast on a disc which at other times suffers from a certain sameness of texture.

Although one might think that any disc entirely devoted to one combination of instruments (or voices) might be susceptible to the same criticism, certainly this is not the case in Liquid States recently released by the Vancouver ensemble Standing Wave (Redshift Music TK427 redshiftmusic.org). The group’s instrumentation is fairly unusual — clarinet(s), violin, cello, piano and percussion — but even this somewhat limited palette is used with great diversity by the four composers represented here. Jeffrey Ryan’s Burn is perhaps the most traditional with its lyrical melodic lines and moods that shift between sombre stasis and whirling rising motifs. Jocelyn Morlock’s Theft I: Water Clocks and Theft II: Insomnia opens extremely quietly with soft arpeggiated piano, droning clarinet and a very high violin melody. The textures thicken as the movement develops and cello and vibraphone are added to the mix before returning to near inaudibility. The second movement is a stark contrast beginning with an abrupt drum roll and a busy piano line over which violin and clarinet interpolate bird-like calls and twitters. It’s no wonder there’s no sleep here. Rodney Sharman’s Pavane, Galliard, Variations is another soundworld altogether with its reinvention of keyboard works by English renaissance composer William Byrd. The strings and clarinet are played in a manner suggestive of a consort of viols, with the piano notes damped and the percussion utilizing eerily pitched gongs. These very effective pieces transport us back to an imagined time half a millennium ago. In stark contrast Linda Bouchard’s Liquid States with its strummed violin chords and plucked cello notes combining with low piano ostinatos, high-hat paradiddles and whining clarinet lines carries relentlessly forward on a 15- minute voyage that culminates in metallophone cacophony before gradually subsiding. An exciting journey indeed.

The final two CDs have a number of things in common: local composer-performers creating unique hybrids of classical and jazz, with some pop and world music influences, fine musicianship and excellent production values. It does not come as a surprise that with regard to this latter aspect the bulk of the recording was done at Toronto’s Canterbury Music facility, known for a long history of attention to detail and use of the most appropriate technologies (vintage analog to contemporary digital) to achieve its signature warm, clean sound. This has attracted innumerable artists from across the spectrum including Barenaked Ladies, Molly Johnson, Moe Kauffman, Auto Rickshaw, Colm Wilkinson, Kiran Ahluwalia and the Gryphon Trio to name but a few.

The eponymous Shannon Graham and the Storytellers (shannongraham.ca) (which also features some tracks recorded at the equally renowned Farm Studio)features a local band that often sounds bigger than its parts. Graham, on tenor sax, viola and occasional vocals, is joined by a host of friends on violins, (another) viola, trumpet, trombone, electric guitar, keyboard, bass and drums. I listened to this eclectic disc a number of times before consulting the booklet and was a bit surprised to read about the influences which range from Buddhism, Kurt Vonnegut and Benjamin Britten to everyday occurrences like chasing a runaway dog and taking an overnight bus trip from NYC to Toronto. I’m not sure what I would have expected such a mixed bag to sound like but this self-described classical-jazz-pop band is full of surprises. The stories are mostly told in an instrumental fashion, with occasional vocalise, and only rarely include narrative. The textures range from lush and luscious to sparse and spiky. There are dissonant sections but overall the mood is playful and the sounds a blend of modern jazz and chamber music, occasionally reminiscent of themes from You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. I mean that in the nicest possible way.

The Other Side of the Air by Canadian banjo player and composer Jayme Stone (jaymestone.com) is, if possible, even more eclectic that Shannon Graham’s disc. The core ensemble backing Stone on seven original compositions consists of familiar names from the local jazz scene: Joe Phillips (bass), Kevin Turcotte (trumpet), Rob Mosher (woodwinds), Andrew Downing (cello and bass) and Nick Fraser (percussion). Stone’s influences range from African tribal sounds to music of Persia and the Far East to mainstream jazz. The most extended work on the disc, lasting roughly half an hour, is This County is My Home, a concerto for banjo and chamber orchestra written for Stone by Andrew Downing, who conducted the premiere in July 2012 at the Home County Music and Arts Festival in London (ON). On the current recording the core ensemble is expanded to include string quartet, more woodwinds and brass played by some of Toronto’s finest classical musicians. The work is in three movements with a brief interlude between the second and third. If anyone doubted the suitability of the banjo for the classical concert stage, Downing’s concerto and Stone’s playing make a convincing case for its inclusion. Stylistically the work is hard to define, but its sensibility is perhaps akin to some of the playful works of Darius Milhaud and others of Les Six without sounding at all anachronistic. (And once again I was reminded at times of Clark Gesner’s score for Charles M. Schultz’ classic!) The final track on the disc, Tennessee Waltz, takes us back to a more traditional context for the banjo although the solos taken by Mosher and Turcotte cast a brand new light on an old chestnut. (And if you don’t think that traditional American country music has had a world wide penetration, I had the wonderful experience of singing and playing my guitar at a reception for the renowned shô player Mayumi Miyata and Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa several years ago and was amazed and delighted when they both joined in singing Tennessee Waltz!)

We welcome your feedback and invite submissions. CDs and comments should be sent to: The WholeNote, 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, record labels and additional, expanded and archival reviews. 

—David Olds, DISCoveries Editor

discoveries@thewholenote.com

Giuseppi Scarlatti – Dove è amore è gelosia
Lenka Máčiková; Aleš Briscein;
Kateřina Knežíková; Jaroslav Březina; Schwarzenberg Court Orchestra;
Vojtěch Spurný
Opus Arte OA 1104 D

Prince Joseph Adam of Schwarzenberg left the education of his children (nine of them by Princess Maria Theresia of Liechtenstein, since you ask) in the hands of one of the Scarlatti family, Giuseppe, probably a nephew of Domenico. Prince Joseph openly referred to his own “low-brow taste” and love for Italian opera buffa and Scarlatti obliged. Dove è amore è gelosia is a lovesick duel between the widowed Marquise Clarice (Lenka Máčiková) and her suitor Count Orazio (Aleš Briscein) who slog it out, aided by failed suicide attempts (the sword got stuck in its scabbard, you see) and cups of tea carelessly poured by Clarice’s maid Vespetta (Kateřina Knežíková) which only forestall the quarrelling and venomous name-calling.

As if that was not enough, the aristocratic dépit amoureux is parallelled by the slapstick duel between Vespetta and Orazio’s confidant Patrizio (Jaroslav Březina). All make for a classic opera buffa, what with comedies of errors, supremely beautiful trompe l’oeil scenery, stage crew in period costume driving their stage manager to the point of nervous breakdown and even musicians who look over their shoulder in amused appreciation of what is going on.

It is difficult to single out any of the singers. All convey their anguish (and their sense of joy at inflicting anguish), and their satisfaction when they have sorted out all the confusion created throughout the course of this delightful farce. Non-speakers of Italian are greatly helped by the onscreen translations, which are both blunt and priceless: the suitor’s misdirected cry of “You blockhead” is more than matched by the widow’s retort “Get lost. Out!”

And then there is the star without any singing part — Český Krumlov castle where this DVD was filmed. The theatre for this re-enactment lies off the fifth(!) courtyard and is described as a baroque stage in its mature form of 1680. Enjoy this amusing performance.

Mendelssohn – Elias
Christine Schäfer; Cornelia Kallisch; Michael Schade; Wolfgang Schöne; Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart;
Bach-Collegium Stuttgart; Helmuth Rilling
Hänssler Classic CD 098.017

Mendelssohn’s Elias is known as Elijah in the English-speaking world. And it was in English that the oratorio was first performed at the Birmingham Festival in 1846 with Mendelssohn himself conducting. The work became very popular in England, though by the end of the 19th century a reaction had set in. In 1892 George Bernard Shaw called it “sensuously beautiful in the most refined and fastidiously decorous way, but thoughtless.” Shaw was willing to set Elijah next to the “seraphic,” not religious, music of Gounod but could not find more in it than “exquisite prettiness.” Parsifal, Die Zauberflöte, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and the best of Bach and Handel were adduced as contrasts. In recent years interest in Elijah has revived (there are now 25 recordings available), as listeners have begun to consider the work on its own merits, not as a pale imitation of Handel’s oratorios or Bach’s Passions.

The CDs under review constitute a re-release; the music was recorded in 1994 and the discs were first released soon afterwards. There is stiff competition from two earlier recordings, which both date from 1968: the Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos (a very dramatic reading with Janet Baker superb in the alto arias) and the Wolfgang Sawallisch (with Elly Ameling, Peter Schreier and Theo Adam as Elias). It stands up well, both because of Rilling’s conducting and the quality of the singing. The soloists are Christine Schäfer, soprano, Cornelia Kallisch, alto, Michael Schade, tenor, and baritone Wolfgang Schöne as Elias.

Tutto Verdi – Un ballo in maschera
Francesco Meli; Vladimir Stoyanov;
Kristin Lewis; Elisabetta Fiorillo;
Serena Gamberoni; Teatro Regio di Parma; Gianluigi Gelmetti
Cmajor 724208

By age 46 the world famous Verdi had many triumphs behind him, but all was not smooth sailing. His opera on the subject of regicide was strenuously objected to by the Neapolitan censors and he simply cancelled in disgust. Verdi was taken to court, but went to Rome instead; changed the setting and the protagonist to a mere Governor in remote colonial North America and thus the opera, Un ballo in maschera was premiered and succeeded.

This is a wonderful performance, one of the finest in this Tutto Verdi series of the complete operas. Conductor Gianluigi Gelmetti is an unlikely looking gentleman at first glance but at his first wave of the baton one realizes he is a master. His upbeat tempi have a big sweep that gives the opera the brilliance Verdi intended. The tenor, Francesco Meli (Riccardo), is a young fresh voice, powerful and sensitive; the baritone, Vladimir Stoyanov is beginning to take over from the venerable Nucci in the series. His voice is powerful, well shaded, his acting puts a menace into his Renato and we commiserate with his agony of being a betrayed husband. Serena Gamberoni’s Oscar is a delight — a stunning beauty, her voice supple and flexible, she moves like a real opera star! An American from Arkansas, Kristin Lewis is a passionate Amelia with power, secure in her top notes. Elisabetta Fiorillo (Ulrica), an old-timer now with an alto range, makes a strong impression as the wise and not at all wicked soothsayer.

About the scenery: it’s simply eye-popping and stunning, with grandiose highly artistic architecture, monumental creations and gorgeous colouring.

Editor’s Note:Next month’s WholeNote will feature an extended article by Janos Gardonyi in honour of the bicentennial of Verdi’s birth on October 10, 1813.

George Benjamin – Written on Skin
Barbara Hannigan; Bejun Mehta; Chrisopher Purves; Rebecca Jo Loeb;
Allan Clayton; Pierre-Laurent Aimard; Mahler Chamber Orchestra;
George Benjamin
Nimbus Records NI 5885/6

Written on Skin was a hit right from the first performances at the 2012 Aix-en-Provence festival, where this recording was made. The hard-hitting libretto by British playwright Martin Crimp involves murder, cannibalism and suicide, while the riveting score by fellow Brit George Benjamin includes some of the most sexually charged passages in opera since Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Yet the action unfolds subtly, in a series of intimate conversations, while the diaphanous music, with its silky colours and angular textures, avoids sensationalism altogether.

Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan dazzles as the passionately defiant Agnès. Her husband, the oily, malevolent Protector, is masterfully portrayed by baritone Christopher Purves. Counter-tenor Bejun Mehta is thrilling as the Boy, an itinerant artist.

Though the story is set in the Middle Ages, characters occasionally step into the present to “snap the dead back to life.” So the Boy imagines how a forest where he is taking refuge will be covered by “eight lanes of poured concrete” in a thousand years. Moments like these resonate powerfully. Less effective is when the characters slip into the third person to narrate their own story, or, especially, when the Boy turns up as one of the busybody 21st century angels. Their chilling presence may be provocative as a poetic device, but it does interfere with the drama.

A bonus, Benjamin’s imaginative Duet for piano and orchestra, featuring pianist wizard Pierre-Laurent Aimard, adds to the many reasons to enjoy this terrific recording.

La Voix Nue – Songs for Unaccompanied Voice by Living Composers
Patricia Green
Blue Griffin Records BGR279
bluegriffin.com

An entire disc of unaccompanied vocal works is a courageous undertaking for a singer, as the selection and performance of repertoire as well as its pacing and placement must engage the listener from start to finish. In addition, the singer must execute absolute precision of pitch while effectively conveying dramatic content. The beautiful, rich, warm tone of Patricia Green’s voice, combined with her dramatic sensibilities and skilful musicianship, is perfect for this collection of songs by living composers. These pieces, though modern, for the most part draw on historical material with texts from Shakespeare, Norwegian history, Ovid, Native legend, 5th-6th century aphorisms and surrealist French poetry.

As a committed performer of new music, Green is highly attuned to the intention of composers and respectfully steps out of the studio to delightfully make an exception to her solitude, allowing the accompaniment of birdsong for the excerpt from R. Murray Schafer’s Princess of the Stars. Another interesting and iconic work, King Harald’s Saga by Scottish composer Judith Weir, highlights Green’s dramatic flare, featuring a mixture of narrative and interchanging roles, each of which is given its own characteristic voice. Hillary Tann’s dramatic song cycle Arachne, in which an apprentice weaver takes a haughty stance with her teacher Athene and pays dearly for it, gives Green yet another opportunity to characterize more than one voice. The same again for Jonathan Dove’s setting of Shakespeare’s Tempest verses in Ariel. A couple of eclectic cycles by José Evangelista and György Kurtágprovide the singer a chance to exhibit a light and playful air, most charming indeed.

O’Riley’s Liszt
Christopher O’Riley
Oxingale OX2020
oxingalerecords.com

This wonderful pair of CDs is the perfect choice for avid lovers of the piano and its orchestral sound. The Lisztian virtuosic excess is like having a meal of rich overwhelming textures and layers of scintillating colours. Christopher O’Riley has astounding technique and control, as well as a creative and wild imagination. Those skills make these Liszt transcriptions a sumptuous and sensual listening experience.

I enjoyed his programming on the first CD. He paired two mammoth showpieces, alternating them with sensitive song transcriptions. He began with the extremely difficult transcription of Mozart’s Don Juan Fantasy, which Moritz Rosenthal had performed to impress Brahms. Schumann/Liszt’s Fruhlingsnacht followed in a tender and gentle interpretation. This was a breath of calm before the stormy and tragic Tristan und Isolde by Wagner/Liszt/Moskowski and O’Riley, who added a vocal line near the end of the piece and managed to make his fingers sing throughout this opera for the piano. He concludes the first CD with Schubert’s Fruhlingslaube. His emotional response to the music is refreshing and his musicality subtle.

The second CD is Liszt’s transcription of the Berlioz Symphonie fantastique. In his excellent program notes, Ethan Iverson quotes Charles Halle who said that Liszt played his piano version “with an effect even surpassing that of a full orchestra and creating an indescribable furor.” O’Riley displays his own gargantuan keyboard skills in this incredible performance. I didn’t miss the orchestra at all and O’Riley made the piano thunder and sing in washes of orchestral sound. Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath was monumental and devilish. These CDs are highly recommended.

Editor’s Note:O’Riley’s Liszt is also available on a Blu-Ray video disc which includes a special feature The Bells of Berlioz with artist’s commentary (Oxingale OX2021).

Koechlin; Schmitt; Rivier; Cartan;
Bozza Duo (Jean-Guy Boisvert;
Christiane Laflamme)
ATMA ACD2 2679

Moncton-based clarinettist Jean-Guy Boisvert’s latest project on the ATMA label brings together colleagues Christiane Laflamme (flute) and Jean-Willy Kunz (keyboards) from the Université de Montréal in an extended program of relatively unknown French miniatures from the margins of the 20th century wind repertoire, including several world premiere recordings. The 27 tracks are united by the recurring presence of the great Alsatian master Charles Koechlin, who is represented by 14 tracks interspersed with compositions by his contemporaries.

The best known of these fellow travellers is Florent Schmitt, represented here by the delightfully quirky modulations of his 1935 Sonatine for flute, clarinet and harpsichord. Also of note is the intriguing 1967 Duo for flute and clarinet by Jean Rivier, the slow movement of which is the only example that briefly flirts with the serial techniques of the 1960s. A series of duets by the short-lived Jean Cartan and the woodwind doyen Eugène Bozza fill out the guest list.

Koechlin is represented by the self-consciously antiquarian Sonatine modale and similarly conceived Motets de style archaïque duets along with six excerpts from his Monodies for solo clarinet. An example of Koechlin’s unique harmonic palette is briefly represented by his Pastorale for flute, clarinet and piano. The duets are masterpieces of contrapuntal writing while the best of the solo pieces is represented by the eerie chromatic bifurcations of the Chant funéraire. Koechlin also wrote extensively for solo flute and it is regrettable that we are not allowed to enjoy the clear and attractive tone of Christiane Laflamme in at least a few examples from the 96 pieces that constitute his monumental Les Chants de Nectaire. The recording is artfully captured in a warm, close acoustic recorded at the Domain Forget in Québec.

At the time of writing, the outstanding Toronto double bassist and former TSO principal Joel Quarrington is about to take up his new position as principal bassist of the London Symphony Orchestra. His latest CD with pianist David Jalbert on the Modica Music label, Brothers in Brahms (MM013), consequently has somewhat of a parting gift feel about it, having been recorded at the CBC’s Glenn Gould Studio just this past March and released in June. The title comes from a concert program that the Toronto RCM’s ARC Ensemble presented ten years ago, in which Quarrington was asked to play the Double Bass Sonata Op.97 by Brahms’ contemporary and friend Robert Fuchs. Quarrington had never heard of Fuchs or the sonata, but was quite taken with it, and eventually chose to record it by following the ARC Ensemble’s original program idea, pairing it with his own transcriptions of works by Brahms and Robert Schumann.

The Brahms might stop you in your tracks at first hearing: it’s the Violin Sonata No.1 in G Major, Op.78; a work you wouldn’t think would be able to survive a drop of a couple of octaves for the solo part. It takes a bit of getting used to, but soon assumes a character of its own and does work very well. Quarrington rightly stresses the singing nature of the solo part in his booklet notes and more than justifies this observation with his playing.

The transcription of Schumann’s beautiful Adagio and Allegro Op.70 for French horn is more immediately successful, but the main interest here is the Fuchs sonata. It’s a terrific work, with a cello-like quality much of the time, and quite Brahmsian in style — lyrical, Romantic, lush and passionate. As the original three movements are all Allegro, Quarrington chose to add the Andante from Fuchs’ Three Pieces for Contrabass and Piano Op.96 as a slow third movement; it works extremely well.

Quarrington’s playing throughout the CD is superb, combining virtuosity and musicianship with a tone and agility that are at times quite astonishing. Jalbert is his equal in all respects, and the recorded sound and balance are faultless.

Polish-born violinist Jerzy Kaplanek is a member of the Waterloo-based Penderecki String Quartet and associate professor in the Faculty of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University. On his new CD Exoticism – The Music of Karol Szymanowski (Marquis MAR 437), he is joined by pianist Stéphan Sylvestre, associate professor of piano at Western University, in a recital of works by his compatriot.

Kaplanek readily admits that he feels he has known and understood Szymanowski’s music since his childhood days; it’s certainly borne out by his exemplary playing on this excellent disc. Two of the major works here — the Nocturne and Tarantella Op.28 and Mythes Op.30 — are from 1915, at the start of the composer’s most prolific period. Also included are the Sonata in D Minor, Op.9 from 1904, the early B Minor Prelude Op.1 No.1 in a transcription by Grażyna Bacewicz, and the Chant de Roxane from the post-war opera King Roger.

Szymanowski always wrote gratefully for the violin — his two violin concertos are particularly beautiful — and the music throughout this disc is a delight. Beautifully recorded at the Banff Centre in 2011, the recital features outstanding playing from both artists, with the wonderful Mythes the particularly dazzling highlight of a terrific CD.

Violinist Viktoria Mullova is joined by harpsichordist Ottavio Dantone and the Accademia Bizantina on a new Onyx CD of Bach Concertos (ONYX 4114). The two standard solo concertos — the A Minor BWV1041 and the E Major BWV1042 — are here, together with two transcriptions: the E Major Concerto for Harpsichord, arranged for violin in D major; and the Concerto for Two Harpsichords in C Minor, arranged for violin and harpsichord.

Mullova’s playing is simply beautiful: crisp, clean and light, with a nice sense of space. The slow movement of the E major concerto is particularly lovely. The two transcribed concertos aren’t quite as successful, but are still highly satisfying. The C minor concerto perhaps transcribes better, but both works have really nice third movements, with some particularly dazzling harpsichord passages in the duo concerto.

Beautifully presented in a glossy card folder, this is a simply lovely CD.

The wonderful Gil Shaham is back with another outstanding CD on his own Canary Classics label, teaming up once again with his sister Orli Shaham for a fascinating recital titled Nigunim – Hebrew Melodies (CC10). It’s a mixture of old and new, with Josef Bonime’s Danse hébraïque and Joseph Achron’s Hebrew Melody and Two Hebrew Pieces bracketing the major work on the CD, Avner Dorman’s Nigunim (Violin Sonata No.3). The Dorman work was commissioned for this recording by the Shaham siblings, who wanted to emphasize the relevance of the Jewish music tradition in today’s world, and it’s a stunning piece, the virtuosity and quality of which quite clearly thrilled the performers.

The other works on the CD are: John Williams’ Three Pieces from Schindler’s List, the link to the 1940s Poland of their grandparents giving the music a personal relevance for the performers; Leo Zeitlin’s Eli Zion, transcribed by Joseph Achron from the original 1914 piece for cello and piano; and Ernest Bloch’s three-movement Baal Shem, the terrific performance of which features a particularly glorious Nigun central movement.

The Shahams grew up with this music, and it shows: the violin playing throughout the marvellous CD is rich, warm and idiomatic, and the piano playing always sympathetic and perfectly attuned.

The young Czech violinist Josef Špaček has a new CD on the Supraphon label, pianist and fellow Czech Miroslav Sekera joining him in a recital of works by Janáček, Smetana and Prokofiev (SU 4129-2). Both players are clearly very much at home in the Janáček Sonata for Violin and Piano and Smetana’s From the Homeland: Two Pieces for Violin and Piano, but Špaček shows a remarkable affinity for the music of Prokofiev as well. The Sonata for Solo Violin Op.115 is a relatively short but charming work and Špaček gets it absolutely right, with a perfect mix of lyrical and spiky percussive playing in the opening movement, a lovely Theme and Variations middle movement and a nicely contrasted — and not too fast! — finale.

Both players are in dazzling form in Prokofiev’s Sonata for Violin and Piano No.1 in F Minor, Op.80, from the lovely wispy violin scales over the slow, deep bass piano octaves of the first movement, through the percussive second movement to the brilliant Allegrissimo finale and the return to the mysterious mood of the sonata’s opening bars.

The great sound and balance contribute to an outstanding CD.

Jennifer Higdon, who recently turned 50, is firmly established as one of the leading contemporary American composers. With Early Chamber Works (8.559752) Naxos has added a fascinating retrospective CD to its American Classics series, presenting première recordings, made in association with the composer, of five works from the formative years of Higdon’s career. They are all finely crafted and very accessible.

The Serafin String Quartet opens the CD with a short but lovely setting of Amazing Grace, followed by the Sky Quartet, a four-movement work inspired by the immensity and beauty of the Western U.S. sky. The quartet’s violist Molly Carr is joined by pianist Charles Abramovic for the early — and really beautiful — Sonata for Viola and Piano from 1990, and bassoonist Eric Stomberg joins a standard piano trio line-up for Dark Wood, a short piece that Higdon describes as exploring the bassoon’s virtuosic abilities as well as respecting its soulful nature.

Members of the Serafin Quartet perform the earliest work on the CD, the String Trio from 1988; it’s a terrific work that draws an interesting comment from Higdon, who says it “reveals a young composer in the process of finding her own voice. The language is restless and searching, and even the arrival points do not feel quite settled.” She calls it “a good place to be if you are a developing composer.”

And an even better place to be if you are an interested listener!

Françaix – Music for String Orchestra
Sir Georg Solti Chamber Orchestra, Budapest; Kerry Stratton
Toccata Classics TOCC 0162

Sometimes all it takes is a letter to provide further impetus for a new disc. At least, that was the case with Canadian conductor Kerry Stratton who, upon searching for some fresh material, contacted Jacques Françaix, son of the eminent composer Jean Françaix, asking if there was any music by his father that had never been recorded. Yes, came the reply, the score for the ballet Die Kamelien and the Ode on Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. Two years later, both pieces are to be found on this fine CD of music for strings on the Toccata Classics label featuring the Sir Georg Solti Chamber Orchestra.

2012 marked the centenary of Françaix’s birth — he lived until 1997 — and over the course of his lifetime, he quietly carved out a niche as a gifted and prolific composer, completing more than 200 pieces in numerous genres. The disc opens with the Symphony for Strings, written in 1948. Containing more than just a touch of French insouciance, this is elegant music, elegantly played, with the GSCO’s strongly assured performance further enhanced by a warm and resonant sound. Less well known is the ballet music Françaix wrote for Die Kamelien (The Camellias), loosely based on the 1848 play by Alexandre Dumas, which premiered at New York City Centre in 1951. The score is a study in contrasts, from the eerie opening to the highly spirited fifth movement, Im Spielsaal. Also receiving its premiere on CD is the brief Ode on Botticelli’s Birth of Venus from 1961, a haunting and evocative homage to the Renaissance Italian painter. Here, the delicately shaped phrasing goes hand in hand with a wonderful sense of transparency.

Kudos to Kerry Stratton and the GSCO, not only for some fine music-making, but for uncovering some unknown treasures that might otherwise have been overlooked.