I’ve Got A Crush On You
Measha Brueggergosman
Kelp Records 333
www.kelprecords.com

Measha Brueggergosman is one of those vexing creatures — the unpredictable artist. Just when you think you know where to place her, out comes Measha — the host of Canada’s Got Talent; Measha — the CBC’s celebrity panellist; Measha — live in concert in the Maritimes. Her recent DVD appearance in The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny welcomed with considerable critical acclaim for both singing and acting, opened the possibility of Measha, the credible Weill and cabaret performer … Well, not so fast. I’ve Got a Crush on You throws yet another spanner in the works. If you expect a solid, even and predictable collection of standards old and new, forget about it. The range of this album is enormous — from a cringe-inducing Secret Heart to a brilliant and jazzy Both Sides Now, to a hilarious send-up of Misty (with whom else but Martin Short) to the greatly nuanced title song and Embraceable You. Brueggergosman is at her best when she trusts her innate sense of rhythm, her sultry voice and the considerable talent of the accompanying musicians. The low points come when she tries to force the non-operatic works into an operatic idiom. So yet again, she confounds expectations, surprises, and at times delights — come to think about it, something that every artist should strive for. A must for her fans, and a worthy detour for the curious. I wonder what she will come up with next …

Concert Notes: “An Evening with Measha Brueggergosman” includes selections from I’ve Got a Crush on You at the Grand Theatre in Kingston on May 4 and at the Showplace in Peterborough on May 17.

Une fête Baroque
Le Concert d’Astrée; Emannuelle Haïm
Virgin Classics 50999 730799 2 7

Le Concert d’Astrée celebrated ten years together with a commemorative event at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées last December, uniting 24 soloists in a gala fund-raising display of talents for the Gustave Roussy Foundation which seeks non-standard treatments for cancer.

Rameau is the first composer selected for the gala. Natalie Dessay and Stéphane Degout are the soloists leading the choir of savages in Rameau’s Les Indes galantes; there is nothing savage about the interpretations! Anne Sofie von Otter’s plaintive “Air de Phèdre” is greatly enhanced by the string-players in the song from Hippolyte et Aricie, an opera which also affords us Jaël Azzaretti as a shepherdess in “Rossignols amoureux.”

This double CD should not be misinterpreted as purely a collection of intense baroque arias; Patricia Petibon’s “La Folie” from the ballet-bouffon Platée and the audience’s live laughter prove this.

Sometimes there are pleasant surprises in this worthy anthology. “What Power Art Thou,” the “cold song” from Purcell’s King Arthur, is performed by Christopher Purves to, dare one say it, chilling effect.

Handel’s music dominates the second CD. Sacred and secular, his most popular operas are treated with passion by singers and instrumentalists. How better to end than with the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah — with audience participation?

And there is even a rendition of Purcell’s Sound the Trumpet which, I hope, would have appealed to Purcell’s sense of humour!

Bach – Goldberg Variations
David Jalbert
ATMA ACD2 2557

Bach – Goldberg Variations
Daniel Barenboim
EuroArts 2066778

We have so many “Goldbergs” to choose from. In fact Goldbergitis fever insures us that one or more new versions will be released each year. What differentiates each of these performances? There is also the question of whether any of the new CDs will ever replace the two iconic Glenn Gould recordings. Often the choice is subjective and sentimental. I grew up listening to the Gould version but I also love Andras Schiff, Murray Perahia and the very personal and unique performance by Simone Dinnerstein. What puts new CDs in the top echelon of Goldberg recordings? I believe it is the quality of tone, effortless technique, virtuosic control and command of the contrapuntal lines, orchestrating the piano and the indecipherable quotient of magic.

David Jalbert on the ATMA label certainly has the virtuoso technique and articulation to be in the elite few. The opening Aria was beautifully shaded and his control of quick passagework in succeeding variations was crisp and articulate. I enjoyed his smooth lines which created an extremely musical flow in spite of the many embellishments and busy counterpoint. His playing was always controlled, yet incisive without being metronomic. His sensitivity to the tempi for each variation made for engaged listening. Jalbert’s tonal quality is not as warm and sweet as Dinnerstein’s or Perahia’s but his command and power at the keyboard is unquestionable. I found his trills to be remarkably even and precise. What makes this recording work for me is that Jalbert discovered the thread that links each variation and he made the performance a cohesive masterpiece.

I also like the liner notes by Robert Rival. I found his writing very informative and revealing from a composer’s perspective. It brought to life Bach’s complex and virtuosic composition technique in creating this remarkable and timeless work of art.

Released this year, the DVD of Daniel Barenboim’s performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations was actually recorded in 1992 and I was surprised to hear such a sensitive and musical interpretation. Past performances have not always lived up to expectations in tonal quality. This performance exudes energy and deep emotional commitment to the work. Barenboim uses a wide range of dynamics and articulations to create the instrumental sounds from Bach’s time.

He makes pianistic references to the famous high trumpet, the oboe, the string family and the organ. Barenboim has created an orchestra from the piano. This is no surprise as he is a highly respected conductor and it shows in his “orchestration” of each variation. His faster variations are dance-like and real toe-tappers. However, despite the speed or tempo he never loses his refined touch and exquisite control of the rhythm and ornaments. Each variation breathes musically, dances, sings or speaks in a contemplative manner. Although linked, each variation tells a unique story.

Anthony Short in his excellent program notes wrote that if Bach’s early biographer Johann Forkel is to be believed, when Bach’s extended family got together they often struck up a chorale that would mix spiritual and serious songs with comic and scabrous popular tunes of the era. These improvising harmonies produced a quodlibet which is a contrapuntal combination of several different popular songs featuring a selection of lowly brassica vegetables such as the tune for “Cabbages and turnips have driven me away, had my Mother cooked meat, I’d have opted to stay.” I feel that Barenboim captured the spirit of this quodlibet in several of the variations as well as the reflective and spiritual quality of some of the other variations.

Both Barenboim and Jalbert have virtuosic techniques and the ability to cast a spell when performing this work. Both have the communicative and musical skills to take their place in the elite group of Goldberg performers. If I had to choose between Jalbert and Barenboim I would pick Barenboim. His playing had a greater range of tonal colour and dynamics. I don’t mean dynamics as simply loud and soft but dynamics that created different moods and instrumental soundscapes. I also thought his warm touch gave him a slight edge over Jalbert. I would love to hear Jalbert record the Goldberg many years from now. I was mesmerized by his recording now but what an amazing performance he will give in the years to come. We are so lucky to have an artist like David Jalbert in Canada.

Picking your favorite Goldberg CD is such a subjective experience. Do any of them knock Gould off his iconic pedestal? Depends on the day but I believe that these two recent performances join him in that special group with others which are certain to come. This is indeed a testament to the great J.S. Bach whose music continues to be such a joy and revelation that we forever keep searching and learning from his masterpieces.

Bach; Ysaÿe; Oesterle
Aisslinn Nosky
Independent IF004
www.aisslinn.com

Suite Inspiration
Jonathan Swartz
Soundset SR1039
www.Jonathan-Swartz.com

These are two fascinating discs both of which feature strong performances of the music for unaccompanied violin by J.S. Bach and other more modern pieces which reflect and refract the glorious light of Bach’s works.

The irrepressible and omnipresent Aisslinn Nosky is one of the Toronto music scene’s precious treasures. As this, her debut solo CD, proves, she is possessed of a rock-solid technique and an open and probing musical mind. Three extended pieces for solo violin make up the program: the Partita in E Major by Bach, Eugene Ysaÿe’s Sonata Op.27 No.2 and Stand Still, written especially for Nosky in 2011 by the German-Canadian composer Michael Oesterle.

Oesterle’s captivating piece is both minimalist and lyrical and exploits the “voice” of the violin to great effect. Nosky’s performance, with its varied dynamics and articulation, brings out the fanciful character of the music as well as its fragility. The Bach partita and Ysaÿe’s sonata are inextricably linked thematically and are both given luminous performances here. Nosky’s playing and musical intentions are crystal clear throughout and her free and bright sound is well supported by the fine production values of the disc.

The Toronto-born violinist Jonathan Swartz was educated at Rice University and Mannes College, and teaches at Arizona State University, where he is active as a soloist and chamber musician. His cleverly-titled CD Suite Inspiration is filled with dance movements for solo violin by Johann Georg Pisendel, J.S. Bach and the Canadian composer Kieren MacMillan. Following a chronological order, Swartz begins the disc with the weakest piece, unfortunately. Though it is given a convincing performance, Pisendel’s A Minor Sonata doesn’t have enough interest to either move or entertain. The highlight of the program is MacMillan’s Suite No.1 and intriguing Chaconne, which — with its hypnotic, circular patterns — provides a trance-inducing, deeply satisfying conclusion to Swartz’s program.

Both Nosky’s and Swartz’s performances of Bach’s works are brave and thoughtful. My fondest wish for both players – if it’s not too corny to say — is that they keep searching their hearts for ever deeper ways to bring this music across, and that they keep revisiting this repertoire, as I know they will, throughout their careers. There is a delicious sense of abandon in Nosky’s live playing that is captured thankfully in spades, in her recording of the E Major Partita, especially in the outer movements. Swartz’s performance of the D Minor Partita, with the biblically-proportioned final Chaconne, is a little more reserved and careful and is at times marred by questionable ornamentation choices.

These are two welcome additions to any violin-lover’s collection. Bravo to both players for commissioning new works from excellent, imaginative composers and for sharing their musical “voices” so generously.

Chopin Recital 2
Janina Fialkowska
ATMA ACD2 2666

Chopin – Volume 2
Louis Lortie
Chandos CHAN 10714

Two artists, each presenting a second instalment in their Chopin discography, invite us to ponder their muse through the music of Chopin.

While both Louis Lortie and Janina Fialkowska record on Steinway pianos, their sound is remarkably different. The Lortie/Chandos recording is dark, more heavily pedaled and given more room. Whether this darker tone is the result of instrument voicing or recording equalization is unclear. But the contrast to Fialkowska’s brighter, more present sound lays the groundwork for appreciating the difference between these two pianists.

Fialkowska is quick, articulate and generous with interpretive variations in her tempi. The impression her playing gives is of an artist revelling in the energy of Chopin’s pianistic dance forms. Her command of this composer’s language leaves no doubt about her convictions to follow Chopin through the turmoil of cascading note clusters and the depths of melancholic harmonies. Her playing gives the impression that she feels quite “in-charge” of this material but never surrenders herself entirely to the seduction of Chopin’s voice. Still, she performs very much from “inside” the music.

Lortie is no less an interpreter or technician. He is adept at fluidity of phrasing and coaxing Chopin’s menacing growls to emerge from the piano’s bass register. He favours a more weighty approach that blends keyboard articulation into longer ideas. Somehow, Lortie introduces a stronger element of mystery into this same music. We recognize the composer and his language but see him in less definite terms, with more unanswered questions.

The two recordings present different repertoire with Fialkowska playing waltzes, polonaises and mazurkas, along with the larger F Minor Fantaisie and the B-Flat Minor Scherzo. Lortie, by contrast, gives us nocturnes, ballades, the Berceuse and Barcarolle. Both, however, perform the Ballade No.2 in F Major Op.38 and here we find ground for a revealing comparison.

What appears to distinguish these two extraordinary artists is the extent to which they pull back the curtain to reveal Chopin. The opening ideas of the ballade are short and tender, supported by simple but artful harmonies that return as a coda to close the work. Between them lies a bombastic and turbulent middle section that demands breathtaking technique.

Fialkowska is ready to expose both the explosive and the deeply intimate by pushing the piano to its technical limits from massive volume to notes that are barely played. It’s an all-or-nothing approach with immediate impact. Lortie, by contrast, keeps back from the brink and doesn’t take us all the way to where we know the emotional journey must surely go. This distance of untraveled emotion may be the key to the mystique in Lortie’s art — the power of unfulfilled expectation.

Both these artists command complete attention. Their interpretations are mature and eminently credible. Which of these a listener favours may depend merely upon the mood of the moment. Any serious Chopin collector should own both of these recordings.

Legends
Caroline Léonardelli; Matthew Larkin
Centaur Records CEN1110

Now here’s something you don’t come across every day: an album of music for harp and organ. Harpist Caroline Léonardelli joins organist Matthew Larkin in a singular recital of celestial sounds from the post-Romantic era. The music of Marcel Grandjany, doyen of the French harp school in North America, opens the disc in an understated fashion with his solemn and dignified Aria in Classic Style. Russia is represented by the second movement from Glière’s Harp Concerto, a livelier work with some lovely registrations provided in the arrangement by Matthew Larkin. A heavyweight from Vienna incongruously appears in the form of the Adagietto from Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. I’m sorry to say the balance of the instruments here is frankly a travesty. The overstated harp part, copied verbatim from the orchestral version in an unimaginative transcription by Joachim Dorfmüller, is not, and was never meant to be, a concerto! (Mahlerians might care to seek out David Biggs’ mind-blowing performance of the complete symphony on the Gloucester Cathedral organ.) Two extended works follow by the equally obscure composers Rudolf Zingel and Alfred Holy, both entitled Légende. Athematic and teeming with arpeggios, they are well-nigh stylistically indistinguishable from each other. The Concerto for Harp by the American Leo Sowerby struck me as the most effective and imaginative work of the lot, providing numerous opportunities to demonstrate the registral varieties of the organ of Christ Church Cathedral in Ottawa.

Mahler aside, the recording values are generally excellent and the artists are both at the top of their game. The packaging however is infuriating, replete with confusing layouts, virtually illegible English translations and no track timings. To add insult to injury, the identity of the very well-maintained organ is nowhere apparent until one removes the disc from its spindle. Here’s hoping Centaur gives the estimable Mr. Larkin his due in the future with a disc of solo organ music.

Wagner en Suisse
Orchestre Symphonique Bienne;
Thomas Rosner
ATMA ACD2 2580

Tribschen, the Wagner villa in Lucerne, is on the cover of this surprisingly beautiful collection by ATMA. I visited this house and its breathtaking surroundings exactly 100 years after Siegfried Idyll was first performed in its central staircase as “Symphonic Birthday Gift” to his soon-to-be second wife, Cosima von Bülow (December 25, 1870). Wagner’s Swiss exile due to political reasons is so rich in significant events, inspiration and compositional scope that volumes could be written. Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger, the completion of Siegfried will barely scratch the surface …

The original chamber version of Siegried Idyll dreamily performed recreating the intimate acoustic properties of the house, suitably starts off the program. This is followed later by Traume, an early study for the phenomenal second act love duet, dedicated to Mathilde Wesendonk, his Zurich benefactor’s wife and object of Wagner’s tempestuous love affair that inspired Tristan und Isolde. All this and much more is contained here, lovingly played by the Orchestre Symphonique Bienne conducted by a young and up and coming Thomas Rösner. His fresh inspiration breathes new soul into these works.

In stark contrast, Richard Strauss’ “sojourn en Suisse” in 1946 was not really an exile, more like an escape from the defeat of the Third Reich (whose composer emeritus he was), looking for greener pastures and a more comfortable life. His Oboe Concerto written, ironically, for an American GI oboist certainly reflects his newfound peace. Much inspired by Mozart, Strauss, by this time, abandoned his earlier, overheated post-Romantic, albeit masterful, style. Performed to perfection and virtuoso grace by Louise Pellerin, it makes an appropriate close to this highly recommendable new release.

Dvorˇák – String Quartet No.13; Cypresses
Cecilia String Quartet
Analekta AN 2 9892

Dvořák’s String Quartet No.13 in G Major was written towards the end of 1895, a particularly happy time in the composer’s life. Only a few months earlier, Dvořák had returned from his second successful tour of the USA and was now back in the familiar landscape of his beloved Bohemia. Working from his country home in Vysoká, he completed the quartet in just four weeks, putting the final touches on it on Christmas Day. The piece exudes contentment, and its buoyant spirit is clearly evident in this new Analekta recording featuring the Cecilia String Quartet.

Named for the patron saint of music, the Toronto-based ensemble formed when all four members were studying at the University of Toronto. The quartet won the Felix Galimir Chamber Music Award in 2005, went on to win first prize at the Banff International Quartet Competition in 2010 and has since made appearances both in Europe and North America. This is the Cecilia’s first recording in a series of four to be recorded for Analekta, and it’s a gem! From the quartet’s sprightly opening measures, the ensemble achieves a wonderful sense of balance throughout the finely interwoven counterpoint. The intonation is clear and precise, and there is none of the muddiness which can sometimes occur in string performance. The languorous lines of the Adagio result in a wonderful sound, while the Finale is treated with an arresting energy, the changes in mood and tempo adeptly handled.

An added bonus on this disc is the set of Cypresses Op.152. These expressions of young love initially began as songs, but were later adapted for string quartet. Together, they contain a bevy of contrasting moods, from yearning and tender to anguished and defiant. The Cecilia Quartet does them all justice, playing with an assured elegance, as it does the set of Two Waltzes Op.54 which rounds out this most satisfying recording.

Concert Note: This year’s Felix Galimir Prize will be presented to the Arkadas String Quartet in a concert at Walter Hall on Sunday May 13 at 3 PM. Arkadas will perform Beethoven’s “Serioso” quartet, Wolf’s Interlude and Bartok’s String Quartet No.6.

Toronto’s Windermere String Quartet was founded in 2005, but has only just released its first CD, The Golden Age of String Quartets, on Alison Melville’s Pipistrelle label (PIP0112). The ensemble bills itself as the Windermere String Quartet “on period instruments” and the players, violinists Rona Goldensher and Elizabeth Loewen Andrews, violist Anthony Rapoport and cellist Laura Jones, all have extensive experience with leading period instrument ensembles.

Their debut CD highlights the period at the heart of their repertoire, with Mozart’s Quartet in C Major K465, the “Dissonance,” Haydn’s Quartet in E-Flat Major Op.33 No.2, “The Joke,” and Beethoven’s Quartet in C Minor Op.18 No.4.

As you would expect, there is no overtly “romantic” approach to the playing here, but these are terrific interpretations, with fine ensemble playing, great dynamics and expression, excellent choices of tempo, sensitivity in the Mozart, a fine sense of humour in the Haydn and real passion in the Beethoven.

The recordings were made almost two years ago in St. Anne’s Anglican Church in Toronto, with the expert team of Norbert Kraft and Bonnie Silver, and the ambience is spacious and reverberant.

Period performances often display a sparsity of vibrato and a softness of attack that can make them sound somewhat flat and lifeless, and lacking in fullness and warmth — or at least, warmth the way we have come to expect it. There is never any danger of that here, though. These are period performances that blend life, spirit and soul with a perfectly-judged sensitivity for contemporary style and practice. It’s the perfect marriage, and hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for further offspring to accompany this exemplary debut disc.

Two interesting CDs of early Italian string quartets arrived recently, neither of which turned out to be quite what I expected.

Luigi Boccherini (1743–1805) is mostly remembered for his famous Minuet, but along with Haydn he was in at the birth of the string quartet form, writing close to 100 quartets, almost always in groups of six, starting with his Op.2 in 1761. The six String Quartets Op.8 from 1768 are featured on a budget re-issue CD from the Italian DYNAMIC label in excellent 1994 performances by the Quartetto d’archi di Venezia (DM8027).

Despite their brevity — the longest quartet is only 14 minutes long — and their limited emotional range, this is in no way merely functional music but true part-writing that is both well-balanced and idiomatic.

Niccolo Paganini wrote only three works in the quartet genre, but despite their being written some 50 years after Boccherini’s there is virtually no part-writing; it’s almost all first violin solo with string accompaniment. Perhaps surprisingly, this is not because Paganini wanted to display his virtuosic technique: they are, in fact, very much of their time. Paganini was a close friend of Rossini, and the music here — like Rossini’s — is essentially melodic, with no attempt at dialogue. The String Quartets Nos.1–3 are charming and competent, but with no great depth, and receive effortless performances by the Amati Ensemble String Quartet on Brilliant Classics (94287). These quartets live or die on the skills of the first violin, and happily, Dutch violinist Gil Sharon is more than up to the task.

The Goossens family was at the centre of English musical life in the first half of the 20th century. Eugene Goossens (1893-1962) is now mostly remembered for his conducting career, particularly in the USA, but he was trained as a violinist and composer. Naxos has issued an outstanding CD of his Complete Music for Violin and Piano, featuring violinist Robert Gibbs and pianist Gusztav Fenyo (8.572860).

The violin sonatas nos.1 and 2, from 1918 and 1930 respectively, are the major works here. Heifetz played the latter, and Goossens transcribed the Romance from his opera Don Juan de Manara for him. The Lyric Poem and the Old Chinese Folk-Song complete the disc.

Gibbs is simply perfect for this material, technically stunning, with a warm, sweet, lyrical sound and a fast and fairly constant vibrato very reminiscent of Heifetz. Fenyo is every bit his equal, especially in the demanding second sonata.

There is yet another CD – the third I’ve received in the past year – of the Six Sonatas for Solo Violin by Eugene Ysaÿe, this time by the American violinist Tai Murray (harmonia mundi HMU 907569). Given the number of versions available, these works obviously continue to be highly regarded and valued by violinists, even if music lovers in general seem to be unaware of their quality and significance.

This is Murray’s debut recording for the label, and it’s a real winner. She has a big, warm tone, and always keeps a clear inner line through the maze of multiple stoppings and technical challenges, with never a strained moment or jagged edge.

It’s almost impossible to recommend a single CD of these works, given the number currently available, but you really can’t go far wrong with this beautifully recorded and impeccably played interpretation.

The Chicago label Cedille has issued Volume II of The Soviet Experience, the series of String Quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich and his Contemporaries (CDR 90000 130), and it maintains the standard set by the first volume, reviewed in this column two months ago.

This time, the four Shostakovich quartets Nos.1-4 are paired with the String Quartet No.2 of Sergei Prokofiev, and the performances by the Pacifica Quartet once again show their great affinity for the music of this country and this period. The booklet notes and cover art are again outstanding.

I hope we won’t have to wait too long for the remaining volumes in this terrific series.

Naxos has issued another volume in its ongoing series of the Complete Violin Works of Pablo Sarasate. I think it’s volume six of a planned seven or eight – depending on which CD cover you believe – but I’m not sure, as the numbering system is a bit confusing: this is apparently Volume 3 of the Music for Violin and Piano (8.570893) and there have also been three numbered volumes of Music for Violin and Orchestra, two of which have been reviewed here. No matter, because it’s the music that counts, and once again the standard of composition never lags throughout the 14 short pieces.

In his booklet notes, Josef Gold rightly stresses not only Sarasate’s outstanding melodic gifts, which were far ahead of the other composers of salon pieces at the time, but also his skill in the piano accompaniments. Both aspects are fully evident on this delightful CD, which once again features the outstanding Tianwa Yang accompanied by Markus Hadulla. Melody does quite often overshadow pure virtuosity, but Yang is perfectly at ease with both. Hadulla supplies sympathetic and idiomatic support throughout.

Most of the tracks on this CD were recorded in Germany in 2007, with three of the longer tracks recorded there in late 2010. Yang apparently started the series in 2004, and while it seems to be taking quite some time to reach completion the quality of the playing and the standard of the production has remained extremely high.

Wachner, Julian – Triptych;
Concerto for Clarinet
Scott Andrews; McGill Chamber Orchestra; Julian Wachner
ATMA ACD2 2319

Sparked by multiple talents of composer-conductor Julian Wachner, this disc succeeds on all fronts! In Triptych, commissioned for the 100th anniversary of St. Joseph’s Oratory, organist Philippe Bélanger and Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain offer an exciting, insightful performance. Out of orchestral chaos the organ enters with chordal grandeur in the introductory “Logos.” An introspective two-part organ passage plus its aggressive string response become the bases for the following allegro. I was especially struck by the quiet return of the organ passage over a pedal note, now continued effectively with chimes. Bélanger and selected instrumentalists are beautifully reflective again in the middle movement “Agape,” the violins serene and inspired in the closing melody. The organist shines in the final “Angelus,” building steadily with the orchestra through tricky metre changes to a great, moving conclusion. Himself a virtuoso organist, Wachner has created long sonorities, repeated chords, and busy passages that are static harmonically to suit the highly reverberant space. Producer Johanne Goyette and engineer Anne-Marie Sylvestre deserve special mention for the sonic results.

On a lighter plane, Wachner’s eclectic Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra receives loving treatment from St. Louis Symphony principal clarinettist Scott Andrews and the McGill Chamber Orchestra. Andrews’ clarinet manages to be Coplandesque, jazzy, klezmerish and more in the expressive introduction and motoric allegro. Highly recommended.

Me, Myself & I
Kenny Werner
Justin Time Records JUST 248

Kenny Werner has been around for a long time, is a brilliant pianist, accompanist, composer and educator, and yet somehow has never received the public recognition he deserves. This album was recorded at the Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill in June 2011 as part of the Montreal Jazz Festival and the choice of music ranges from such standards as Round Midnight, Blue in Green and Giant Steps, to Joni Mitchell’s classic I Had a King and the pianist’s own gem, Balloons. There is an ethereal quality to the music right from the opening bars of the first cut which is sustained throughout the album.

Balloons is literally inspired by the life and death of helium balloons. Balloons bought for his daughter’s birthday would float up and touch the ceiling, but eventually they’d come down. So the tune is sort of a musical joke — a balloon from the party to its end. If you recognize something familiar in the performance of Balloons, it has the recurring strain of Barbara Allen, a 17th century Scottish ballad inserted a couple of times, perhaps because the Werner original is about the life and death of a helium balloon and the ballad is about the death of a young love.

Giant Steps turns into a flight of fancy while A Child Is Born is a delicate, introspective voyage of sensitivity taken with haunting simplicity. There is nothing negative to say about this CD. I have been a Kenny Werner fan for many years and I have never heard him play better than he does on this recording.

Silent Movie
Melissa Stylianou
Anzic Records ANZ-0036
www.melissastylianou.com

On this, her fourth album, Toronto-born, New York-based vocalist Melissa Stylianou sings with endearing sensitivity and ample heart. Pleasing to the ear, her voice is higher in range than most jazz singers, occasionally soaring majestically but for the most part remaining understated, focused on the words she sings rather than the sounds she produces. Stylianou’s eclectic taste for repertoire here blends standards and originals with a range of contemporary material: James Taylor, Paul Simon, Johnny Cash, avant-garde folk singer Joanna Newsom and Brazilian pop star Vanessa da Matta. Brilliantly arranged to suit Stylianou, these covers provide some exquisite musical moments.

Perhaps the only downside to recording such excellent covers is that the artist’s own originals do not shine quite as brightly. But the album has numerous highlights including Simon’s Hearts and Bones, da Mata’s Onde Ir, Newsom’s Swansea and a stunning take on one of jazz’s most sentimental standards, The Folks Who Live on the Hill, delivered here with supreme sincerity. All four tracks benefit greatly from the vibrant work of multi-reed player Anat Cohen, appearing here on clarinet, bass clarinet and soprano saxophone. Guitarist Peter McCann is a sympathetic asset throughout, and cellist Yoed Nir is a nice added touch on a few tracks. That said, the entire band cushions Stylianou admirably throughout this beautifully produced, refreshing recording.

Heart First
Halie Loren
Justin Time JTR 8573-2

Singer Halie Loren’s Heart First is what I think of as get-out-the-hammock music. The evocation of lazy hours on the porch in a sultry locale hasn’t so much to do with the origins of the recording — Loren and crew are based in Eugene, Oregon — as with the easy, back-pocket singing style and lightly swinging support of the band. Gifted with a sometimes breathy, sometimes throaty and always gorgeous voice, comparisons to Norah Jones are unavoidable. I even hear a bit of Aaron Neville in the way Loren plays with the break in her voice, in particular on her pretty take of Bob Marley’s Waiting in Vain. It’s in these covers of newer standards and remakes of pop hits that the disc shines brightest, but Loren’s own songs fit in cozily with the classics and overall breeziness. The only time Heart First even comes close to what could be described as edgy is on the reharmonized All of Me, which cleverly blends tremolo guitar (William Seiji Marsh), malleted drums (Brian West) and a minor key for a Willie Nelson-goes-voodoo kind of vibe. Loren also occasionally unleashes a bit of French and Spanish to kick up the sex appeal a notch, but not so much to make you fall out of your hammock.

Opusjazz
Julie Lamontagne
Justin Time JTR 8570-2

I’ve never been a big fan of the “crossover” — opera divas singing jazz; rock stars performing opera; classical artists playing Hendrix — ouch. To my ear, it usually hasn’t worked all that well (unless you’re Keith Jarrett playing Bach). So, it was with some trepidation that I approached pianist/composer Julie Lamontagne’s third and latest album, Opus Jazz.

Turns out I needn’t have been so trepidatious. Lamontagne’s efforts in “revisiting” favourite classical music pieces — “a meeting between the jazz world I currently inhabit and the classical repertoire of my youth” as she explains in her liner notes — have proved, by and large, quite successful in this CD of music for solo piano.

With an early and firm grounding in classical music, Lamontagne ultimately went on to study with Fred Hersh in New York in 2000. (Truthfully, that’s what made me look twice at the CD. I mean, the sublime Fred Hersh, for heaven’s sake — the jazz pianist’s jazz pianist, and exceptional composer.) According to Lamontagne, Hersh encouraged her “to learn the works of Brahms in order to make the connection between jazz and classical.”

Given Lamontagne’s well-executed “adaptations” of works by Fauré, Chopin, Bach, Debussy and Brahms, among others, it seems she paid close attention to the teacher; her Brahms/Hersh-inspired Waltz for Fred does him (Hersh) justice. Bach’s Prelude No.1 in C Major (WTC Book I) is given a fluid and beautiful treatment on track three. And in Chopineries, Lamontagne takes us on a brief, though mellifluous and moving, tour of a Chopin nocturne (Op. posth.72 No.1), ballade (No.1 Op.23) and waltz (No.1 Op.18).

Lamontagne is an accomplished and creative musician, no — uh, make that “yes” — two ways about it.

Less Than Three
Ori Dagan
ScatCat Records ODCD02
www.oridagan.com

In the follow up to his well-received 2009 debut, S’Cat Got My Tongue, Israeli-born Toronto jazz vocalist Ori Dagan has imbued his latest recording with a healthy dose of intriguing material, cool musical sophistication and superb musicianship. The title, Less Than Three, refers to the online symbol of a heart — illustrating Dagan’s theme of “love” in its many guises.

Recently named “Canada’s Next Top Crooner” by CBC Radio, Dagan’s rich and sonorous baritone plumbs a depth of feeling above and beyond what his title would indicate. The CD boasts a line-up of gifted musicians, notably the Bill Evans-influenced pianist Mark Kieswetter and recent Order of Canada recipient, the luminous Jane Bunnett on soprano sax. All of the impressive arrangements are by Dagan and Kieswetter, including eclectic takes on tunes from Madonna, Elton John, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Lady Gaga, as well as two original compositions — the entertaining and witty Googleable, and a moving ode to peace, Nu Az Ma?, sumptuously rendered in his native Hebrew.

Noteworthy is a rhythmic and wickedly sensual version of Madonna’s disco-era hit Lucky Star, as well as Eretz Zavat Chalav — sung with energy and authenticity (as only a “Sabra” can) and elevated to a thrilling level by Jane Bunnett’s stirring improvisations. Other tasty tracks include a scat-o-riffic roller coaster ride on Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance and a pure and elegant rendering of Elton John’s and Bernie Taupin’s first big hit, Your Song. No doubt there will be many more treats in store down the line from this talented and inventive vocalist.