01 Wood ChartreuseCanada’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.

02 Victorian CelloCellist 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.

03 Mozart TetzlaffFans 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.

04 HindemithThere 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.

05 Asian QuartetsThe 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.

06 WaghalterIt’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.

07 Kolly DAlbaThe 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.

01 Toronto ConsortAll 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.

02 Georgy TchaidzeMedtner; 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.

01 Guerra Manuscript 2The Guerra Manuscript Volume 2: 17th Century Secular Spanish Vocal Music
Juan Sancho; Ars Atlántica; Manuel Vilas
Naxos
8.572876

The University of Santiago de Compostella’s libraries are an indispensible source of information regarding Spanish music. Many tonos humanos (secular songs) were copied by José Miguel Guerra; his name is given to the Guerra manuscript. It is Ars Atlántica’s aim to record all 100 of these tonos humanos.

 In this recording the instruments accompanying tenor Juan Sancho comprise a two-course Spanish harp based on a 1704 original – a highly contemporary touch – and a four- and five-course pair of guitars based on originals even older than the manuscript!

 From the start Juan Sancho’s clear Spanish tenor voice brings the songs to life. Juan Hidalgo’s Ay de mi dolor, despite its sorrowful title, places varied demands on Sancho’s vocal range. This is comforted by what immediately follows, Dichoso yo que adoro, in turn benefiting from the guitar accompaniment. It was rare for instruments to be specified but harp and guitar are known to have been used frequently. As an example, Hidalgo exploited the range of both tenor and baroque harp in his La noche tenebrosa.

 Many of the songs on this particular recording are of anonymous composition. Frescos airecillos with its beautiful guitar embellishments is one such example; what a shame that we do not know who composed this beautiful and expressive piece.

 Among the composers who can be identified (sometimes by similar songs appearing in other manuscripts where they are attributed) are Hidalgo and José Marín. The latter exploited his talents as a tenor, composer and guitarist to write Amante, Ausente Y Triste, although the notes in this recording indicate he did not have too much time for composing, having been sentenced to exile and the galleys!

 All of the songs in the Guerra manuscript will be recorded in this series – they will form a joyful and informative contribution to our knowledge of the Spanish Baroque.

 

02 Messiah TafelmusikHandel – Messiah
Karina Gauvin; Robin Blaze; Rufus Müller; Brett Polegato; Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir; Ivars Taurins
Tafelmusik TMK1016CD2

Handel's Messiah was first performed in Dublin in 1742 and in London on numerous occasions between 1743 and 1759. After Handel's death, performances grew larger in scale, culminating in the Crystal Palace performance of 1857 with its 2,500 musicians. Something of that big band effect can be heard in the performances conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent. In his 1959 recording his tempi are ponderous with huge rallentandos at the end of movements. He also re-orchestrated a great deal of the work.

A major event in the recording history of Messiah was the performance conducted by Charles Mackerras in 1966. Mackerras used modern instruments but nevertheless communicated his understanding of baroque performance practice. Soloists were encouraged to decorate their parts, something heard to especially fine effect in Janet Baker's handling of the da capo in He was despised. Since then there have been many historically informed performances: my own preference is for the one conducted by William Christie. Just listen to the buoyancy of For unto us a Child is born or to the radiance which Barbara Schlick brings to I know that my Redeemer liveth.

The new Tafelmusik recording holds up well. The orchestra and choir are excellent. As for the soloists, tenor Rufus Müller is very good, baritone Brett Polegato is outstanding and soprano Karina Gauvin is out of this world. I am of two minds, however, about the countertenor: he is good in O thou that bringest good tidings, but He was despised drags and other arias need greater evenness than Robin Blaze brings to them.

Over the years Tafelmusik made a number of recordings for Sony. Many of these have been deleted but some of them have been brought back by Arkivmusic and now by Tafelmusik's own label. This recording is new, however, and it is also the first live recording of the orchestra. I hope that there will be many more. The achievements of Tafelmusik have been immense and further recordings should bring them to the attention of a wider audience.

Tafelmusik’s annual Messiah performances take place at Koerner Hall December 19 through 23.

 

03 Brandenburg ShostakovichBach - Brandenburg Concertos; Shostakovich – Preludes (arr. Maute)
Ensemble Caprice; Matthias Maute
Analekta AN 2 9996-7

The Montreal-based recorder/flute player, composer and conductor Matthias Maute has established himself as one of the country’s finest baroque musicians and his Ensemble Caprice maintains a busy annual touring and recording schedule. The oft-recorded Brandenburg Concertos are given lively performances by Maute and his excellent Montreal colleagues, with stellar work from violinist (and violist in the sixth concerto) Olivier Brault, oboist Matthew Jennejohn, trumpeter Josh Cohen and, perhaps especially, harpsichordist Erin Helyard, who handles the challenging solo part in the fifth concerto with elegance and style.

There is a certain hyper-energetic quality to the playing that is at first attractive, but can become exhausting. Maute’s approach, even in the slow movements, is aggressive and rustic, with extreme dynamic contrasts, accents and abrupt endings to phases and – sometimes – whole movements. This is certainly not easy listening, but it gives a fresh, honest and immediate feel to the music making, emphasizing the improvisatory nature of Bach’s music.

Maute’s liner notes are fanciful and entertaining, as he analyzes each concerto in terms of instrument hierarchy, trying to prove that Bach was making subversive political statements with these pieces.

Each concerto is preceded by a short work by Shostakovich, originally for piano, but orchestrated by Maute especially for the Bach forces. These preludes (and one fugue) were apparently inspired by Shostakovich’s adjudication of the 1950 International Bach Competition and his admiration of the Well-Tempered Clavier. The performances are tremendously successful and their inclusion lends a special flavour to the whole program.

01 DevienneDevienne - Six Trios, Op.17
Mathieu Lussier; Pascale Giguère; Benoît Loiselle
ATMA ACD2 2583

Although François Devienne (1759-1803) was quite well known in France in the late 18th century, he has received little attention in recent times. Devienne was a very prominent bassoonist and flutist in the royal court of France prior to the French Revolution. For five years he was a member of Cardinal de Rohan’s household orchestra, a group popular with Queen Marie-Antoinette. During the period of the revolution, bands and orchestras changed names many times and Devienne seems to have spent that time in military bands only to emerge as a professor at what is now the Paris Conservatory.

This series of Six Trios Op.17, for bassoon, violin and cello, has never been recorded before. So we owe a debt of gratitude to Montreal bassoonist and conductor Mathieu Lussier for bringing these delightful works to our attention. At all times Mathieu Lussier’s bassoon playing is flawless. His articulation is crisp, clear and dazzling in the fast passages and his tone is full and rich with a lyrical quality rarely heard on bassoon.

While this CD definitely highlights the bassoon, Pascale Giguère on violin and Benoît Loiselle on cello certainly don’t take a back seat here. There is an almost seamless transition between the performers as each takes centre stage with the melody. It’s a unified ensemble. Throughout, the strings make limited use of vibrato as befits the genre. With eyes closed, one is easily transported back to the household of Cardinal de Rohan or the Queen before the violence of the revolution.

In addition to the six trios, the CD contains transcriptions of three airs from Devienne’s opéra comique Les Visitandines. For these selections, the trio is augmented with a viola in the capable hands of Jean-Louis Blouin. These provide a pleasant contrast, yet remain in the spirit of the musical times when they were written and performed.

As one who has, in the past, struggled with the diabolical fingering system of the bassoon, I have two very mixed reactions. Is the virtuosity displayed by Mathieu Lussier a challenge? Do I get my bassoon out of its case and practice diligently as I once did, or do I advertise a bassoon for sale? In the meantime, I will enjoy this CD of delightful happy music performed by true virtuoso musicians.

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