Schubert – Erlkönig
Matthias Goerne; Andreas Haefliger
Harmonia Mundi HMC 902141

Six hundred and thirty-four is the total number of solo lieder written by Franz Schubert, and Matthias Goerne has the ambition to record them all! This is the seventh disc in the series (each with a different piano accompanist) and Goerne is into some wonderful territory. Erlkönig is of course the setting of a poem by Goethe and Schubert’s first song masterpiece. The composer himself designated it as his Opus No.1. What remains a mystery is the studious indifference that Goethe seems to have shown to this brilliant song. When initially sent the setting by one of the young Schubert’s patrons, he returned it some months later — without a word of a comment. Later on, Schubert himself sent to the author beautifully bound scores for this and other Goethe poems, but never received a reply. Finally, after Schubert’s death, Erlkönig was performed for Goethe publically — and the only comment from the venerated poet was: “It reminds me of something I have heard before.”

No matter what Goethe thought, the song is a masterpiece — on this recording accompanied by other works, such as Die Forelle and Im Abendrot. Goerne has a beautiful baritone, perfectly suited to the lieder repertoire and of course a perfect command of the language. Many international singers, despite language coaching, get tripped up by the dense texture of Schubert’s settings. The thoughtful interpretation, combined with some truly inspired accompaniment, in this instance by Andreas Haefliger, make this Schubert edition an exciting endeavour. At least this reviewer will be looking up volumes one through six in record stores.

Sentirete Una Canzonetta
Harmonious Blacksmith;
directors Joseph Gascho, Justin Godoy
www.harmoniousblacksmith.com

Improvisations characterize this anthology, and they are both vocal and instrumental. Harmonious Blacksmith draws on the improvisations found in the instrumental instruction books of mid-16th century Italy. Ah Hong (soprano) brings an intense quality to Sentirete Una Canzonetta by Tarquinio Merula; the more rustic Se l’aura spira tutta vezzosa draws on Hong’s vocal expertise in tandem with Justin Godoy’s recorder playing — the latter well in keeping with the demands imposed on the baroque recorder by any of that era’s greatest composers. This mastery is again reflected in Giovanni Battista Fontana’s Sonata 3, with its hints of baroque country-dance movements.

In solo instrumental terms, Joseph Gascho’s inspired harpsichord playing interprets the virtuoso quality of Girolamo Frescobaldi’s Toccata 1 (Libro 2). Godoy’s recorder playing in Ricercar is up to the demands of the music by Jacob van Eyck. Nicola Matteis, who died after the heyday of Italian improvisation, introduces gentility to the instrumental pieces in this compilation. More spirited, not to say impassioned, is Nika Zlatarić’s cello playing in Giovanni Antonio Bertoli’s Sonata 7.

Godoy’s arrangement of pieces by five composers under the title More palatino is an intense and entertaining combination demonstrating just what baroque composers could bring out of their instruments — and their players. In fact, this attractive recital of baroque variations confirms that they were never confined to the harpsichord or lute.

Bach – Flute Sonatas
Andrea Oliva; Angela Hewitt
Hyperion CDA67897

On this recording Andrea Oliva and Angela Hewitt make a convincing case for playing Bach’s music on contemporary instruments. Hewitt’s nuanced approach to the master’s contrapuntal writing, especially evident in the long B minor sonata’s Andante opening movement, allows for an exquisite clarity and independence of the “voices.” Flutist Oliva brings a wide range of expression, from tender pathos in the Largo e dolce second movement of the same sonata to riveting bravura excitement in both Allegro movements of the E minor sonata. He brings effortless technique and consistently incisive but not aggressive articulation to everything he plays; this was particularly evident in the Allegro second movement of the Sonata in C Major. And then there was the confident repose of his relaxed and intelligent phrasing in the opening Allegro Moderato of the E-flat major sonata, the sparing but highly expressive use of vibrato in the famous Siciliano second movement of the same sonata, the persuasive use of dynamic contrasts to delineate episodes in the first movement of the B minor sonata and the exquisite pianissimos, allowing the melodic line of the piano to come out, later in the same work.

Extraordinary as it may sound, having played all these sonatas many times, even I was surprised by the beauty of the Andante third movement of the Sonata in E Minor. There is artistry in this recording that seems to get better every time you listen to it.

Sonatas & Suite
Steven Dann; James Parker
ATMA ACD2 2519

The accomplished musicians featured on this disc need little introduction to Toronto audiences familiar with their frequent appearances on the local chamber music scene. Their recital together on the ATMA label provides an intriguing opportunity to explore the repertoire of French viola works from the turn of the 20th century.

Pride of place in this collection goes to the central work in the program, the sonata by Charles Koechlin (1867–1950), a truly outstanding composition and a major contribution to the viola repertoire. Completed in the midst of the First World War, the work is dedicated to fellow composer and erstwhile violinist (and violist) Darius Milhaud who premiered the work in Paris in 1915. Koechlin’s crystalline harmonies, supple rhythms and melodic inventiveness are inimitable and it is a pleasure to see his music gradually attracting the attention it deserves. Throughout the four movements of the work the unusually wide-ranging piano writing is very much at the forefront of Koechlin’s thought, with the viola often receding into the background texture. Parker’s evocation of Koechlin’s kaleidoscopic quasi-orchestral textures is masterful and Dann’s artistry is movingly eloquent throughout.

The two flanking works receive their first recorded performances here. Pierre de Bréville (1861–1949) was a noted professor, music critic and the author of a biography of César Franck, a mentor whose influence permeates his finely crafted sonata which, though composed in the war ravaged days of 1944, still speaks the dainty language of the fin-de-siècle. The spirited opening and lively finale of the 1897 Suite in three parts by the celebrated organist Charles Tournemire (1870–1939) provide a rousing conclusion to this excellent and enterprising disc.

Sounds North: Two Centuries of
Canadian Piano Music
Elaine Keillor
Gala Records Gala-108
www.galarecords.ca

Canadian pianist and Carleton University distinguished research professor emerita Elaine Keillor shines in this four-CD collection of solo piano works by Canadian composers dedicated to the memory of Helmut Kallmann (1922–2012), the noted musicologist largely responsible for the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Each disc features works from a specific time frame with many of the works drawing on Canadian landscapes and traditions for their artistic motivation.

The first disc opens with the 1807 composition General Craig’s March by F. Glackemeyer. Keillor’s delicate touch and florid lines set the mood for a selection of ragtime and parlour music so popular in the 1800s and early 1900s. Keillor is fantastic in her performances of rags, as her solid beating of the rhythm drives the melodic lines.

CD2, Developments to the End of WWI, continues with more of the same genre of works and lyrical performance. Alexis Contant’s Yvonne (1903) is especially enjoyable as Keillor’s sense of playfulness and joy creates a danceable waltz. In W.C. Barron’s Lullalo, An Irish Lullaby (1890), Keillor sustains a swaying Irish folk lilt that supports the more intense mood in the dramatic harmonic sections. More European compositional influences are evident in such selections as Mazurka Nos.1 and 2 (1890) by Clarence Lucas.

The third disc extends to the end of WWII. Here, even more European compositional influences are heard in a number of multi-movement works by such composers as Robert Fleming, Georges-Emile Tanguay and George M. Brewer. In Leo Smith’s Suite for Piano (1930s?), the mournful melody of the opening movement is transformed and developed in an almost jazz-like manner in each of four movements. Keillor has also included Two Pieces (1951–52) by Glenn Gould. Gould’s development of contrapuntal ideas is fascinating in the second piece.

The fourth disc, Canada’s Space in Sound, opens with Louis Applebaum’s A Northern Legend (1957), a four-section work that is programmatic in its successful aural depictions of such classic Canadian features as tundra, rocks and huskies. “Unfinished Rag,” the fourth movement from John Beckwith’s March, March! (2001), continues to delight with its bouncing rhythm. The last chord leaves the listener waiting for more. The disc ends with Jocelyn Morlock’s The Jack Pine (2010), a work inspired by a painting of the same name by Tom Thomson. At first, the colours and timbres seem to be played too brittle and shrill but as the piece progresses, the harmonies support this touch.

This is a monumental project. The sheer number of works is astounding. Keillor plays each with more than the expected necessary skill, accuracy and respect. Musically, the pianist is able to convey each composer’s sensibilities as she glides through the diverse styles. Her choice of works is interesting in both its inclusions and exclusions but the collection is a fitting tribute to Canadian composers past and present.

Franck & Strauss – Violin Sonatas
Augustin Dumay; Louis Lortie
Onyx 4096

César Franck’s passionate and romantic Violin Sonata has been regarded as one of the greatest in the repertoire. Thanks to this disc however, I have fallen in love with Richard Strauss’s Violin Sonata Op.18, a work of his early years. It is lyrical and lush with all the hallmarks of his later style. It was written in 1887 and Strauss had studied both violin and piano from a very early age. He had already composed a violin concerto in 1882 so it is not surprising to hear superb writing for both instruments. This sonata is expansive in the grand manner using idiomatic writing for virtuoso performers but it is also melodic, tender and intimate. There are references to Brahms in several moments of the music and in the last few bars the piano part quotes from the Adagio of Beethoven’s “Pathétique” Sonata. This is vigorous and adventurous music, full of bravura. The middle section seems to be invaded by the Erlking. However, the lyrical moments melt your heart as do the performances.

César Franck’s only violin sonata was written in 1886 as a wedding present for the virtuoso violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. It is a staple of all violinists. Both violinist and pianist get to flex their muscles in this unabashedly emotional and radiant work. The second movement is the most fiery music Franck ever wrote and lets the pianist display his virtuosic technique. However, the dolcissimo and rhapsodic, improvisatory nature of the Recitativo-Fantasia shows Franck at his most expressive with an intense but serene melodic line. No wonder this piece became a standard-bearer for French chamber music. These performances are poised, refined and exquisite. They match in their touch and in the pacing of the music. Both Dumay and Lortie sing the melodic line on their instruments in intense and sensitive unison. The two artists have chosen to highlight the music instead of their own technique and it is a journey well worth listening to. A highly recommended CD for lovers of French chamber music.

The dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey has lived with the Bach Cello Suites for virtually his entire professional career, having explored them and played them in recital close to an astonishing 1,000 times. He has already recorded them twice, 14 and 21 years ago, but decided to celebrate his 50th birthday last September by recording them for a third time; the new 2-CD plus DVD set on Evil Penguin Records Classic (EPRC 012) is the result. Given Wispelwey’s ongoing relationship with the pieces, however, he readily admits that this won’t be the end of the road. “Six suites, six recordings,” he says in the DVD; “Why not?” Wispelwey also took this opportunity to “take the plunge,” in his own words, and do something he had done in private but had never dared to do in concert: tune his cellos down from the standard 415 baroque pitch to 392, the contemporary pitch in Cöthen, where Bach wrote the suites around 1720. This dropped the tuning a semi-tone; it gave him, he says, “the sensation of entering rooms that I hadn’t been in before or didn’t know existed.”

Wispelwey plays a 1710 Pieter Rombouts baroque cello for the first five suites, and an anonymous 18th-century five-string violoncello piccolo for the sixth. His familiarity with this music is obvious from the free-flowing opening bars of the Suite No.1 in G Major; there’s a great sense of flow and structure here, and a confidence and assurance in the playing that doesn’t preclude a sense of joyful exploration; it’s as if we are fortunate enough to be joining Wispelwey on yet another of his journeys through these wonderful works, and are witness to his new discoveries.

The DVD, entitled 392, Pieter Wispelwey and the Bach Cello Suites, is an entertaining 52-minute documentary filmed during Wispelwey’s dress rehearsal for the recording, a concert performance of all six suites at the Holywell Concert Room in Oxford in May of last year; excerpts from the recital are interspersed with discussions and observations about Bach and contemporary performance issues — particularly for the dance movements — with Bach scholars Laurence Dreyfus of Oxford University and Glasgow University’s John Butt. Fascinating booklet notes and an attractive presentation box format help to make this a set to treasure.

The Six Cello Suites also turn up in transcriptions on two naïve CDs from American lutenist Hopkinson Smith, Bach Suites Nos.1, 2, 3 (E 8937) being performed on theorbo, and Bach Suites Nos.4, 5, 6 (E 8938) on lute. Despite the consecutive numbers, the two CDs are not issued as a set; the first is in an attractive cardboard Digipak, while the second is in a traditional plastic jewel case. There’s a quite different feel to the suites in these performances — they’re softer and gentler, for a start, with Suites 1 to 3 transposed up a fourth and Suite 4 up a fifth — but the music doesn’t seem to suffer; indeed, the opportunity for fuller accompaniment and added bass lines serves to clarify and expand the harmonies implicit in the solo cello writing. And again, there’s that sense of journeying and exploring, of participating with an interpreter in an intimate personal experience that underlines yet again just how much depth these works have. Detailed booklet notes explain the choice of instruments, tunings and transpositions.

It would be hard to imagine a more suitable pair of performers for the Bach 6 Sonatas for Harpsichord and Violin BWV 1014–1019 than Catherine Manson and Ton Koopman, or a better performance than they give on a new Challenge Classics 2-CD set (CC72560). The Dutch Baroque specialist Koopman, now nearly 70, founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra in 1979; Manson became its leader in 2006.

As the excellent and detailed booklet notes by Christoph Wolff point out, this set of innovative sonatas forms a pivotal link between the baroque trio sonata and the classical duo sonata of the late 18th century. There is true partnership in the writing, as there is in these outstanding performances. Koopman’s harpsichord sound is strong, deep and warm; Manson’s violin sound is the perfect companion and counterpart: light, but never lacking in depth.

Beautifully recorded, this is intelligent playing full of sensitivity, energy and drive.

Paul Hindemith was a world-class viola player, so it’s not surprising that there is a significant amount of music for viola in his chamber output, nor is it surprising that it brilliantly exploits the instrument’s full range and character.

Two of his three sonatas for viola and piano and the second of his four sonatas for solo viola are presented on Paul Hindemith Retrospective: Viola Sonatas, in outstanding performances by Yuri Gandelsman and pianist Ralph Votapek (Blue Griffin BGR277). The duo works are theSonata Op.11 No.4 from 1919, the year that Hindemith decided to change to viola from violin, which until then had been his primary instrument, and the final sonata of the three, dating from 1939. The solo sonata is the Op.25 No.1 from 1922. A short Capriccio, arranged by Gandelsman from Hindemith’s Op.8 No.1 work of the same title for cello and piano, concludes a marvellous CD.

Gandelsman’s tone is full and rich across the complete range of the instrument – hardly surprising, given that he plays a 1748 Paolo Testore viola – and what a range it is in Hindemith’s hands! Add faultless technique and a lovely range of dynamics from both players and you have a real winner. The CD was recorded thanks to a grant from Michigan State University, where Gandelsman is professor of viola at the College of Music. The sound quality is absolutely top notch.

The ever-reliable harmonia mundi label has added another winner to its catalogue with the Sonatas for Piano & Violin and the Piano Quartet ofCarl Maria von Weber (HMC 902108). Violinist Isabelle Faust andAlexander Melnikov, playing an original ca.1815 fortepiano, are in great form in the sonatas and are joined by violist Boris Faust and cellist Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt for the piano quartet.

Weber (1786-1826) is mostly known for his early German Romantic operas and a few clarinet pieces, but he composed over 300 works during his short life. The Six Violin Sonatas Op.10 were written in 1810 on a commission from the publisher André, who had asked for pieces of only moderate difficulty suitable for performance in a domestic setting. Restricted by this limitation, Weber experienced a great deal of trouble with the composition and was clearly annoyed when André rejected the sonatas for being too good. The works were eventually published by Simrock under the title Progressive sonatas for fortepiano with obbligato violin, composed for and dedicated to amateur musicians. They certainly get off to a dazzling start, and it’s clear from the brilliant opening of this CD that these sonatas are quite something, even if there’s not necessarily a great emotional depth to them. And don’t be fooled by the statement in the booklet notes that “the technical demands on the performers, especially the violin, (my italics) are fairly modest…,” although they do acknowledge that the real musical difficulty lies in having to interpret the constantly changing array of styles; the sonatas aren’t in the virtuoso league by any means, but the keyboard part in particular is clearly challenging. I’d be surprised if many amateur players could handle these charming pieces at all, let alone as brilliantly as Faust and Melnikov.

The Piano Quartet Op.8 is from the previous year, although the Adagio was apparently written in 1806. The work fully deserves the description “unjustly neglected,” even if there are clearly echoes of Beethoven throughout.

The Argentinean cellist Sol Gabetta has two new CD releases, both of them of very high quality.

On Shostakovich Rachmaninov (Sony 88725435752) she is supported by the Münchener Philharmoniker under Lorin Maazel in a live concert performance of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No.1 – well, live in so far as its having been recorded over three concert dates in Munich in September 2011. There’s a complete absence of any audience sound or ambience, but the recording certainly has the electricity of a live performance. The Rachmaninov work is a regular studio recording of his Cello Sonata in G Minor Op.19, in which Olga Kern is the pianist; again, it’s a first-class performance in all respects.

On Duo, Gabetta makes a guest appearance on the Deutsche Grammophon label for a recital with pianist Hélène Grimaud (479 0090).The two met at the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad in 2011 and formed an immediate bond; the program on this CD, the first specific duo recording for either artist, is apparently the recital program they performed in Gstaad.

Schumann’s Drei Fantasiestücke Op.73 opens the disc, followed by three cello sonatas: Brahms’ No.1, Op.38; the Debussy; and the ShostakovichOp.40. The jewel case blurb quotes a review of the original concert, noting “Magical intensity and intimacy,” and it’s an extremely accurate description of the CD recital as well. From the interview conversation in the booklet notes it’s quite clear that these two performers share a very special musical relationship; the mutual understanding and the sharing of nuances is evident throughout an outstanding CD.

The exceptional violinist Tianwa Yang has been featured in this column several times over the past few years in reviews of her two separate Naxosseries of the complete works of Pablo Sarasate for violin and piano and violin and orchestra; both series are due for completion this year. Yang is the soloist on two recent unrelated Naxos releases.

The most recent is her recording of the Mendelssohn Violin Concertos, coupled with the Violin Sonata in F minor (8.572662); Patrick Gallois leads the Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä, and Romain Descharmesis the pianist in the sonata. There are so many recordings of the Mendelssohn E minor concerto that it seems as if there can’t possibly be anything new to say with it, and yet it remains almost a rite of passage for all soloists. It’s not too difficult to come up with reasons: this is, after all, the most perfect of violin concertos, and a true test of technique, tone, sensitivity, artistry and musicianship. Yang certainly displays ample technique and musical intelligence in this work, as she does throughout the CD, although her tone can tend to be somewhat nasal in the middle and lower registers. The D minor concerto is a work from Mendelssohn’s youth, written in 1822 when he was only 13; Yehudi Menuhin obtained a manuscript copy in 1951, and was essentially responsible for its revival and publication. Scored for violin and string orchestra, it contains flashes of the mature Mendelssohn, but is generally closer in style to the works of Mendelssohn’s older contemporaries Kreutzer and Rode.

The violin sonata is another early work, from 1823, but the music, from the violin’s plaintive unaccompanied solo beginning, through an affecting slow movement to a quite Beethovenian Allegro Agitato finale, belies the composer’s age.

Yang’s other recent Naxos release is the Complete Works for Violin and Piano by the contemporary German composer Wolfgang Rihm, with pianist Nicholas Rimmer (8.572730).

Despite his prolific output, I don’t recall ever hearing any of Rihm’s music. I’m sure the fault is all mine, but it may also possibly be because his music doesn’t seem to lend itself to standard radio or recital programming; it’s not always an easy listening experience, not strong on melody and with a good deal of stop/start passages in some of the pieces, and with some odd effects at the extremes of the violin’s physical range and also in the piano writing. Rihm is very highly regarded though, particularly in Europe, and although the jewel case is typically over-effusive in describing Rihm’s style as “…almost unique in today’s music in marrying contemporary technique with emotionally powerful resonances” this is obviously a very strong voice with a distinct character. Yang and Rimmer are clearly very much at home in these pieces, and give strong, assured performances throughout the CD. The five works span Rihm’s career, from Hekton (1972) and Eine Violinsonate (1971/75) through two pieces from the early 1990s, Antlitz and Phantom und Eskapade, to the world premiere recording of Über die Linie VII for solo violin, from 2006. I found the latter to be the most accessible and effective work of the five, although Phantom und Eskapade has some beautiful moments.

Brundibár – Music by composers
in Theresienstadt (1941–1945)
The Nash Ensemble
Hyperion CDA67973

The outstanding Nash Ensemble presents a compelling tribute to four Jewish composers based in Czechoslovakia and held in the Theresienstadt ghetto for prisoners often Auschwitz-bound. Hearing these works we mourn the untimely deaths of Holocaust victims Hans Krása, Victor Ullman, Gideon Klein and Pavel Haas.

The concise String Quartet No.3 by Ullman (1898–1944) is particularly accomplished. Expressiveness akin to Alban Berg’s pervades the opening movement. The colourful finale opens march-like and in canon, then takes off with many grainy sul ponticello effects and pizzicato chords. All is handled expertly by the Nash’s strings: Stephanie Gonley and Laura Samuel, violins; Lawrence Power, viola; and Paul Watkins, cello.

Their performances of the String Quartet No.2 “From the Monkey Mountains” by Haas (1899–1944) and the String Trio by Klein (1919–1945) also deserve accolades. In the Haas quartet’s opening movement, “Landscape,” intonation of violinists Samuel and Gonley is superb in high, difficult figures reminiscent of Haas’ teacher Janáček. In the hilarious “Coach, Coachman and Horse,” all players provide suitably grotesque glissandi to portray the sliding cart!

The young Klein’s trio includes deft and imaginative variations on a Moravian folksong. Finally, the full Nash Ensemble including winds, piano and percussion gives an energetic reading of a suite from the children’s opera Brundibár by Krása (1899–1944). It is a delightful work with witty allusions to popular styles. Brundibár stands as a brilliant testimony to the resilience of cultural life in Theresienstadt.

Britten – Les Illuminations; Variations; Serenade; Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal
Barbara Hannigan; James Gilchrist;
Jasper de Waal; Amsterdam Sinfonietta; Candida Thompson
Channel Classics CCS SA 32213

It’s centennial season again and it’s Benjamin Britten’s well-deserved turn to hog the limelight. This new disc from the Amsterdam Sinfonietta brings us two familiar song cycles and an early work for string orchestra. A knockout performance of Les Illuminations, ten sophisticated settings of the poetry of Artur Rimbaud from 1939, opens the disc. Soprano Barbara Hannigan is in fine fettle here, singing very beautifully in excellent French while the virtuoso string orchestra blooms luxuriantly in the warm acoustics of Haarlem’s Philharmonie Hall. Hannigan, renowned for her expertise in contemporary music, is one of Canada’s most celebrated vocalists and though that information figures quite prominently on her personal website, the liner notes ruthlessly delete any reference to her nationality!

An eclectic parody of myriad musical styles for string orchestra follows, the 1937 Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, dedicated to Britten’s first composition teacher and “musical father.” Bridge was an outlier in the parochial British music scene and one of the very few who appreciated the progressive music of continental Europe, knowledge he passed down to his eager teenage pupil. The recording cleaves quite closely to the timings and interpretation of Britten’s own 1966 recording though the modern sound, recorded in the Stadsgehoorzaal in Leiden, is excessively reverberant and over-modulated, though I suppose this might be considered a virtue for SACD fanatics.

Superior microphone placement makes this less of a problem in the closing item, the Serenade for tenor, horn and strings from 1943. It features James Gilchrist, a fine singer with more heft to his voice and less affectations than most English tenors, partnered with the assured playing of the principal horn of the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Jasper de Waal.

David Tanner; Jose Elizondo –
Of Birds and Lemons
Moravian Philharmonic; Vit Micka,
Petr Vronsky; Millennium Symphony; Robert Ian Winstin
Navona Records 96931
www.navonarecords.com

For those who have always tended to shy away from contemporary music for fear it’s too “avant-garde,” this disc titled Of Birds and Lemons featuring music by two composers may be just the thing. The two in question — David Tanner (born in 1950) and José Elizondo (born in 1972) both write in a style that may rightly be described as “contemporary conservative.” Indeed, there isn’t a tone cluster or a trace of electronica to be heard anywhere on this CD.

Born in the UK, Tanner came to Canada as a child, and while in his 20s, earned fame as a member of the rock group Lighthouse. He is also known as a fine saxophonist and has taught the instrument at the University of Toronto and the Royal Conservatory of Music. Tanner’s approach — that music should be enjoyed by performers and audiences alike — is very much reflected in the pieces included on this disc — Pocket Symphony, Tango of the Lemons, I’ll Come to Thee by Moonlight and Tyger — performed by the Moravian Philharmonic and the Millennium Symphony. Together, they embody a buoyant and optimistic spirit, perfect for the community groups for which many of them were intended.

Mexican-born José Elizondo shares a similar outlook. In addition to his musical studies, Elizondo also studied electrical engineering at MIT and Harvard. He too, writes in an affable, contemporary style which he claims might be “too simple” for certain tastes. But his pieces Estampas Mexicanas, Leyenda del Quetzal y la Serpiente and Danzas Latinoamericanas — clearly reflecting his roots — are joyful and engaging and the two orchestras conducted by Petr Vronsky, Vit Micka and Robert Ian Winstin perform with great bravado.

This is definitely “music with a smile on its face” — and who’s to say we don’t need more of that these days?

A Little Knight Music – Selected works
by General Sir Maurice Grove Taylor
Joan Harrison; Elaine Keillor; Brigit Knecht
Independent

The Ottawa-based cellist Joan Harrison has produced a fascinating and delightful CD on her own label, The Enterprising Rabbit, featuring the music of the amateur English composer General Sir Maurice Grove Taylor(1881–1961) cleverly titled A Little Knight Music. Taylor was a career soldier in the British army, but his abiding passion was music. Despite being a distinguished and highly regarded piano professor at the Royal College of Music, his father Franklin Taylor refused to teach his son, who was consequently entirely self-taught.

Composed essentially for fun, and primarily for private performance, Taylor’s music exists only in manuscript form. On the evidence of this CD it’s interesting, competent and attractive writing, albeit with little sense of any real development.

Harrison is joined by pianist Elaine Keillor for the Sonata for Cello and Piano; violinist Brigit Knecht is the third member in the Trio for Violin, Violoncello and Piano, which has a simple but very effective slow movement. Both works needed a few touches from Keillor to finish the incomplete finales.

The other four works on the CD — the Llyn Maelog Suite, Fair Winds, Brave Wind and Sunset — were originally for violin and piano (Taylor’s wife was a fine violinist) and were transcribed for cello by Harrison.

This isn’t music that will change the world, but it does prove yet again that the exploration of the byways of music can yield such satisfying results. The playing throughout is exemplary, and it’s beautifully recorded too.

Harrison, who discovered this music through a chance encounter with one of the composer’s grandsons, plans to make the music for the recorded works available on her websites, joanharrisonmusic.com and enterprisingrabbit.com, where the CD will also be available for purchase. The sheet music should be available for download this month.

My Funny Valentine –
The Chet Baker Songbook
Matt Dusk
Eone Music ROY-CD-5626
mattdusk.com

Toronto-based singer Matt Dusk has just released My Funny Valentine: The Chet Baker Songbook. Given the title, one might think the album would bear some resemblance to the late singer and trumpet player’s work. While many of the songs on the disc were signatures for Baker, he was not a songwriter and these are standards that have been covered by many, many performers over the years. Additionally, Dusk — a self-described crooner — has a very different singing style than Baker, who had a quiet and vulnerable approach to song delivery. To their credit, neither Dusk nor guest trumpeters Arturo Sandoval and Guido Basso attempt to imitate Baker’s sound. All are fine musicians in their own right and take their own approach.

So if it’s not really about Chet Baker then what is it? Dusk and team (co-producers Terry Sawchuk and Shelly Berger) set out to “recreate a nostalgic musical experience” by producing a substantial album with a musical narrative intended to take the listener on a journey. In that they have succeeded utterly. The beautiful artwork and photographs — mostly of Dusk in various suits and settings — evoke years gone by. And the music, complete with horns and sweeping orchestral arrangements, has style and heft. Baker was a poster boy for the spare, laid back West Coast/cool jazz sound and his most popular music was performed with just a quartet. So, certainly enjoy Dusk’s album on its own merits, but listen to the original for a sense of what Baker was all about.

FluiDensity
Brian Groder; Tonino Miano
Latham Records/Impressus Records impressusrecords.com

Here is a recording of free improvisation that channels the players’ multiple sources to combine American jazz and European art music. Related to the tradition of “free jazz” founded by Cecil Taylor at the end of the 1950s, this way of making music requires prodigious rhythmic assurance and close attention to moment-to-moment events. Recording it is the exacting art of the single take: no editing, no overdubs, nowhere to hide.

The players are engaged in a kind of collective creation that balances the strong individualism of each against the duo’s ability to meld their ideas. In this, Groder and Miano happily avoid standard improvisational techniques of simple imitation or “default” roles such as soloist and accompanist.

Miano’s virtuosity is all over the piano. He is most often the “dense” to Groder’s “fluid” in this equation. He never lacks for textural and gestural ideas that contribute a sense of designed space to the improvisations, his harmonies ranging from modal to atonal.

Groder’s sound is the more deeply “jazz,” especially in the way a jazz wind player accesses quasi-vocal lyricism. His phrasing, articulation, pitch modulations and Miles Davis-like staccato identify him as the American in this European-American pairing. The lonely, elegiac solo trumpet is an iconic 20th century American sound that here avoids cliché by virtue of its sincerity.

Recall
Gilbert Isbin; Scott Walton
pfMENTUM CD073
pfmentum.com

Very little contemporary music has been written for the lute. While the guitar has been featured prominently throughout the 20th century, the lute can often feel like it belongs to another era entirely. Gilbert Isbin seeks to remedy this with his latest disc. Recorded in October of 2011, Recall features Isbin on lute and Scott Walton on bass.

The disc contains a series of short compositions and improvisations. Although much of the material is thematically linked, each piece begins to feel like its own short story. Interplay is emphasized here with both performers skilfully manoeuvring between composed sections and more freely improvised passages. This is evident on the track Pensive, with Isbin laying down a harmonic foundation for Walton’s extended bowing techniques. The result is akin to a short piece by Morton Feldman. Timbre is important throughout the set and delicate unison passages can often give way to more turbulent textures. Flutter is a good example of this, with the duo settling into a groove before evolving naturally into a section of free improvisation. This configuration allows for a great deal of space in the music that each performer seems comfortable exploring. Overall, this is a very engaging set from two creative musicians.

Have a Little Fun
Alex Pangman; Bucky Pizzarelli
Justin Time JTR 8578-2

It’s difficult not to greet a new Alex Pangman record with a smile and sense of gratitude. The Toronto-based singer has suffered for years with cystic fibrosis and a few years ago, her health had deteriorated to the point where she didn’t have the strength to stand up to sing. Then she received an organ donation and underwent a successful double lung transplant. For anyone, that is a major gift, but for a singer, it’s nothing short of a miracle to be able to perform again.

Pangman has been going strong ever since and her latest CD Have a Little Fun is aptly named. Continuing in the style she has for years — covering music from the 20s, 30s and 40s — this CD has the added bonus of the éminence grise Bucky Pizzarelli. The American guitarist has played with many legendary musicians including Les Paul, Stéphane Grapelli and Benny Goodman, and his calm, collected rhythm playing is a steady presence throughout the record. Although the songs are mostly medium and up tempo and have a veneer of fun, the lyrics run the gamut of the human condition describing loss, yearning and regret along with happiness and good times. Along with standards like Stardust and I’m Confessin’ are a few of Pangman’s own compositions and one, It Felt So Good To Be So Bad, is a standout. And, really, who among us can’t relate to that sentiment?