Editor's Corner

At time of writing I am about to officially enter summer mode, which for me means less cello playing and fewer classical pursuits, and more time spent with my folk instruments - guitars, mandolins and accordion. I am pleased to have found several new releases which fit this summer sensibility. The first is Europa, which features local guitarist/vocalist/songwriter George Grosman and his band Bohemian Swing (www.georgegrosman.com). The disc takes us on a whirlwind tour of European capitals with original songs such as Budapest Café, Sarajevo Waltz, The Thief of Bucharest, London in November and Cole Porter’s I Love Paris. Accompanying Grosman on this adventure of love, loss and remembrance are violinist Jonathan Marks, trumpeter Ian MacGillivray, accordionist Fabrice Sicco, upright bassist Abbey Leon Sholzberg and a host of guest artists. Despite occasional moments of naïveté and political incorrectness the project is a clever and compelling portrait, presenting stories almost as film vignettes, giving us both the lighter and darker sides of some of the great cities of the world. You can catch Grosman and Bohemian Swing in a live performance at The Rex on July 10 at 3:30.

A little further afield is the primarily instrumental ensemble The Black Sea Station, which grew out of the North End Klezmer Project in Winnipeg. Founding members Myron Schultz (clarinet), Victor Schultz (violin) and Daniel Koulack (acoustic bass), all alumni of the seminal klezmer band Finjan, are joined here by Toronto-born renaissance man Ben Mink (violin, mandolin, mandocello) and Moldovan accordionist Nicolai Prisacar on the rollicking Transylvania Avenue (www.blackseastation.com). The self-described “combination of original compositions influenced by traditional styles and traditional songs set with contemporary arrangements” very effectively conveys the band’s respect of tradition while placing them firmly in the 21^st century. Highlights for me include the food oriented My Dinner at Schwartz’s and At the Café Sambor and three Romanian melodies combined to make Nine-Eight, the concluding Trance Sylvanian Waltz (with Sabarelu) and March of the Shikker with guest vocals (well, mutterings really) by Geddy Lee. Although the band’s only summer concert date was in June at the Winnipeg Jazz Festival, I’m hoping they will tour again soon – perhaps a return visit to next year’s Ashkenaz Festival?

If you are reading this on the first day or so after publication you may still have time to get down to Metro Square for what is bound to be one of the highlights of the TD Toronto Jazz Festival – a performance by the original members of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones on June 30. Fleck’s banjo-led quasi blues band is in fine form on their latest release Rocket Science (EOM-CD 2133 www.eonemusic.com) with Howard Levy on harmonicas and piano, Victor Lemonte Wooten on electric basses and Futureman (Roy Wooten) on “drumitar” (a synthesizer of his own design) and acoustic drums and percussion. All of the tunes are original – in more ways than one – with Fleck and Levy taking most of the writing credits, but a particular treasure is Futureman’s The Secret Drawer, surely one of the most eclectic “drum” solos in the realm of popular music. Other favourites include Fleck’s Gravity Lane, Falling Forward and Bottle Rocket and Levy’s Joyful Spring. If you miss their live performance this disc will go a long way to explaining what all the fuss is about.

Of course the Toronto summer music scene does not exclude classical music and this year we have seen the addition of the Capital One Black Creek Summer Music Festival with its eclectic offerings rivalling those of Luminato. But the backbone of the classical summer remains the Toronto Summer Music Festival which gets under way with a gala performance featuring Kirill Gerstein at Koerner Hall on July 19. While the festival’s theme this year is “Beethoven and the Romantics” and Gerstein’s repertoire for the concert reflects this – Beethoven’s last sonata and Liszt’s iconic B minor – I was pleased to find that the 2010 Gilmore Award-winning pianist’s inaugural solo album Liszt – Schumann – Knussen (Myrios Classics MYR005) also includes some 21^st century fare. The disc begins with Schumann’s Humoreske­, a weighty work belying its title. Gerstein’s performance brings out both the thoughtful melancholy and the moments of whimsy inherent in the work. Oliver Knussen’s Ophelia’s Last Dance was commissioned by the Gilmore Foundation for Gerstein in conjunction with the $300,000 Gilmore Artist Award. Based on earlier fragments intended for but not used in his Third Symphony (1973-74), Ophelia’s Last Dance is a 2010 reworking somewhat reminiscent of Debussy at his most contemplative, but with an expanded tonality firmly rooting it in the music of our own time. Gerstein’s personal take on the Liszt sonata is very effective, beginning in near silence and then bursting to life to hold our wrapt attention for the next half hour. I expect the audience at Koerner Hall will be similarly enthralled.

We welcome your feedback and invite submissions. CDs and comments should be sent to: The WholeNote, 503 – 720 Bathurst St. Toronto ON M5S 2R4. We also encourage you to visit our website, www.thewholenote.com, where you can find added features including direct links to performers, composers and record labels, “buy buttons” for on-line shopping and additional, expanded and archival reviews.

David Olds

DISCoveries Editor

discoveries@thewholenote.com

It is fitting that the first DVD release by the Canadian Music Centre’s Centrediscs label, as part of the “A Window on Somers” line, should be the opera Louis Riel (CMCDVD 16711) with music by Harry Somers and libretto by Mavor Moore and Jacques Languirand. While it would be a mistake to consider Louis Riel the first modern Canadian opera – a host of others come to mind including Willan’s Dierdre (1946), Beckwith’s Night Blooming Cereus (1953-58) and Somers’ own The Fool (1953, produced 1956) – it would be less so to acknowledge it as the most significant. Commissioned by the COC with funds from Floyd Chalmers (who also funded the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada and provided the CMC with its wonderful home at 20 St. Joseph St.) the opera was staged at O’Keefe Centre as part of Canada’s Centennial celebrations in 1967 with subsequent performances at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier in Montreal. The COC revived Louis Riel in 1975 with performances in Toronto, Ottawa and, in its American debut, at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. where it received rave reviews. Broadcast tapes of this Washington performance were later used to produce the first commercial release of the opera, a three LP set for Centrediscs in 1985.

In 1969, which was incidentally the 100^th anniversary of Riel’s original Red River Uprising, the opera was adapted for CBC television by producer Franz Kraemer and directed by Leon Major (who had also directed the stage performances). Although hard to tell from the Centrediscs packaging, it is this CBC production that is presented on the DVD, featuring most of the original cast, notably Bernard Turgeon who is brilliant throughout both vocally and as an actor in the title role. Patricia Rideout stands out as Riel’s mother; Mary Morrison is his sister and Roxolana Roslak his Cree wife (singing the now-familiar lullaby Kuyas). Joseph Rouleau is compelling as the dramatic and conflicted Bishop Taché, the Catholic priest who was charged with the role of intermediary between Riel and the government in Ottawa, with Cornelis Opthof, the originator of the deceitful John A. MacDonald role, replaced here by a suitably slimy Donald Rutherford.

Although the production values are somewhat dated (particularly the obvious use of “green screen” technology, presumably in its infancy) the production as a whole has withstood the passing of more than four decades admirably. The singers are in fine voice, many of them in their prime, and it is a joy to hear and see them at such close range. The music, which is a clever and compelling mixture of traditional melodies, lyrical arias – for the most part unaccompanied – and modern technique, including a very sparse but focussed orchestration with extensive use of percussion, is as convincing now as when it was first heard. The story, one of minority rights and duplicitous government action, not to mention a charismatic “visionary” leader who claims to hear/speak with the Voice of God is still a timely one, well told.

I do have a number of complaints however. The otherwise thorough booklet, which includes full plot synopsis, bilingual scene descriptions and libretto in four languages (English, French, Cree and church service Latin), makes no mention of the television production other than the CBC 1969 copyright notice. And while it is admirable that the opera is truly bilingual – i.e. the Métis often sing in French and the Anglos all in English – it is quite surprising to me that there are neither subtitles nor translations. The diction of the singers is surprisingly clear, so that those who do understand the languages can indeed understand the words, but what of those who might otherwise benefit from a bit of linguistic help? It is understandable that the opera stage of 1967 did not yet have the option of surtitles, but for the television production and, more to the point, the 2011 DVD release, surely it would have been a simple matter to add (optional) subtitles.

Other missed opportunities include the bonus features. We are given Mavor Moore’s introductions to parts one and two of the opera, but not as they would have appeared in 1969 as actual, and helpful, set-ups to the broadcast, but rather as afterwords. The other feature is a welcome discussion between Somers and Moore moderated by Warren Davis (who would go on to become the voice of new music in English Canada as host of CBC Radio’s Two New Hours). What we are not given is any present day commentary. Although the main creative forces are no longer with us – Harry Somers died in 1999 and Mavor Moore, although not noted in the biography provided, in 2006 – there are numerous luminaries (i.e. Bernard Turgeon, Joseph Rouleau and Mary Morrison) still alive and active. Surely these auspicious personalities could have shared some insights about this important Canadian achievement four decades on.

We know that “A Window on Somers” is basically a labour of love with a shoe-string budget - and kudos to Robert Cram for doing as much as he is able with it – but surely for a project of this magnitude with so much historical significance further funding could have been found to supplement the existing materials. That being said, we are thankful for the opportunity to revisit this glorious moment in Canada’s musical development and a time when our national broadcaster took pride in promoting and preserving our cultural heritage.

We welcome your feedback and invite submissions. CDs and comments should be sent to: The WholeNote, 503 – 720 Bathurst St. Toronto ON M5S 2R4.

David Olds

DISCoveries Editor

discoveries@thewholenote.com