The Long and the Short of It

Ken Aldcroft; Joel LeBlanc
Trio Records TRP-D502-016

Notes on the Miasms
Andy Haas; Ken Aldcroft
Resonant Music 010

Toronto guitarist Ken Aldcroft displays his formidable guitar technique and improvising acumen in two new “free improv” releases.

The long and the short of it features him with fellow guitarist Joel LeBlanc in two contrasting short and long works. Each “short” is a concise tidbit of colour and rhythm which sets up a lengthier (over 20 minutes) set. The Long (I) is a mellow soundscape which seems to emulate the soothing environment of the wilderness. The minimalistic patterns and atonal guitar effects are precisely placed in the relaxing soundscape. In contrast, The Long (II) is a wall of sound, giant stadium extended rock guitar extravaganza. It sounds like one giant guitar – riffs, extended solos and in-your-face sound bolts, combined with humour and wit in a stunning example of superb music.

Notes on the miasms features Aldcroft improvising with Andy Haas on sax and electronics. The music is more atonal than the above release making it perhaps a bit more of a difficult listening exercise for those not accustomed to this type of music. Haas’ rapid saxophone lines against Aldcroft’s guitar colours are brilliant in their textures, phrasing and energy. The occasional reference to traditional jazz and blues is a welcome musical commentary.

These two releases are fine examples of the flourishing creative music scene in Toronto. The improvisation skills, talent and dedication of musicians such as Ken Aldcroft guarantee a vibrant improvising future for players and listeners alike.

Division-Musicke – English duos for viol and lute
Susanna Pell; Jacob Heringman
Pellingmans’ Saraband PS001

According to Christopher Simpson in the 1659 publication The Division Violist, as quoted in the Harvard Dictionary of Music, the term Division refers to the prevailingly English practice of a harpsichordist playing a ground bass to which a viol or flute player, “having the said ground before his eye, plays such a variety of descant or division in concordance thereto as his skill and present invention do then suggest to him.” Pellingmans’ Saraband perform eighteen divisions on this, their maiden CD. They adventurously describe playing these often complex and demanding divisions as the equivalent of jazz improvisation!

 No one can fault their dedication to the art of the division. Barafostus’ Dream is truly testing – Susanna Pell rises to the challenge of the solo version specifically scored for treble viol. On the CD she follows with the exhilarating divisions based anonymously on Greensleeves.

 The divisions selected were written between the late 16th century and the early 18th. Two factors the pieces have in common are the complexity of their divisions and the sense of joyfulness with which they are played. This is certainly true of Gottfried Finger’s Divisions, where Pell’s spirited playing livens up more formal compositions.

 Very often, the collection features popular dance tunes which were arranged by established composers. The names of some of these composers have come down to us. Others remain anonymous, but Jacob Heringman plays Green Garters with sympathy and zest; Pell’s Paul’s Steeple, which immediately follows, equals it in both qualities.

 The divisions are not confined to English composers. London-based Giovanni Battista Draghi’s aptly named Italian Ground is sensitively performed by both musicians. The same is true of three pieces by Solomon Eccles, who was one of the last composers of divisions before Italian sonatas became popular.

 Both musicians tackle their divisions with relish. The Leaves be Green always demands virtuosic skills; Heringman obliges. Pell responds with A New Division to a Ground by Eccles. This compilation also comprises some more Elizabethan favourites such as Go From My Window, but a division by Christopher Simpson scored for bass viol looks towards the Baroque future. Note: physical copies of these CDs are exclusively available from www.heringman.com and www.pellingman.co.uk.

Tchaikovsky – Iolanta; Stravinsky – Persephone
Teatro Real Madrid; Peter Sellars; Teodor Currentzis
Teatro Real TR97011DVD

Artists dispute the trope that the greatest art comes from great suffering, but one can be excused for thinking that it does when listening to Iolanta, Tchaikovsky’s last opera. A period of immense suffering, resulting in the composer’s suicide, was triggered by an absolute rejection by the object of his obsessive love, his teenage nephew Bob. It was 1891 and Tchaikovsky’s homosexual desire for the 18-year-old was not something that Russian society, nor indeed Tchaikovsky himself, was ready to accept. Plagued by guilt and shame, the composer spiralled into a debilitating depression. In the process he composed Iolanta, a one-act work of haunting beauty and rare daring. Years before Stravinsky’s winds-dominated Rite of Spring caused a riot at the occasion of its premiere, Iolanta’s overture was scored exclusively for winds, followed by a first scene with a string quartet and four voices only. Judged a failure at its Russian performances, Iolanta received deserved appreciation when staged for the first time in Hamburg, with Gustav Mahler conducting. Tchaikovsky, alas, did not see that triumph – he was too sick to travel.

In this recording, Peter Sellars, the ground-breaking theatrical and operatic director, skilfully highlights the beauty of the music, while reducing superfluous stage movement and letting the austere set be the backdrop for a beautiful interplay of shadow and light. The singing is superb throughout, with special accolades reserved for Ekaterina Scherbachenko (Iolanta) and Dmitry Ulianov (King Rene).

In contrast, Stravinsky’s Persephone is a result of a curious collaboration – that of a resolute White Russian and a French communist poet, André Gide. Their collaboration did not last long; nor did Gide’s fascination with the new Soviet regime (” When we were hoping for a dictatorship of the proletariat, we were not hoping for just a dictatorship,” he wrote.). Nonetheless the result is a lasting contribution to the theatrical repertoire. In this production, Dominique Blanc plays the role of the Greek goddess who forsakes her worldly kingdom and enters Hades, only to re-emerge each spring. This superb DVD is an early contender for the ranks of the best of 2013.

Leonardo Vinci – Artaserse
Radiotelevisione Svizzera; Concerto Köln; Diego Fasolis
Virgin Classics 5099960286925

In 2008 the soprano Simone Kermes recorded Lava,a disc of arias from 18th-century Naples, which included two scenes from Leonardo Vinci’s Artaserse. Since then both Cecilia Bartoli and Karina Gauvin have recorded arias by Vinci and now we have this recording of all of Artaserse. It features a cast of six: five countertenors and one tenor. I heard Alfred Deller, who revived the countertenor voice, in recital 50 years ago and I liked what I heard. All the same, the differences in sheer virtuosity between the early pioneer and modern practitioners like Philippe Jaroussky and Franco Fagioli is staggering.

Artaserse was first performed in Rome in 1730. The performance was truncated, since it coincided with the death of the Pope and, once that death was announced, the performance could not proceed. The opera was, however, revived in Vienna and in a number of Italian opera houses in the 1730s. In the Papal States women were not allowed on the stage and consequently the soprano and mezzo parts were sung by castrati. Where this restriction did not apply female singers like Francesca Cuzzoni and Vittoria Tesi took part in these early revivals.

Brilliant though the singing is on these discs, I found myself longing for a woman’s voice well before the first act was over. We no longer have castrati but the modern practice of combining women’s voices with those of countertenors works well.

The National Youth Orchestra of Canada has released a 2-CD set documenting its 2012 adventure under the baton of Alain Trudel. Russian Masters – Canadian Creations (nyoc.org) includes sterling performances of selections from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and Shostakovich’s Symphony No.10 in E Minor alongside new works from young(ish) Canadian composers Nicolas Gilbert and Adam Sherkin. If the playing on this disc is any indication, the future of orchestral music in this country is in good hands. The playing is dynamic and nuanced with strong attention to detail and line. Trudel is to be commended for his work bringing these young musicians from across the country into a cohesive and convincing whole. My only complaint is with the lack of musicological information. There is a booklet with extensive details about the organization — mission statement, audition process, training and touring programs — and a biography of Trudel, a complete list of the musicians and even the recording personnel, but not a word about the composers or the music. Perhaps the “Russian Masters” need no introduction, but this is a real disservice to the Canadians. I assumed that they were commissioned to write these works specifically for the NYOC and a visit to the website confirms this was the case for Gilbert’s Résistance but that is the only information I can find there. Sherkin’s Terra Incognita remains “unknown” with no mention of its origin or context. (A Google search turned up the information that this work was developed at an orchestral workshop of the Buffalo Philharmonic and a revised version was performed in 2005 at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto under Trudel’s direction.) Both works make full use of the orchestra’s resources skilfully although neither breaks any particularly new ground.

Montreal’s Nicolas Gilbert’s chamber music has been heard in Toronto in several contexts, performed by the Ensemble contemporain de Montréal, New Music Concerts and Continuum, and in recent years he has served as host on the ECM’s cross-country “Generation” tours. Sherkin is a Toronto-based composer and pianist with a burgeoning international career whose new Centrediscs release of solo piano compositions is reviewed by Nic Gotham further on in these pages. It is great to have the opportunity to hear large scale orchestral compositions by these two; I only wish we were given some background information.

There is no shortage of information on the CD Sharp Edges featuring music of Toronto composer Robert A. Baker (robertabaker.net) who completed his doctorate at McGill University in 2009 and now makes his home in Maryland. The notes start with an Artistic Statement which states in part “At the heart of my musical imagination is a fundamental contradiction. On the one hand I want to hear music of the distant past, maintain a sense of connection to my musical heritage, and in this way feel a part of humankind. On the other hand, I feel an irresistible curiosity; a need to consider sound in as objective a manner possible, embrace any sonic option that is relevant and practical, no matter how unconventional, and attempt to hear what I have not yet heard, and say what I have not yet said.”

In addition to his activities as a composer, pianist, conductor and teacher, Baker is an active researcher on contemporary music analysis and philosophies on the perception of musical time. These concerns are exemplified in the seven compositions showcased on this excellent recording. A series of four works titled Valence,ranging from solo piano to an ensemble of six instruments, are interspersed with independent pieces including the title track for four strings and percussion, another piano solo and a string quartet. This last which “evokes an array of references ranging from the distant to the recent past in Western musical history” was premiered at the Canadian Contemporary Music Workshop in Toronto in 2004. This recording of the two part ethereal then angular piece features Toronto’s Elgin Quartet. The Valence series was composed between 2008 and 2011 and is presented here in reverse chronology. The disc begins with the final instalment, scored for clarinet, trumpet, piano, percussion, violin and cello, and ends with the solo piano precursor. It is intriguing to hear how the treatment of the material changes from incarnation to incarnation. Sharp Edges is not only the title of a 2009 composition for violin, viola, cello, double bass and percussion, but also an apt description of Baker’s uncompromising music which encompasses the past while embracing the future.

In March 2012 the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s New Creations Festival was curated by Hungarian conductor and composer Peter Eötvös. During the week Toronto audiences had the opportunity to hear a number of his works thanks to both the TSO and New Music Concerts. One of the highlights was the Canadian premiere of the Eötvös’ violin concerto Seven, a memorial to the astronauts of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The number seven provides the shape of not only the musical materials of the piece, but also the layout of the orchestra into seven mixed instrumental groups and the placement of the six tutti violins (seven violins counting the soloist) throughout the hall, distant from the stage, “in space” as it were.

A new recording of this stunning work appears on Bartók/Eötvös/Ligeti featuring violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and Ensemble Modern under Eötvös’ direction (Naïve V 2585). The 2-CD set also includes Bartók’s Violin Concerto No.2 dating from 1939 and the five-movement version of Ligeti’s Violin Concerto from 1992, the premiere of which was conducted by Peter Eötvös in Cologne. Spanning roughly 70 years, this recording effectively brings together works by the most important Hungarian composers of the 20th century in sparkling performances by the young Moldovan violinist.

The Bartók concerto has of course become a classic of the repertoire and this recording reminds us why. The Ligeti, scored for a chamber orchestra of 23 players including natural horns and four winds doubling on ocarinas, is an extremely challenging work first heard in Toronto with Fujiko Imajishi as the soloist with New Music Concerts in 1999. (She later reprised the work with Esprit Orchestra.) Described in the notes as “a characteristic example of Ligeti’s late work ... Elements of music from the Middle Ages to the Baroque, Bulgarian and Hungarian folksong, polyrhythmic superimpositions as in the piano rolls of Conlon Nancarrow and an exorbitantly difficult solo part are forcibly yoked into complex constructs that liberate undreamt-of sonic energies and make listening into an adventure.” It is all that and more.

My final selection for the month also has a (perhaps tenuous) Toronto connection. Chinese born American composer Tan Dunwas selected by Glenn Gould Prize laureate Toru Takemitsu for the City of Toronto Protégé Prize in 1996. A recent Naxos release, Tan Dun – Concerto for Orchestra (8.570608) includes two compositions from 2012, the title work and the Symphonic Poem on Three Notes, juxtaposed with 1990’s Orchestral Theatre performed by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra under the composer’s direction. This disc provides a welcome entrée into the concert music of the composer who came to international attention with the score to the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The Concerto, which employs material from Dun’s opera Marco Polo, is especially effective in its extended percussion cadenzas and its blending of vocalization with instrumental accents. With nods to Stravinsky, Bartók and Lutosławski while referencing his Asian heritage, this work is very effective.

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 and record labels, and additional, expanded and archival reviews.

Handel – Giulio Cesare in Egitto
Marie-Nicole Lemieux; Karina Gauvin; Romina Basso; Emoke Barath;
Il Complesso Barocco; Alan Curtis
Naïve OP30536

Still remembering the brilliant pairing of soprano Karina Gauvin and contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux with “Il Complesso Barocco” on the CD of Handel duets Streams of Pleasure, one is overjoyed at the prospect of hearing them together as the main characters of a full (over three hours) Handel opera. This is one of Handel’s best and the performance is nothing short of glorious! Lemieux is superb at portraying Julius Caesar’s commanding presence as is Gauvin with Cleopatra’s seductive wit and bravado. The two handle the characters’ romantic moments equally well. For example, Lemieux is a veritable cyclone spewing Caesar’s fierce vengeance in “Quel torrente,” but demonstrates such playful tenderness in “Se in fiorito,” where the composer provides a delightful interplay between the singer and the violin (as a little bird). Gauvin captures Cleopatra’s sensual nature beautifully in “Tutto puo donna”and “Venere bella” while her controlled and softly sustained tones characterize a sense of resignation in “Piangerò.”

There is some marvellous casting of the second leads, notably contralto Romina Basso who evokes the depth and regal bearing perfect for a noblewoman in mourning who is, nonetheless, pursued by no fewer than three suitors in her time of grief. Countertenor Filippo Mineccia displays an impishly evil tone in his portrayal of the murderous Ptolemy. The orchestra has some great moments, with sinfonias enhancing the sensuality of Cleopatra’s staged appearance in Act II as well as the triumphal entrance during the finale.

Haydn – The Creation
Amanda Forsythe; Keith Jameson; Kevin Deas; Boston Baroque; Martin Pearlman
Linn Records CKD 401

Although The Creation was a great success when it was first performed, it was almost forgotten by the end of the 19th century, outside Vienna at least. The first recording dates from 1949; now there are about 70 recordings available. They divide into two groups: those with modern instruments and symphony orchestras and, on the other hand, performances with period instruments that are attentive to late 18th-century performance style such as this CD. Tafelmusik recorded the work in 1993. I like the soloists on that recording (especially the soprano, Ann Monoyios) but the conducting by Bruno Weil is unimaginative.

By contrast, Martin Pearlman’s conducting has the right momentum. The soloists are very good. The tenor, Keith Jameson, has the right lyricism. The soprano, Amanda Forsythe, sings with lightness; yet her voice is full and warm. The bass-baritone, Kevin Deas, sings with a great deal of vibrato in a manner that might seem more appropriate for Porgy and Bess or the Brahms Requiem, bothofwhich are in his repertoire, but that is less important than the power and the sonority that he brings to the part. Just listen to his account of the dangerous creeping worm in Part II, a premonition of what will destroy the bliss achieved at the end of the work. If you are looking for a historically informed performance with period instruments which also shows passion and drama, I would recommend this version.

In Dreams
Philippe Sly; Michael McMahon
Analekta AN 2 9836

This is bass-baritone Philippe Sly’s first recording for Analekta. It’s a well-chosen program and presents him with several stylistic challenges that he handles impressively.

Every young singer needs to conquer the repertoire standards, so it’s no surprise to find Sly singing the Schumann Dichterliebe, Op.48. Here Sly captures the essence of Heine’s poems so well that we understand why they inspired Schumann and others to song writing. Wonderfully supported by accompanist Michael McMahon, Sly is free to engage his vocal line with the piano to create the kind of partnership the composer intended. The happy product of this is what every lieder performing duo seeks — those moments of indescribable oneness where separate parts cease to exist. Sly and McMahon achieve this many times throughout this 16-song cycle, but no more convincingly than in “Allnächtlich in Traume.”

The Guy Ropartz settings of six Heine poems call for a very different approach reflecting almost a century of art song evolution. Sly is very comfortable moving from Schumann into the more modern French style and honours the same poet’s muse with a new musical and textual language. Never demanding much of the chesty operatic voice, the Ropartz songs show the lighter, truly lovely mid and upper range of Sly’s voice.

The disc’s most interesting tracks are the Three Tennyson Songs by British composer Jonathan Dove. Written for Sly after their first meeting in Banff in 2009, Dove’s songs seem perfectly suited for Sly’s voice, which sounds more at home in these contemporary works than anywhere else on the disc. They are, among other things, a reminder of how wonderfully suitable the English language can be for art song.

Strauss – Arabella
Emily Magee; Genia Kuhmeier;
Tomasz Konieczny; Michael Schade; Vienna State Opera; Franz Welser-Most
Electric Picture EPC03DVD

The creative spark between a composer and a librettist can result in masterpieces and lasting and memorable collaborations. Da Ponte and Mozart, Piave and Verdi, Gilbert and Sullivan; and, of course, Hofmannsthal and Strauss. The two hit it off after Strauss saw Hofmannsthal’s Electra in 1906. “Your style is so very similar to mine!” enthused the composer. “We were born for each other.” There were magical projects for the two men, who corresponded frequently until Hofmannsthal’s death. The obvious one is Der Rosenkavalier, easily the duo’s best opera and their most lasting legacy. In Arabella, the somewhat familiar device of a young, beautiful aristocrat trying to marry the right man to prop up the family’s sagging fortunes gets complicated by a bit of “Shakespearean” cross-dressing and lover-swapping. This particular staging is worth seeing not just for the fine singing, but also superb acting by the principals. Tomasz Konieczny as Mandryka is every director’s dream of a singing actor and Emily Magee as Arabella successfully defies stereotypes of youth and beauty — no suspension of disbelief is needed. Genia Kuehmeier is particularly touching as the younger sister Zdenka, forced to appear dressed as a man. For the writing duo, with Arabella the Viennese magic was back. As Strauss wrote in his condolences to Hofmannsthal’s widow, “No one will ever replace him for me or for the world of music!”

Canada’s Jasper Wood has long been one of my favourite violinists, ever since he used to come into the music store where I was working some ten years ago to promote his terrific CDs of the Eckhardt-Gramatté and Gary Kulesha solo Caprices and Saint-Saëns’ Music for Violin and Piano. Since then he has built a wide-ranging discography, including CDs of music by Ives, Stravinsky, Bartók and Morawetz. His latest CD on the American Max Frank Music label (MFM 003) is titled Chartreuse, and features Wood and his long-time accompanist David Riley in beautifully judged performances of sonatas by Mozart, Debussy and Richard Strauss.

The Mozart is the Sonata in B-Flat Major K454, and the playing here — as it is throughout the CD — is Wood at his usual best: clean; accurate; tasteful; sweet-toned; stylish; intelligent and thoughtful. The Debussy sonata is given an impassioned reading; and in the Strauss Sonata in E-Flat Major, Op.18 Wood and Riley handle the virtuosic demands with sensitive subtlety, invoking Brahms rather than providing a mere display of fireworks. The sound throughout is resonant and warm, and the instrumental balance just right. The CD digipak comes without booklet notes, but none are really necessary; listening to this CD is like being at a memorable live recital.

Cellist Simon Fryer teams up with pianist Leslie De’Ath on a fascinating CD of Victorian Cello Sonatas on the independent American label Centaur Records (CRC 3216). The composers Algernon Ashton and Samuel Liddle are probably new to you — they certainly were to me — but they are representative of that generation of late 19th century English composers whose style went out of fashion in the years before the Great War, and whose works virtually disappeared from the repertoire. Not surprisingly, their works here — Ashton’s Sonata No.2 in G Major from 1882 and Liddle’s Sonata in E-Flat Major and his Elegy from 1889 and 1900 respectively — are world premiere recordings; the Sonata No.2 in D Minor, Op.39 by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford completes the recital.

The previously unknown Liddle sonata was discovered by De’Ath in the course of his hobby of collecting musical documents and ephemera. The predominant influence seems to be German, especially the music of Mendelssohn and Brahms, but that’s hardly surprising, given the musical connections between the two countries in Victorian times. Ashton’s music, although scarcely acknowledged at home, was widely published in Germany, where he had studied at the Leipzig Conservatory; Liddle and Stanford also studied in Leipzig during the late 1870s, as had Arthur Sullivan some 20 years earlier.

While the Stanford sonata may be the stronger work, there is a great deal of worthwhile and highly attractive music here, clearly the work of competent and imaginative craftsmen. Fryer and De’Ath certainly present a persuasive case for the pieces, surmounting the often formidable technical challenges with expansive playing that never resorts to overly Romantic indulgence. Fryer’s tone in the lower register is particularly lovely.

Sometimes, admittedly, works do remain buried or neglected for good reasons, but CDs like this one remind us just how rewarding it can be to take the path less trodden.

Fans of violinist Christian Tetzlaff will be delighted with his new CD of three Mozart Sonatas for Piano and Violin, with Lars Vogt at the keyboard (Ondine ODE 1204-2). The sonatas are those in B Flat Major K454, G Major K379 and A Major K526 and Tetzlaff more than lives up to his usual world-class standard in works that require not only virtuosity but also a great deal of sensitivity. His playing seems effortless, with a smooth legato and a lovely range of dynamics.

The booklet notes tell us that Vogt and Tetzlaff are both very conscious of the ambiguity created in these sonatas by Mozart’s customary emotional range, and their performances quite beautifully reflect this. Tetzlaff apparently came to Mozart’s music fairly late — well, at 15; late for a prodigy — but clearly understands that growing older is crucial to understanding the music.

The sound is spacious without being overly resonant, with the two instruments clearly separated but nicely balanced, reminding us — as does the CD’s title — that these were not originally written as sonatas for solo violin with piano accompaniment.

There are another two outstanding string quartet releases from the Naxos label. Hindemith String Quartets Vol.2 (8.572164) features the final three quartets of the composer’s cycle of seven, in impeccable performances by the Amar Quartet. The Zurich-based ensemble was granted use of the name of Hindemith’s own 1920s string quartet by the Hindemith Institute in 1995 on the centenary of the composer’s birth, so their interpretations here are clearly authoritative. Quartet No.5 is from 1923; Quartets Nos.6 and 7 are from 1943 and 1945, when Hindemith had settled in America. They’re terrific works, demonstrating his mastery of string writing and reminding one yet again that the opinion – still held in some quarters – that Hindemith was a dry and cerebral composer is patently false. Volume 1, featuring Quartets 2 and 3, is available on Naxos 8.572163; hopefully a third volume with Quartets 1 and 4 will soon complete an outstanding set.

The New Zealand String Quartet are the performers on the CD Asian Music for String Quartet (8.572488), a quite fascinating – and often quite beautiful – example of contemporary musical East meets West. There are single works by China’s Zhou Long and Gao Ping, Cambodia’s Chinary Ung (now an American citizen), Japan’s Toru Takemitsu and Tan Dun, the Chinese composer now resident in New York City. Titles like Song of the Ch’in (a Chinese plucked string instrument) and Bright Light and Cloud Shadows are a good indication of the sort of music you can expect here. It’s all superbly played by the New Zealand quartet. The recording was made in the acoustically superb St. Anne’s Church in west end Toronto, with the ever-reliable Norbert Kraft as recording engineer.

It’s always nice to open a CD when you have absolutely no idea – or, at least, very little – what to expect. I must admit to never having heard of the Polish composer and conductor Ignaz Waghalter (1881-1949), who moved to Berlin at the age of 17 and finally ended up, like so many others, in the United States after fleeing the Nazi regime in the late 1930s. Waghalter was born seven years after Schoenberg, the same year as Bartok, only one year before Stravinsky, two years before Anton Webern and four years before Alban Berg, but never showed any interest in what could be termed avant-garde music, a fact which certainly contributed to his virtual anonymity after the Second World War. His music, always strongly melodic, looks back to the world of Schumann, Brahms and Bruch, and never forward to the world of atonality and innovation. Naxos has issued a quite revelationary CD of his Violin Music (8572809), featuring the Greek-Polish violinist Irmina Trynkos in her debut CD and the first in her Waghalter Project, created specifically to promote the music of this composer.

The main offering here is the Violin Concerto Op.15 from 1911, a beautiful work that recalls Bruch and Brahms from the opening bars without ever showing quite the same sense of depth and scale. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Alexander Walker provides exemplary accompaniment in this and in the Rhapsodie Op.9 from 1906, a shorter work again strongly reminiscent of Brahms; both are world premiere recordings.

Three attractive works for violin and piano complete the disc: the Sonata in F minor Op.5; the Idyll Op.19b; and Geständnis, Trynkos being joined in these by pianist Giorgi Latsabidze.

Trynkos is a relatively new talent on the concert scene, but plays with warmth, style and confidence; she is clearly one to watch.

As for Waghalter, it will be interesting to see what, if any, other examples of his music will now be resurrected. There is certainly a great deal to enjoy here, but it is perhaps not too difficult to come up with an answer to the question posed at the end of the booklet notes: “How was it possible that this music went missing for a century?” To be fair though, that’s a question that can be asked about a good number of early 20th century European composers – especially Jewish ones – who fell victim to the political changes in the inter-war years and to the rejection after the Second World War of anything that was redolent of the old German musical tradition.

The excellent Swiss violinist Rachel Kolly D’Alba is back with her latest CD, American Serenade (Warner Classics 2564 65765-7), accompanied by the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire under John Axelrod. In her booklet notes, D’Alba comments on the lack of boundaries between the multitude of different styles in American music. Certainly all three composers represented here were, as she notes, continually dogged by the question of whether their music was “serious’ or “popular” but for her it simply illustrates the fascinating complexity of American music. The Fantasy on Porgy and Bess opens the CD, George Gershwin’s music appearing in Alexander Courage’s arrangement for violin and orchestra of eight songs from the opera (– or was it a musical?). Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade after Plato’s Symposium is not heard all that often, but the composer apparently considered it his best work. When the conductor here, John Axelrod, was a pupil of Bernstein in the early 1980s it was the first work he studied with the composer, lending this performance a real sense of authority. Franz Waxman’s Carmen Fantasie on themes from Bizet’s opera completes the disc. It’s a darker work than the Sarasate Fantasy on the same opera, and has long been a cult favourite with violinists. D’Alba is in great form throughout a terrific CD.

All in a Garden Green –
A Renaissance Collection
Toronto Consort; David Fallis
Marquis MAR 81515

This CD comprises a double re-release. Mariners and Milkmaids is a tribute to some of the stock characters of 17th century English ballads and dances. Its breakdown of 11 anonymous pieces and eight from the seminal English Dancing Master by John and Henry Playford bears this out.

Toronto Consort is highly imaginative in its selection and very few of the tracks are those old favourites often encountered in early music compilations. Come Ashore Jolly Tar is a spirited interpretation which would grace any Celtic celebration with its exuberant violin playing and percussion, as would The Sailor Laddie. More thoughtful but no less intense is Gilderoy: one singles out Laura Pudwell’s solo mezzo-soprano. One also notes the confident way in which Toronto Consort’s artistic director David Fallis defeats the Spanish Armada in In Eighty Eight — and Queen Anne’s enemies in the Recruiting Officer!

The Toronto Consort finds time to showcase its soloists. Katherine Hill (soprano) sings of being The Countrey Lasse, accompanied only by Terry McKenna’s lute. Alison Melville’s recorder and flute playing excel in An Italian Rant and Waltham Abbey, which reminds us of the complex techniques she draws on for the virtuosic English Nightingale by Jacob van Eyck.

The latter is found on the second CD, O Lusty May. This is more a celebration of renaissance music as a whole, dipping into the continental European repertoire, and less dependent on anonymous popular pieces.

There is a real sophistication to Allons au Vert Boccage by Guillaume Costeley, each of the four singers enjoying their own prominent part. The pure exuberance of Thoinot Arbeau’s Jouissance immediately follows — could there have been a more appropriate title for this tune? The continental pieces make their mark — Laura Pudwell in La terre n’agueres glacée, Giovanni Bassano’s Frais et Gaillard with Alison Melville rising to the challenge of some intricate baroque recorder fingering, and Meredith Hall’s solo Quand ce beau printemps je voy.

William Byrd’s All in a Garden Green is the most courtly English piece, its divisions bearing little resemblance to the plaintive tune set to words for lovers and, later, English Civil War activists. Meredith Hall breathes (bird) life into This Merry, Pleasant Spring, while an animated quintet urges us to See, see the shepherds’ queen.

Buy these CDs for anyone new to early music — and for your own sheer delight!

Concert note: Toronto Consort presents
the Canadian premiere of Francesco Cavalli’s 1640 Italian opera The Loves of Apollo & Daphne February 15 and 16 at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre.

Medtner; Mussorgsky; Prokofiev
Georgy Tchaidze
Honens
honens.com

Laureates of the Honens International Piano Competition are fascinating to follow as they begin to make their way in the world. The competition is a prestigious career launcher and offers wide public exposure as well as the promise of a performance recording on which to build a growing discography.

It’s easy to understand why Russian Georgy Tchaidze emerged victorious from the 2009 crop of gifted competitors. On this, his first major recording, he plays with articulate clarity and an enormously expressive technique, and considering his youth, his interpretive maturity is truly surprising.

Recorded at the Banff Centre in May 2012, Tchaidze plays Prokofiev, Mussorgsky and the somewhat lesser known Nicolai Medtner. The four Medtner Fairy Tales, Op.34 are a diverse and well-crafted collection of programmatic works. They demand much of their performer, especially the final one of the set where Tchaidze succeeds in making Medtner sound more of a modernist than even he may have realized.

Moving from the poetry of Medtner to the intellectual discipline of his contemporary Prokofiev, Tchaidze is fully at ease in the Sonata No.4 in C Minor, Op.29. He seems, in some way, to understand the music better than the composer himself and to convey this youthful confidence quite convincingly, never pushing this understated composition beyond credibility — even in the brief but highly charged final movement.

Mussorgsky’s Pictures are so well known and frequently recorded that including them on a first CD is a courageous choice. Tchaidze truly makes “Pictures” an exhibition.

For a closer look at this amazing young pianist, watch his several YouTube interviews and performances.

American Mavericks
San Francisco Symphony;
Michael Tilson Thomas
SFSMedia SFS 0056

The lion’s share of this captivating disc of American music is devoted to two major works by the innovative Henry Cowell (1897–1965), an early proponent of what came to be known as “World Music” and a pioneer of new sounds from his own instrument, the piano. His fascinating 1930 Synchrony for orchestra was originally titled Synchrony of Dance, Music, Light and was intended as a vehicle for the American dance pioneer Martha Graham, who unfortunately lost interest in this multimedia project. There is undoubtedly a scenario behind this work which might help explain its episodic character. Unfortunately the very meagre program notes leave us in the dark. Cowell’s rather more conventional three-movement Piano Concerto was also composed in that year, with the composer himself the pianist for the premiere performances. Both scores make prominent use of Cowell’s trademark “chord clusters” — aggressive conglomerations of notes played by closed fists or open palms — which caused quite a sensation at the time. Pianist Jeremy Denk is the soloist in a rousing rendition of this very propulsive work.

Lou Harrison (1917–2003), a student of Cowell’s, carried on his mentor’s interest in Asian musical traditions with a particular emphasis on Balinese music. His Concerto for Organ with Percussion Orchestra, completed in 1973 though incorporating elements from as far back as 1951, features an excellent performance from Paul Jacobs. The five movements of the concerto form a convincing and satisfying synthesis of Eastern and Western elements seasoned with a strong French influence reminiscent of Messiaen. The percussion section of the orchestra is in particularly fine form in this invigorating score.

A superlative performance ofthe landmark 1927 version of Amériques by Edgard Varèse (1883–1965) brings the album to a close on a spectacular note. Tilson Thomas has always had an uncanny knack for voicing the most dissonant of chords into a harmonious blend and here he outdoes himself. These splendid live performances from 2010 and 2012 are indispensable fodder for devotees of any of these unbranded composers.

Barbara Pentland – Toccata
Barbara Pritchard
Centrediscs CMCCD 18312

I am very happy that Centrediscs, a label on which I also record, has released this CD of the solo piano music of Barbara Pentland. She was one of Canada’s leading composers who also had a place in the international avant-garde. Although she favoured serial techniques she did not let the rules restrict her. Her music sings and flows with imagination and colour. These are not the dry ascetic pieces you might expect from a serialist.

The first piece on the CD, Toccata (1958), is modelled on the toccatas of Frescobaldi and reflects the baroque virtuosic style of fast trills, arpeggios and hand crossings. Barbara Pritchard played this piece for the composer and gives an exemplary performance.Ephemera (1974–78) is made up of several short pieces named Angelus, Spectre, Whales, Coral Reef and Persiflage.This is an extraordinary set of works and Pritchard’s sensitive tone and attention to detail make this impressionistic-sounding music a mesmerizing experience. The humour that Pentland injects into two of these pieces is charming. A hint of Reveille in Persiflage is quirky and fun.

Tenebrae (1976) is full of brooding shadows lovingly played by Pritchard. Dirge from 1948 and From Long Agofrom 1946 illustrate Pentland’s early style and you can hear the influence of Copland, Stravinsky and Bartók on her work. Vita Brevis (1973) and Horizons (1985) complete this excellent CD which should encourage pianists of all levels and musicians of any taste to discover the marvellous, musical world of Barbara Pentland.

Adam Sherkin – As At First
Adam Sherkin
Centrediscs CMCCD 18212

This new recording finds Adam Sherkin at a fascinating early point in his career as a composer. Sherkin trained first as a pianist, and the works on this CD of his solo piano compositions show him processing this experience. Having engaged the piano repertoire as broadly and comprehensively as one could ask of an artist of 29 years, classical piano music remains his central point of reference. Clearly evident are the influences of an entire gallery of European piano keyboard composers from the Baroque through the late 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Mozart and Haydn are overtly acknowledged in this recording (in the pieces called Amadeus A.D. and Daycurrents, respectively), but the presence of Bach, Liszt and Shostakovich are no less clearly felt at various points in the proceedings.

Influences aside, what do we perceive of Sherkin himself? It’s a fair question in this case, because his compositions must accommodate the performer’s own fulsome expressivity: the dynamic range of his playing is wide, tending to the forte; his articulation is crisp with a fondness for jabbing accents; his phrasing often features a late-Romantic emotionalism in its rubato, but can also — albeit less frequently — settle into a calmer metric momentum. And here is what is interesting about this portrait: as a composer, he is dealing with the conflicting attractions of self-expression on one hand, as in the solo piano music of Schoenberg or Scriabin for example, and a less subjective, more outward and “American” approach on the other, as in the music of John Adams, with whose solo piano music Sherkin is well acquainted. It is a typically 21st century creative quandary, and Adam Sherkin has taken up the struggle with energy and panache.