Dream
Michele Mele
Independent GKM 1001
michelemele.com

In her second inspired collaboration with producer Greg Kavanagh, luminous vocalist and contemporary jazz composer Michele Mele has once again created a recording of original music that is as accessible, captivating and refreshing as a perfect spring day. Mele’s life is her musical canvas, and she allows her clever lyrics and delightfully contagious melodic lines to give us a glimpse into her most intimate feelings — and those relatable, human emotions are consistently rendered with purity, honesty and high musicality.

Dream has been expertly produced and arranged by Kavanagh, and Mele has surrounded herself with a stellar cast that includes trumpet/flugelhorn icon Guido Basso, piano genius Robbi Botos and first-call saxophonist John Johnson. Although Mele never panders to us with over-trodden standards or gratuitous scat singing, she is a serious jazz composer, lyricist and vocalist who simply prefers to colour outside the lines a wee bit — not unlike Bob Dorough, Dave Frishberg, Blossom Dearie or Mose Allison.

Standout tracks include the title song, which lures the listener directly into Mele’s beautiful “dream” — lulled along by the sinewy, rich saxophone of Johnson, Botos’ crystalline piano work and Mele’s sensual and swinging signature vocal sound. The great Guido Basso also lends his own special magic to the CD, particularly on the track “The More” — sung in English, Spanish and French by the multilingual Mele. Also of note are the touching compositions, “Intimacy,” which is breathtakingly beautiful and features a heartrending lyric, and also the witty “Anti-Magiana,” which utilizes intricate Latin rhythms expertly played by brothers Lew and John Mele on bass and drums, as well as richly layered vocal nuances.

Small Choices
Papetti-Manisalco-Rubino
AUT Records 006

Why not improvise on so-called classical music themes is a question increasingly answered in the positive by adventurous players of every genre. Thus the Italian trio involved in Small Choices dedicates more than half this CD to such prestidigitation.

These are serious improvisations, not a jazzy overlay of notated music however. Which means that when bassist Giacomo Papetti, pianist Emanuele Maniscalco and Gabriele Rubino on piccolo, soprano and bass clarinets deal with themes by Sibelius or Ligeti they bring the same freedom to experiment with them as they would with tunes by Ellington or Monk.

“Fine del Tempo,” for instance, inspired by Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps, adds a rhythmic undertow, and before recapping the head, stretches the theme with unbroken trills from Rubino, Papetti’s slap bass plus Maniscalco’s repeated note clusters. On the other hand, Escape from Ainola, taken from Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony, maintains panoramic echoes with resonating chords from the keyboard and a buzzing bass line. Here Rubino creates the bonding ostinato as the others interject sub-motifs or decorate the brooding theme.

Solid definitions and identifications are proven unfeasible on some of the other tracks however. With sweeping piano glissandi, double bass thumps and a melody propelled by delicate soprano clarinet sweeps, “Nascondere” appears to be another contrafact of classical notated music. Instead it’s a completely original composition by Papetti.

Two of the three players here earned advanced conservatory degrees in both notated and improvised music. Although Maniscalco, in contrast, is an autodidact — like Schoenberg and Elgar — this sort of jazz-classical crossover will likely become much more common in the future. “Small Choices” shows the way.

Triple Play
Russell Malone
MaxJazz MXJ607

This Side of Strayhorn
Terell Stafford
MaxJazz MXJ408

Here are two releases on the MAXJAZZ label which was founded in 1998 and is now releasing its albums via the MAXJAZZ website and with international distribution by Naxos.

Russell Malone’s Triple Play (Russell Malone guitar, David Wong bass, Montez Coleman drums) features four nicely melodic originals by Malone and seven by others ranging from “Butch And Butch” by Oliver Nelson to the seldom heard “The Kind Of Girl She Is” by Alan and Marilyn Bergman and Dave Grusin. There is also a beautifully sensitive solo performance of the Alex North composition “Unchained Melody.” This is a very satisfying CD and a welcome addition to any jazz collection.

Terrell Stafford’s This Side of Strayhorn features Stafford on trumpet and flugelhorn, Tim Warfield, on soprano and tenor saxophone, Bruce Barth piano, Peter Washington bass and Dana Hall drums. An album dedicated to the compositions of Mr. Strayhorn is off to a good start and this one follows through with some formidable playing by Stafford and his fellow musicians. One of the tracks is “Lana Turner” which, in case you’re wondering, was later re-titled “Charpoy.” The CD is a rich cross-section of Strayhorn’s amazing output, running the gamut from “Lush Life” to “Smada” via “Day Dream.” The excellent arrangements are by Bruce Barth who also adds some first rate solos. But it is the melodic warm sound of Stafford, ably accompanied by Tim Warfield that stays with me.

If these releases are typical of the MAXJAZZ catalogue I can only say that I look forward to hearing more.

After Blue
Tierney Sutton
BFM Jazz 3020624192
tierneysutton.com

Tierney Sutton, the five-time Grammy-nominated jazz singer has turned her considerable talents to Joni Mitchell’s music on this, her tenth release. After Blue is a collection of covers, mostly from Mitchell’s heyday in the 70s and 80s, and includes some of her more popular hits like “Big Yellow Taxi,” “Woodstock” and “Both Sides Now.” The challenge with covering much-loved songs such as these is to be innovative enough to not slavishly mimic, without straying so far from the original as to render the songs unrecognizable. Sutton and the band have managed to strike that fine balance, largely by staying true to Mitchell’s vocal lines while introducing clever new treatments and arrangements through the instrumental accompaniment.

The band members on After Blue are not Sutton’s regulars and include such greats as Al Jarreau (the 73-year-old is a gas on Be Cool), Hubert Laws, Peter Erskine (who was Mitchell’s drummer on Both Sides Now and Mingus) and Larry Goldings. But it’s the work of the Turtle Island Quartet that really elevates some of these tunes, in particular “Little Green,” a simple song from Mitchell’s early days that here gets made over into a contrapuntal beauty. Cellist Kevin Summer shines as his solo work with Sutton on “All I Want” is multi-textured and lively. Although “Dry Cleaner from Des Moines” is fun in its stripped down, beatnik form here, it doesn’t hold a candle to the energy of the original. In general, this is a low-key, thoughtful album and a wonderful tribute to a master songwriter.

In 2007 trumpeter David Buchbinder released a CD called Odessa/Havana, an innovative mix of Eastern European klezmer and Latin American dance rhythms that touched on their common roots in the Middle East and Andalusian Spain. It was a brilliant success, finding genuine international acclaim. Odessa/Havana returns with Walk to the Sea (Tzadik 8177, odessahavana.com), a sequel that possesses even greater resonance, moving beyond the original instrumentals of the first CD to include songs from the Judeo-Spanish Ladino tradition, with pianist Hilario Durán’s arrangements of older songs and Buchbinder’s fresh settings of poems by Lina Kohen Albukrek, sung here by Maryem Hassan Tollar. The work is filled with rare grace and power, combining Buchbinder’s lyricism and Durán’s fire with an ensemble that is alive with varied percussion and vernacular fretted instruments from the middle-Eastern oud to the Cuban très. John Johnson contributes orchestral colour on a host of reeds and brings an explosive, dancing freedom with his tenor saxophone.

It’s a Free Country (craigpedersen.com) by Montreal-based trumpeter Craig Pedersen and bassist Joel Kerr may be unusual enough as a trumpet-bass duo, but the material makes it stranger still: it’s largely devoted to country and western themes approached from a variety of vantage points, including straightforward readings of tunes to exploratory free improvisation. You know something different is afoot on the opening title tune, with voices intoning: “It’s a free country/ but only for me.” Mixing in original compositions, it’s always unpredictable: Pedersen’s own “Williams Lake” has the clarity and grace of a gospel choir singing in a clearing in the woods; J.P. Webster’s “Wildwood Flower” has trumpet and arco bass in unison; Willie Nelson’s “Crazy” begins in sputtering free improvisation long before its famous melody emerges. It’s consistently playful, imaginative work that’s somehow true to both the emotional directness of country music and the oblique abstraction of current improvisation, just not at the same time.

Wide-open spaces also inspire composer/reed player Rob Mosher, who grew up in the village of Greenwood, Nova Scotia, moved to Toronto for composition studies, then settled in New York. His recent suite, Polebridge (robmosher.com), reflects both his mobility and his keen sense of place, as he goes further afield for inspiration. Polebridge, Montana is a hamlet of 88 people, the same number as the keys on a piano, and when Mosher arrived there he found an old piano abandoned in a lane. That image colours the music, a genuine chamber jazz mutation: there’s a seamless interplay of composed and improvised elements that draw inspiration from sources as diverse as Aaron Copland and klezmer as well as the images of a western town outside of time. The group foregrounds the virtuoso trumpeter Micah Killion and pianist Stephanie Nilles, but the score is alive with unusual timbres, from country fiddle and mandolin to English horn and bassoon.

It’s rare to hear a jazz quintet that similarly explores sonority, but that’s Toronto guitarist Harley Card’s frequent emphasis on his second CD as leader, Hedgerow (DYM002, harleycard.ca) beginning with his own guitar choices, from the sparkling, icy clarity of his electric on Get There to the warm, ringing, steel-string acoustic of “Helicopters and Holograms.” The emphasis extends to his band and his compositions: Tenor saxophonist David French also plays bass clarinet, Matt Newton plays acoustic and electric piano and, among the shifting rhythm players, Jon Maharaj plays acoustic and electric bass. That love of mutating sonorities works hand-in-glove with Card’s fondness for short, repeating figures with modulating harmonies, evident in tunes like “Hedgerow” and “Sophomore.” Whether the ultimate effect is pensive or celebratory, Card plays and writes with a keen sense of mood and emotional communication.

Bop is at the source of most forms of modern jazz, whether it’s the harmonic language of cool jazz, the aggressive swing of hard bop or the spiky melodies and rhythms of free jazz, but it’s rare to hear bop strongly evoked today. The Miles Black Trio with Grant Stewart (Cellar Live CL041313, cellarlive.com), recorded at Vancouver saxophonist Cory Weeds’ Cellar Jazz Club, does just that. Tenor saxophonist Stewart can suggest the compound messages of the great Dexter Gordon, lush and hard-edged, relaxed and aggressive, while Black’s piano alternately takes flight with lean, linear runs or turns introspective with dense block chords. André Lachance provides solid walking bass and Jim McDonough’s drumming drives the band with sudden, well-placed accents. The program of standards and originals contributes to the relaxed flow, while relatively obscure gems like Elmo Hope’s and Sonny Rollins’ “Carving the Rock” and Tadd Dameron’s “Super Jet” reveal rare bop erudition.

Recorded at Weeds’ club as well, the Amanda Tosoff Trio’s Live at the Cellar (Ocean’s Beyond Records OBR0009, amandatosoff.com) is also set solidly in the modern mainstream, though Tosoff’s penchant for subtle, elusive harmonic extensions is likelier to suggest the work of Bill Evans than bop. The Toronto-based pianist is clearly at home returning to her Vancouver roots. Rogers and Hart’s “There’s a Small Hotel” swings joyously, propelled along happily by the forceful rhythm section of bassist Jodi Proznick and drummer Jesse Cahill, but it’s on Tosoff’s own compositions that the group is most imaginative. “Fill Me Up with Joy” begins with short, sharply punctuated phrases only to develop a passionate, welling momentum; “Half Steps,” a ballad here dedicated to Tosoff’s late teacher Ross Taggart, is filled with a muted luminescence. 

Without question one of jazz’s most representative records is of a 1953 concert with bop masters Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus and Max Roach in their only performance together. That the session was recorded in Toronto’s Massey Hall makes it distinctive as well as irreplaceable. But Jazz at Massey Hall isn’t the only instance of jazz history being made north of the border. Precisely because of gig opportunities for committed international improvisers discs recorded at Canadian gigs or festivals are an important part of the music’s fabric.

One of the most significant recent sessions recorded in similar circumstances is Anthony Braxton’s Echo Echo Mirror House (Vict o cd 125, victo.qc.ca). Featuring the composer’s septet, this 2011 premiere at the annual Festival International de Musique Actuelle from Victoriaville, Quebec rolls controlled cacophony and fragmented polyphony into an hour-long protoplasmic performance that sounds as if it’s emanating from two orchestras playing simultaneously, although there are only seven musicians on stage. Having long dispensed with the idea of solo and accompaniment, Braxton’s composition allows the two brass players, percussion, three string players plus the composer’s saxophones to enter and exit the sequences at will. Miraculously all the parts hang together. This situation is even more remarkable when you consider that several of the players double or triple, and always conversant with technology, all are equipped with iPods. The latter adds snatches of pre-recorded voices, vocal and instrumental music to the mix and use live processing to integrate sequences recorded during performance back into the composition. While this description may appear formidable, the music isn’t that difficult. The initial theme reappears at junctures, while at all times motifs, such as Mary Halvorson’s guitar twangs or Jay Rozen’s tuba blasts, provide the continuum. Meanwhile the pressurized polytonal narrative recedes enough in spots so that Braxton’s alto saxophone yelps, Taylor Ho Bynum’s wispy flugelhorn grace notes or the polyrhythmic strokes uniting Jessica Pavone’s viola and Aaron Siegel’s vibes are clearly audible. Midway through, as the tension dissipates a bit, cutting reed bites and ringing vibes separately presage the addition of iPod samples featuring female speaking voices and a male vocal chorus. Later, following subtle reprises of the theme, pre-recorded piano recital-like dynamics threaten to unduly soften the performance until Carl Testa’s whapping percussion, Bynum’s plunger work and Braxton’s strident sax lines, shatter any tendencies towards sweetness. With every musician and every iPod producing climatic timbres, and when it appears as if the rattling, staccato undulations can’t become any more overwrought, conductor Braxton abruptly ends the performance. The effect is as if a harrowing but pleasurable journey has been completed.

It’s this sort of journey that leads to other CDs, as foreign musicians come to this country to record with local players who have international reputations. So it is with Aves (Songlines SGL 1601-2, songlines.com) that matches Vancouver clarinetist François Houle, who has played with many members of the European avant-garde, with Norwegian pianist Håvard Wiik, known for his work with the band Atomic. During a series of shorter tracks, the two present a program that epitomizes chamber jazz, with Houle’s extensive technical facility ensuring the interface doesn’t list too far in the direction of so-called classical music. When the pianist plays alone, as he does on “Zirma,” his stylistic ticks lead to baroque and impressionistic vibrations. In contrast, a piece such as “Aporetic Dreams,” despite its obvious germination in the European classical tradition, finds Houle’s intense pressurized vibrations toughening the pianist’s showy glissandi. Even as the clarinetist uses tongue slaps and circular breathing to make his points, the most significant tracks are those where improvisation and composition are balanced. Wiik’s exquisite low-pitched soundboard echo on “Sparrowhawk” for instance, is sympathetically underscored by timbres from two clarinets played simultaneously, with new reed notes appearing each time a keyboard fantasia is heard. “Meeting on a Line” is turned into a clarinet tone rollercoaster as altissimo trills and downward runs reach a slurred crescendo as the piano keys alternately chime and clash. Circular colouration resulting from slapped piano keys and internal string plucking on “Ursula’s Dream” is elevated with Houle’s triple tonguing and screeching before the final fade out. Nonetheless, Wiik’s expertise creating urbane swing on tracks such as the concluding “Strobe” means that unpleasant atonality is prevented from taking centre stage.

Another improviser who can sophisticatedly mix delicacy and toughness in his music is saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell. Almost 40 years ago he and other advanced players frequently visited and recorded in Canada because their talent was more appreciated here than in their home countries. Live at A Space 1975 (Sackville-Delmark SK 2080, delmark.com), done in Toronto, has just been reissued, containing additional material from the same live date and making the CD 50 percent lengthier. The four new tracks give a more complete picture of the Toronto performance that also involves trombonist George Lewis, guitarist Spencer Barefield and pianist Muhal Richard Abrams. Previously the emphasis on the truncated disc was on pieces such as “Tnoona” and “Cards,” mostly dissonant performances whose sonic tension mixed with concentrated forward motion demonstrated the quartet’s familiarity with spiky avant-garde sounds. Now however the additional tracks give clues as to why the experiments brought forward by the likes of Mitchell and Lewis have been accepted as a part of jazz’s body politic. Both “Prelude to Naima” and “Dastura” are almost gentle, with the former harmonizing near-pastoral flute, processional piano and a lowing trombone ostinato in such a way that the subsequent playing of John Coltrane’s “Naima” is inevitable and balanced. Ditto for “Dastura,” which demonstrated in 1975, as it does now, the versatility of the players. Moreover, the quick runthrough of Mitchell’s “Noonaah,” now the CD’s final track, ends with unison horn blasts arising organically from the band’s narrative of extroverted gutbucket slurs and cascading piano chords that demonstrate its context.

Of course high quality discs are still made in Canada ... by Canadians, simply because they live here, as Montreal percussionist Evan Tighe’s Threadcount (ETC 0001, evantighe.com) proves. Tighe who composed all eight tracks, and who also plays melodica and toy piano here, leads a top-flight local band with saxophonists Erik Hove and Adam Kinner, violinist Joshua Zubot and Rémi-Jean LeBlanc on bass. Tighe’s penchant for experimentation can be heard on “We/System,” where the head is recapped as if it was being played by the Jazz Messengers, but begins with the line contrasted between the tenor saxophone’s breathy low tones and the vibrating high pitches of the toy piano. Shifting throughout between romantic and riotous, the serpentine narrative makes space for pummelling double bass thumps, pizzicato fiddle plucks and drum pops. More spaciously constructed “Think Hard Enough” and “You Can Forget Nearly Anything” moves every which way without ever becoming a free-for-all. Call-and-response balance is maintained with tough reed bites or barely there blowing, while Zubot’s skittering staccato rubs surmount both. Eventually a climax is reached via positioned cracks and smacks from Tighe. Vigorous, contrapuntal and swinging, the drummer’s sensitively explosive playing and that of his band members, suggest why outsiders may want to record with Canadians or bring their whole band here. 

As You Near Me
James Campbell; Graham Campbell;
Afiara Quartet
Marquis MAR 451

Throughout musical history, how many eminent musicians have produced musical offspring? The number may seem surprisingly low — Leopold Mozart certainly did, as did J.S. Bach. But as for musicians like Haydn, Debussy and Dvořák, there was nobody to carry on the family tradition. Closer to home, this is clearly not the case with clarinettist James Campbell, whose son Graham is a fine guitarist and pedagogue; the two have happily joined forces on this Marquis Classics disc titled As You Near Me.

Long referred to as “Canada’s pre-eminent clarinetist and wind soloist,” James Campbell has enjoyed an international career as soloist and chamber musician for more than 35 years. His son Graham earned his music degree at Humber College and has since made a name for himself as a gifted guitarist and composer in Toronto’s music community.

This is actually the second recording father and son have produced (the first was Homemade Jam in 2003). Nevertheless, with this release, Graham’s talents as a composer are also showcased, for eight of the 16 tracks bear his name. There are many things to like about this recording, not the least of which is the eclecticism; it draws from several sources, including jazz, Latin and central European. The two Campbells are joined on certain tracks by other performers such as the Afiara String Quartet and bassists Sam McLellan and Bob Mills. James Campbell’s lyrical tone combined with the skilful guitar work (either as a solo or as accompaniment) produces an appealing sound, with the younger Campbell’s own compositions proving particularly engaging.

As You Near Me is the perfect disc for relaxing to on an autumn weekend — or for that matter, any day of the week, during any season. Recommended.

Tango Dreams
Alexander Sevastian
Analekta AN 28767

Tangos Brasileiros –
The music of Ernesto Nazareth
Christina Petrowska Quilico
Marquis MAR 519

When you start pulling out your winter boots for another snowy march, take out your dancing shoes too, and warm up the Canadian winter with these two new releases of hot and sultry tango music played by two of Canada’s finest performers.

Accordionist Alexander Sevastian is a world-class awarding-winning performer. Many readers will recognize his fabulous work with Quartetto Gelato. In Tango Dreams, Sevastian is brilliant as he takes on the tango style. The five tangos by the late “tango nuevo” Argentinean composer/bandoneonist Astor Piazzolla are performed with sensitivity and nuance. From Uruguay, the more traditional La Cumparsita, by Gerardo Hernan Matos Rodriguez (arranged by Dmitriy Varelas) opens with a quasi-improvisational florid section which leads to a colourful harmonic and rhythmically robust performance true to the traditional tango genre. The contrasting middle section with its rubato and melodic chromaticisms makes this more of a concert work until it’s time to dance again as Sevastian shows his artistic musicianship both in melody and rhythm. The title track Tango Dreams by Raymond Luedeke is a performance of a 2002 work commissioned by fellow accordionist Joseph Petric for accordion and string trio which has been featured in various concert settings, and as a dance piece choreographed by David Earle. As the composer notes, no tango lines have been lifted from traditional tangos, yet the work oozes with the tango spirit and drive. Sevastian and Atis Bankas (violin), Anna Antropova (viola) and Jonathan Tortolano (cello) achieve a tight ensemble unit through changing stylistic motives and moods.

Equally world-renowned and the 2007 winner of the Friends of Canadian Music Award, pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico performs the tangos of Brazilian composer/pianist Ernesto Júlio de Nazareth (1863–1934) in the two-CD release Tangos Brasileiros. Touches of salon music and the romanticism of Chopin are evident in these tangos, which are quicker in tempo than their Argentinean relatives. There is so much heartfelt joy in the pianist’s performances of 24 of the composers’ piano works. In her liner notes titled “My Personal Tango Journey,” she attributes her agility in style, musicality and placement of downbeat to her years in the dance studio learning how to dance the tango. I agree completely. The famous Fon-Fon is driven by a zippy right hand melody which is partnered by a two-feet-grounded-on-the-floor pulse. The more traditional Perigoso – Tango Brasileiro is a swaying, sultry and steady performance with intriguing brief yet breathtaking silences. Most fun are the left hand low-pitched lines in Myosotis. Deep and rich in tone, they act as a perfect mate to the jovial salon music-like right hand melodies. Throughout, Petrowska Quilico’s well-contemplated rhythmic placements and gentler finger attacks create the sense of melodic spontaneity so important to tango music.

Sevastian and Petrowska Quilico are so very different in their musical instruments, attitudes and approaches to tangos yet both are worthy of an enjoyable twirl across the listening dance floor.

Two notable big cubes of CDs this month are well worth investigating. One is from the Metropolitan Opera’s own archives containing ten significant performances of Verdi operas and another from DG, containing their complete recordings of Herbert von Karajan in the 1970s.

October 10 was the 200th anniversary of Verdi’s birth although his mother remembered the 9th as his natal day. The Met, in collaboration with Sony Classical has selected outstanding performances of ten Verdi operas to commemorate this bicentennial year. The first offering in Verdi at the Met is La Traviata from January 5, 1935 and is deservedly legendary. Rosa Ponselle is Violetta with Frederick Jagel as Alfredo and Lawrence Tibbett as Germont. The conductor is Ettore Panizza. Callas said that Ponselle was “the greatest singer of us all” and here is a good reason why. The sound is admittedly very dated, watery in the two preludes, but by and large good enough to hear and appreciate this memorable performance. Panizza also conducts a mighty performance of Otello from February 24, 1940 with Lawrence Tibbett as Iago, Giovanni Martinelli as Otello, Elizabeth Rethberg as Desdemona and Nicola Moscona as Lodovico. This familiar drama’s production is involving and persuasive.

Maestro Panizza’s final outing in this collection stars Jussi Björling and Zinka Milanov in the December 14, 1940 mounting of Un Ballo in Maschera. My late friend Aldo Maggiorotti, who lived and breathed opera, said that Björling sounded better on records than live. So which would this be? Björling is heard a year later as The Duke in Rigoletto from December 29, 1945, together with Leonard Warren as Rigoletto and the legendary Bidu Sayao as Gilda. From February 26, 1949, Fritz Reiner conducts a star-studded Falstaff, illuminated by Giuseppe Di Stefano, Leonard Warren, Regina Resnik, Giuseppe Valdengo and Licia Albanese. Leonard Warren is Simon Boccanegra supported by Astrid Varnay and Richard Tucker under the direction of Fritz Stiedry. From November 29, 1952, now two years into the era of the great and powerful Rudolf Bing (the Met’s general manager from 1950 to 1972) we hear Zinka Milanov, Richard Tucker, Leonard Warren, Jerome Hines and Mildred Miller heading a fine cast in a gorgeous, attention-grabbing and holding performance of La Forza del Destino under Stiedry. The pick-up on the voices and the orchestra is very natural and correctly balanced, supported by convincing dynamics. On February 21, 1959, Leonard Warren assumed the title role in Macbeth with Leonie Rysanek making her triumphant Met debut singing Lady Macbeth, a role she assumed following Callas’ celebrated departure. Jerome Hines is Banquo and Carlo Bergonzi plays Macduff. Erich Leinsdorf conducts. On December 3, 1960, Rysanek, now a Met regular sang Abigaile to Cornell McNeil’s Nabucco with Cesare Siepi and Rosalind Elias, conducted by Thomas Schippers. Part III opens with “Va, Pensiero,” the chorus of the Hebrew slaves that is as familiar to the general public today as it was in Verdi’s time. Finally, Aida from the February 25, 1967 broadcast conducted by Schippers. There could be no other choice for the title role than the pre-eminent Leontyne Price, with Carlo Bergonzi as Ramades, Grace Bumbry as Amneris and Robert Merrill as Amonasro. A living tribute to all involved, although I was very surprised when the audience began applauding before “O terra, addio” was quite finished.

Verdi at the Met (Sony 88883 721202, 20 CDs) is a well-chosen collection of performances spanning 35 years featuring many of the justly celebrated idols of their day. The costly and meticulous restoration of these broadcast recordings was borne by the Lloyd E. Rigler-Lawrence E. Deutsche Foundation and the Dunard Fund USA, who also funded the excellent Wagner at the Met set reviewed earlier this year.

Glenn Gould was a great admirer of Herbert von Karajan and the admiration was reciprocated to the extent that they had attempted to co-ordinate their windows of opportunity to record a Beethoven concerto cycle. They had performed together in Berlin on May 26, 1957 playing the third concerto. Gould said that the only live performance he would ever wish to attend was a Karajan concert. They were like-minded about the merits of studio recordings which could be honed to “perfection” versus those of a one-shot, live concert performance.

Karajan 1970s (DG 4791577) is an 82-CD set containing all his orchestral recordings made by DG in that period. They are analog “studio” recordings. Until 1973 they continued to use the acoustically perfect Jesus Christus-Kirche, Berlin and after that they recorded in the Philharmonie.

There is no way of knowing how much time was spent rehearsing the familiar warhorses on disc 10, Opernballette, containing “The Polovtsian Dances,” the usual two from Eugen Onegin, ballet music from Aida and Otello and the “Dance of the Hours.” All familiar pieces but what made these performances outstanding was Karajan’s characteristic total dedication to each work, according it the care and attention to the composer’s intentions that he bestowed on more demanding works. By the time these recordings were made, January/February 1971, conductor and orchestra were already a single entity and they continued to produce outstanding, often unrivaled performances, as the more than 200 on these discs of repertoire from Corelli, Vivaldi and Bach to Berg, Schoenberg and Webern attest. There are no ho-hums here.

Each of the 82 discs bears the Original Image Bit Processing identification that the early mastering has been superseded by newer technology to replicate the original tapes. An informative book contains biographical material and a Karajan timeline together with details of the recording sessions. Missing, I regret, is a simple alphabetical listing of the pieces to make it simple to locate any work in the box. See a presentation video at arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=993685. 

In Memoriam Richard Truhlar
(February 14, 1950 – September 17, 2013)

Richard Truhlar was a man of broad horizons. When I first met him I was still in high school and he, four years my senior, quickly became my mentor in both literature and music. It was through him that I discovered the vast riches of contemporary fiction; my first exposure to the labyrinthine works of Thomas Pynchon, Kobo Abe, Julio Cortázar and Alain Robbe-Grillet. In music Richard had very catholic tastes and a vast knowledge of the classical repertoire. But more important to me was his interest in the work of 20th century composers. It was through him that I first encountered the music of Takemitsu, Penderecki, Messiaen and the world(s) of electronic music. But Richard’s world extended to earlier times as well and I remember his fascination with Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius and his affection for the music of Delius. His interests also reached well beyond the classical realm, with a wealth of knowledge of the alternative rock scene. I remember when I was house-bound with a broken leg in 1985 Richard made me a wonderful compilation tape of music by Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, David Sylvian and others which kept me in good company in those claustrophobic days of confinement and opened my ears to new worlds. Our relationship spanned a number of technologies, from the LPs we spent late nights listening to, through the cassette age of self-produced recordings and compilations, into the digital age. It was Richard who gave me my first compact disc — a recording of Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht performed by the Ensemble InterContemporain under Pierre Boulez.

Richard Truhlar was a poet, writer of fictions, visual artist, text/sound/musical composer and performer, editor and publisher; a true renaissance man. His main contribution to the artistic community, beyond his own writings and compositions, was as a publisher. This is true in both the literary and musical worlds. In the early years he published chapbooks under his own imprints of Teksteditions and Underwhich Editions. This latter also had an audio arm producing cassette tapes of electronic and text-based music and sound poetry in the Audiographics series. While admittedly featuring much of his own creative output, I would emphasize that this was not vanity publishing but rather a fully professional enterprise featuring the work of a variety of artists from around the country and even across the world. It was Richard’s experience in producing and successfully distributing this esoteric music that led me to recommend him for a position at the Canadian Music Centre when I learned that the coordinator of the Centrediscs label was leaving. Richard had previously told me that he never stayed at a job for more than seven years so neither of us suspected that this would turn out to be such a good fit that he would stay at the CMC for two and a half decades.

During that time he oversaw the production of more than 120 compact discs running the gamut of art music in this country. Some of the highlights were the then Complete String Quartets (i.e. the first five) of R. Murray Schafer with the Orford Quartet in its final recording; the Canadian Composer Portraits series, surely one of the most important documents of Canadian musical history; A Window on Somers celebrating the life and music of Harry Somers, and a number of discs devoted to the work of Ann Southam. Talivaldis Kenins and Gilles Tremblay were also particular favourites, but Richard’s efforts were not restricted to the senior generation of composers. Among the many projects realized under his direction were discs devoted to mid-career composers Alice Ho, Christos Hatzis, Alexina Louie and James Rolfe to name just a few, and younger composers such as Chris Paul Harman, Melissa Hui, Jeffrey Ryan and Nicole Lizée had their first commercial releases on Centrediscs. There were also discs too many to innumerate of choral, chamber, orchestral, instrumental and electronic music by Canada’s most creative artists.

While the mandate of the Centrediscs label is restricted to promoting the work of the Canadian Music Centre’s associate composers, Richard’s vision was again much broader. Concurrent with his activities as the Centrediscs coordinator, he expanded the Canadian Music Centre Distribution Service, providing global access to an extended catalogue of Canadian alternative and art music encompassing many genres not otherwise represented by the CMC.

Although very private and somewhat reclusive in his personal life, Richard was a man of vision and creative energy who touched the lives of many. As testified by a host of friends and colleagues from across the arts community at his memorial service, Richard Truhlar was highly respected, greatly loved and will be sorely missed.

You can read more about Richard’s life and work at richardtruhlar.com and his most recent publishing activities at teksteditions.com. 

—David Olds, DISCoveries Editor

discoveries@thewholenote.com

Sospiro: Alessandro Grandi –
Complete Arias, 1626
Bud Roach
Musica Omnia mo0506
musicaomnia.org

Grandi’s songs were highly popular in Venice in the 1620s. Here they are played as they would have been — for solo voice and instrument. In this case, tenor Bud Roach accompanies himself on the five-course Spanish guitar that created real competition for both lute and theorbo. From the start, Roach interprets a much-maligned genre by combining a sensuous set of lyrics with the strumming technique (in Italian, stile battuto) offered by the Spanish guitar of that period. He brings a real vigour and animation to this CD.

It is always tempting to associate this genre with a lovesick young man describing his anguish over unfulfilled love. From track two alone, Grandi’s young man laments the pain he feels from Chloris, Lilla, Flora and a whole host of nymphs! For a really sensuous approach, listen to the lyrics of È si grave‘I tormento, the anguish of the words accompanied by expressive yet measured guitar accompaniment. And for those who are totally disillusioned, you are not alone — Sotto aspetto ridente warns of “a hidden, deadly poison. Don’t believe in Love!”

Roach displays his own vocal versatility in songs such as Consenti pur e ti pieghi, which tests his higher ranges. His skill with the baroque guitar needs no further comment. Quite simply, this is a comprehensive rendition of Grandi’s multi-faceted arias, which demand and receive a multi-faceted performance from Roach. He himself acknowledges his inspiration from one of the very greatest period-performance musicians, the much-loved James Tyler, whose research into the earliest guitars has proved invaluable in bringing this genre to modern audiences.

Handel – Orlando
Owen Willets; Karina Gauvin;
Allyson McHardy; Amanda Forsythe; Nathan Berg; Pacific Baroque Orchestra; Alexander Weimann
ATMA ACD22678

Handel – Alessandro
Max Emanuel Cencic; Julia Lezhneva; Karina Gauvin; Xavier Sabata;
Armonia Atenea; City of Athens Choir; George Petrou
Decca 4784699

Ariosto’s early 16th century epic, Orlando Furioso, has been a real quarry for opera composers and their librettists. The earliest was by Giulio Caccini, in 1625, and altogether more than 90 operas have been based on Ariosto. Handel composed three: Orlando in 1733 and Ariodante and Alcina both in 1735. In Orlando two important roles were added to what Ariosto had provided: the shepherdess Dorinda first appeared in a 1711 opera with music by Domenico Scarlatti (the music is now lost), while the wise and benevolent magician Zoroastro, a Sarastro figure, is essentially Handel’s invention.

The orchestra on the CDs of Orlando is the Vancouver-based Pacific Baroque Orchestra. It includes several musicians familiar to Toronto audiences: the violinists Chantal Rémillard and Linda Melsted and the lutenist Sylvain Bergeron. The quality of their playing is matched by the quality of the singing. Several of the singers are Canadian: the soprano Karina Gauvin, the mezzo Allyson McHardy and the bass-baritone Nathan Berg. There is also a fine performance of the shepherdess Dorinda by the American soprano Amanda Forsythe. Orlando is sung by the young English countertenor Owen Willetts; he is a revelation. I have some reservations about the casting of Berg as Zoroastro. Although Berg is an accomplished singer, the role could do with a deeper bass. It was written for the famous Antonio Montagnana and, among modern singers, David Thomas comes closest to capturing the qualities Montagnana must have had. Thomas can be heard in the complete recording of the opera conducted by Christopher Hogwood and also in the Harmonia Mundi recital record (no longer available), Arias for Montagnana.

The earlier opera, Alessandro (Alexander the Great), is sometimes seen as heroic, whereas Orlando has been labelled magical. Both labels are misleading. In Orlando Handel is more concerned with exploring Orlando’s madness and the interactions between the characters than with Alcina’s magical world. AlthoughAlessandroopens in a suitably martial manner, much of the rest of the opera focuses on the way Alessandro is torn between two women and on the rivalry between them. That rivalry mirrors that of the singers for whom the parts were written, Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni, “the Rival Queens.” On this recording their parts are very well taken by Karina Gauvin (as the Scythian princess Lisaura) and Julia Lezhneva (as Rossane, Alessandro’s captive). It also features two superb countertenors, Max Emanuel Cencic as Alessandro and Xavier Sabata as the Indian King Tassile. I would recommend both recordings to anyone interested in Handel or baroque opera.

Concert Note: Isabel Bayrakdarian will impersonate both Rival Queens in a series of concerts with Tafelmusik April 9 to 13.

Mozart – Così fan tutte
Persson; Brower; Plachetka; Villazon; Erdmann; Corbelli; Chamber Orchestra of Europe; Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Deutsche Grammophon 4790641

This opera buffa with wonderful symmetry of three men, three women, two sisters, two lovers and two “cads” is one of Mozart’s most enduring. He was not, however, the first one to try to set the libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, who also wrote Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro. It turns out that none other than Antonio Salieri tried his hand at this opera of intrigue, betrayal and happy ending. Alas, Salieri gave up after just a few duets had been scored and Mozart had the green light to add yet another gem to the operatic repertoire. The title (sometimes translated as “Such are all women”) frequently raises the feminist ire, but a closer reading (and better translation: “They All Do It”) quickly diffuses the argument.

It is about the games people in love play — and the male protagonists emerge not only humbled, but also shamed. What is of particular interest in this recording is the assured conducting of the Quebec wunderkind, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who is rapidly establishing a reputation as a go-to operatic conductor. His appearances at the Met and elsewhere are greeted with uniform praise. Another point of interest is the participation of Rolando Villazon. The Mexican tenor, after a brilliant debut and a string of successful roles, had to undergo vocal cord surgery — every singer’s nightmare — in 2009. Unfortunately, as recently as April of 2013 he had to cancel a number of appearances due to ongoing vocal problems. It has to be said that his voice is not fully recovered, but in this recording cannot be faulted.

Peter von Winter – Das Labyrinth
Christof Fischesser; Julia Novikova;
Malin Hartelius; Michael Schade;
Thomas Tatzi; Mozarteumorchester Salzburg; Ivor Bolton
ArtHaus Musik 101 677

If you did not know that The Magic Flute had a sequel, you are not alone. Despite the three decades of successful productions after its 1798 premiere in Vienna, Das Labyrinth disappeared from the stages, it seemed, for good. After the success of The Magic Flute, Emanuel Schikaneder, ever the impresario and driven by profit as often as by art alone, sensed the public’s appetite for more. The libretto was the easy part — still fantastical and baroque, and yet more down to earth in character descriptions, making them more ambiguous and human. But what of the music? With Mozart’s death, it wasn’t possible to find another composing genius to take on the task. Enter Peter von Winter, acclaimed composer of the era, in service to the Bavarian court. He took a surprisingly fresh approach — only a few homages to Mozart, a playful re-interpretation of Papageno’s tune, but other than that — original, definitely romantic music.

Truth be told, the re-animated Queen of the Night does not scale coloraturas comparable to those of Mozart. Neither is Sarastro the stentorian announcer of what’s right and true. The frantic set changes were Schikaneder’s way of dazzling the audience and seem unnecessary now. This Salzburg production, only the second this century, however, proves that Das Labyrinth is a worthy companion piece and ideally presented side by side, or more cheek by jowl, with The Magic Flute — as Schikaneder intended.

It may yet happen — there are two new productions of the opera planned for this season in North America alone!

Wagner – Das Rheingold
René Pape; Nikolai Putilin;
Stephan Rugamer; Mariinsky Orchestra; Valery Gergiev
Mariinsky MAR0526

When Valery Gergiev and his Mariinsky Orchestra mounted a new production of Wagner’s monumental Ring Cycle in 2003, the event marked the return of Russians performing opera in the original language rather than in the vernacular. The entire project was acclaimed, leading to the company taking their production to Germany, Japan and elsewhere, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and New York’s Met.

The critics were not unanimous but, as I seem to recall, the sets contributed to a diversity of opinions. However, in an audio cycle, our sole concern is the performance, not the production.

These new recordings were made in the Mariinsky concert hall in two sessions, two years apart. From the first minutes it is eminently clear that this will be a powerful performance and as the story unfolds Gergiev and his cast let us know that, except for the teasing Rhine Maidens, these characters are a pack of disingenuous narcissists, not models of good behaviour and fine sensibilities. Their métier is deceit and deal-making and deal-breaking. We know that is bad karma as they will find out by the end of the complete cycle when only the Rhine Maidens survive to have the last laugh.

As with any music he conducts, Gergiev is absolutely faithful to the score, a quality that has pros and cons. In Stravinsky, for example, his performances are outstanding but his Mahler symphonies are glaringly unidiomatic, a quality much admired by many. Gergiev’s orchestra is easily up to Wagner’s demands; accurate, dynamic and secure, together with being finely balanced. The only familiar voice is the German bass René Pape as Wotan; the other soloists are Russians who all bring their characters to life, singing without any discomfort in German, except for a glaring lapse from Alexei Markov (Donner) who repeatedly sings “Donner, de Herr” instead of “Donner, der Herr” as he summons the mists. A miserly observation indeed, one that does not detract from this extraordinarily exciting beginning of this ambitious undertaking to which I now look forward with the highest expectations.

I mentioned the quality of the orchestra which is captured in demonstration quality sound by a Russian team under the supervision of ex-Decca, award-winning producer James Mallinson who also does the same for the London Symphony’s and Chicago Symphony’s own recordings. The layout from left to right and front to back is the ultimate in realism for orchestra and singers ... a touchable reality.

I have since received a copy of Die Walküre which was issued earlier this year and reviewed by Janos Gardonyi in April. I somehow missed his review at the time but as I read it now I see that he was as enthusiastic as I. Do check it out. A few comments though ... Jonas Kaufmann’s Siegmund is far ahead of what we saw from the Met two seasons ago. Although Gergiev displays much empathy with the characters, he keeps everything pertinent and free from any hyperbolic heart-on-the-sleeve moments that divert our attention from the linearity of the plot. Performances such as this demonstrate, to me at least, that not a note of Die Walküre is wasted or superfluous. As in Das Rheingold, the recorded sound is wondrous; a convincing argument that a recorded concert performance is sonically superior to a live opera house recording. There is a world of difference between the sound of an orchestra in the pit from the expansive freedom and air on the stage. We look forward to Siegfried and Götterdämmerung to be released towards the end of 2014.