Editor's Corner

During the 100th birthday celebrations for the “Dean of Canadian Composers” at Walter Hall last month, I had the pleasure of hearing the Cecilia String Quartet performing John Weinzweig’s String Quartet No.3, a rare treat indeed. I hope now that they have taken that wonderful, but sorely neglected, work into their repertoire we will have other occasions to hear it in the future. In the interim we can content ourselves with the second release in their 4-CD contract with Analekta. The Cecilia, named after the patron saint of music, is quartet-in-residence at the University of Toronto where they were founded in 2004. They have not spent the last decade on campus however and their world travels and accomplishments have included winning international string quartet competitions in Osaka in 2008, Bordeaux in 2010 and, perhaps most famously, First Prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition that same year. Winners of a Galaxie Rising Stars Award in Canada, the CSQ have held residencies at the Austin Chamber Music Festival, San Diego State University, McGill University, QuartetFest at Wilfrid Laurier University, the Summer String Academy at Indiana University and were Quartet Fellows at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory. In addition they have presented educational programs for elementary and high schools across Canada, the USA, Italy and France.

But back to the matter at hand. Amoroso (AN 2 9984) includes classic European works from the first quarter of the 20th century: Leoš Janáček’s String Quartet No.1 (“The Kreutzer Sonata”), Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite and Anton Webern’s Langsamer Satz. The premise of the recording is that all of the works included reflect love stories in one way or another. Janáček based his quartet on the tragic novella by Leo Tolstoy which gives the work its subtitle. Berg, whose Lyric Suite was incidentally one of the seminal works that affected Weinzweig while studying at the Eastman School and led to his interest in serialism, which in turn would influence several generations of Canadian composers through his teaching, was evidently inspired by a long-lasting illicit love affair. An autograph copy of the score which came to light in 1977 includes many personal annotations to Berg’s beloved. Webern, primarily known for a small output of miniature gems that distill musical ideas to their crystalline essence, was actually quite prolific in his student days. The Langsamer Satz (slow movement), is one of about a hundred finished and sketched works from the time of his studies with Arnold Schoenberg which remained unpublished during his lifetime. The lushly romantic score, reminiscent of his teacher’s Verklärte Nacht, was written at a time when Webern was “head over heels” in love with his cousin Wilhelmine. This and the other love stories are well explained in Keith Horner’s very readable and detailed liner notes.

The Cecilia String Quartet shine in these nuanced and moving performances which were recorded at the Banff Centre last December. Their first Analekta recording (AN 2 9892) featured works of 19th century giant Antonin Dvořák and this, their second, works of the early 20th century. Dare I hope that they will continue their march toward the present day and that a future disc may include the Weinzweig and perhaps the required works by Gilbert Amy and Ana Sokolović that were integral parts of their successes in Bordeaux and Banff?

Icicles of Fire (Centrediscs CMCCD 18813) is one of the latest slew of releases from the Canadian Music Centre (discs of music by Ann Southam and T. Patrick Carrabré will be reviewed in next month’s WholeNote). It features music written for cellist Shauna Rolston by Heather Schmidt with the composer at the piano. There are numerous Banff connections with this disc as well. Rolston literally grew up at the Banff Centre where her parents Tom and Isobel were the teachers and directors from the mid-1960s. Calgary-born Schmidt, who is now based in Los Angeles, enjoyed numerous residencies at the Banff Centre over her developing years and composed the required work for the 1995 Banff International String Quartet Competition.

There are three works included here, presented in reverse chronological order. Synchronicity (2007) begins with a meditative chant-like introduction which is followed by a dramatic movement that begins with dense chords and tremolos and builds to a fiery conclusion replete with eerie animal-like squeals and glissandi from the cello. It was written for a documentary film by Paul Kimball about the collaboration between Rolston and Schmidt. Fantasy (2006) again begins in calm, this time in a minor tonality. After an extended meditation there is a lyrical interlude with tintinnabulations in the piano line overlaid by a gentle flowing cello melody that gradually gains momentum and intensity before returning to the darkly placid waters of the opening. Icicles of Fire (2003) is the most extended work presented here; at 21 minutes it is more than the length of the other two pieces combined. It was inspired by the composer’s participation in the governor general’s state visit to Finland and Iceland and the latter’s glacial landscapes and fiery volcanoes are reflected in the name. The first movement is quiet and delicate in its depiction of icicles while the second mixes soaring lyrical lines with the fiery molto perpetuo passages so well suited to Rolston’s style and temperament. There is obviously a strong bond between these two fine artists and Schmidt’s music is tailor-made to illustrate this.

Although just being released now, these performances were recorded at the Banff Centre in 2007 by the late Tom Rolston who died in 2010.

There is also a nominal connection to Banff with the next disc as Poland’s Royal String Quartet placed third in the 2004 quartet competition there. But it is in the United Kingdom that the group has had most success with a nomination for the Royal Philharmonic Society chamber music award and an invitation to participate in the BBC’s New Generation Artists program. Founded in 1998 at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, they are currently quartet-in-residence at Queen’s University in Belfast. Although well versed in and well respected for their interpretations of the standard repertoire, the Royal Quartet specialize in music of their native Poland as attested by their three recordings on the Hyperion label. Following on the success of their Górecki and Szymanowski discs the latest CD (CDA67943) features the quartets of Penderecki and Lutosławski. The three quartets of Penderecki span nearly half a century and the changes in style are substantial. The first, dating from 1960, is from the same period as his seminal Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima and bears the hallmarks of that experimental time, full of extended and “non-musical” techniques — bows are nowhere in evidence in the first two minutes of the piece, with the body of the instruments providing as much fodder as the strings. The second, from 1968, is still in the realm of the avant-garde, with abrasive passages alternating with eerie sounds of glissandi complemented by whistling from the musicians and extremely quiet, almost sub-audible sections.

There is a gap of 40 years before Penderecki’s next full foray into the quartet idiom. String Quartet No.3 bears the subtitle “Leaves of an unwritten diary” and reflects the post-romantic language that has permeated the composer’s work since the Polish Requiem completed in 1984. The opening passage is reminiscent of the Lacrimosa movement from that large-scale work, a motif which I have heard time and again in Penderecki’s later years. This is followed by a rhythmic section with close harmonies perhaps harkening back to the earlier quartets, but this is quickly replaced by a more lyrical sensibility that permeates most of the work. All three of the quartets are performed effortlessly and with conviction. This is obviously music close to the hearts of these fine young musicians. One omission that I find curious: in 1988 Penderecki wrote another brief piece for string quartet, Der Unterbrochene Gedanke (The Broken Thought), a miniature in homage to Schoenberg and the New Viennese School, which I am aware of from a 1994 recording by the Penderecki String Quartet. I think this would have provided a welcome bridge between the two early experimental works and the lyricism of the mature Penderecki.

The disc concludes with a masterful performance of one of the most important pieces of 20th century chamber music, Witold Lutosławski’s String Quartet from 1964. I look forward to hearing much more from the Royal String Quartet.

The final disc I will mention is something completely different. Canadian actor David Calderisi has developed a wonderful entertainment based on The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (okdac.net). The CD is in two parts. The first is Calderisi’s introduction to the work, the author (an 11th-century Persian mathematician) and the 19th-century “translator” Edward Fitzgerald who produced what went on to become the most widely published poem in the English language. The second is a stunning performance of 93 of the four-line poems (rubaiy’i) selected by Calderisi from the five collections authorized by Fitzgerald. Calderisi’s mellifluous voice and nuanced interpretation bring a wonderful life to these paeans to the author’s beloved and praises to his preferred libation: “Wine! Wine! Wine! — Red Wine!” The reading is interspersed with short and evocative musical interludes composed and performed on the kamancheh, a traditional Persian stringed instrument, by Kousha Nakhaei.

In his introduction Calderisi states that he has found people react in one of three ways when asked if they know The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: the first take offence at the very suggestion that they might not be well versed in the subject; the second admit to some knowledge if not an intimate acquaintance; and the third say “what?” I firmly fell into the second category before coming across this disc, but am pleased to say I feel I’ve moved a notch closer to knowledge now. Whatever your relationship to this 1000-year-old treasure, I think you will delight in Calderisi’s scholarship and presentation of one of the great works of “English” literature.

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

—David Olds, DISCoveries Editor

discoveries@thewholenote.com

One of the most intriguing releases to come my way in a good long time is the 3-CD + DVD set How We Tried a New Combination of Notes to Show the Invisible or Even the Embrace of Eternity,featuring the music of 40-something French composer and guitarist Olivier Mellano (naïve MO 782182).

The first disc is devoted to the eponymous extended symphonic work commissioned by the Orchestre symphonique de Bretagne which performs with soprano Valérie Gabail under the direction of Québécois conductor Jean-Michaël Lavoie. Both the music and the text (in six languages plus a recitation of the formulas for the first 17 numbers of the Fibonacci series) are by Mellano. The gorgeous long melodic soprano line soars over orchestral textures that range from placid to tumultuous throughout the five movements, with a passing similarity to Górecki’s iconic Symphony of Sorrowful Songs. As moving and dramatic as this work is, what makes it especially interesting are the variations that follow on the other two CDs. Mellano has taken the basic material of the soprano/orchestral composition and reworked it for male voice (half sung and half spoken by Simon Huw Jones), 17 electric guitars (overdubbed by the composer) and drums (Nicolas Courret). In this instance the text is rendered entirely in English and comes to the forefront. This is even more the case in the third version in which the lyrics are “co-written and re-imagined” by Hip-Hop veteran MC Dälek (Will Brooks). The various transformations are stunning and taken to yet another level with a silent narrative interpretation by French filmmaker Alanté Kavaïté using Cocteau-like images over a soundtrack of the original orchestral version.

Mellano’s was not the only intriguing symphonic work involving voice and electric guitar to come my way this month. Tim Brady – Atacama: Symphony No.3 featuring Bradyworks and Vivavoce (ATMA ACD2 2676) is a settingof poems from the collection Symphony by Chilean activist Elias Letelier who was given sanctuary in Canada in 1981 after being imprisoned and tortured by the Pinochet regime. Brady says “The text speaks of the political terror of the Pinochet era in Chile, one of the country’s darkest moments, but it uses striking metaphors of hope and love in the midst of the nightmare of torture and disappearances. This mixture of tenderness and cruelty, of light and dark, gave me a kind of strong emotional and dramatic contrast that I look for in a text.” His effective settings range from mostly a cappella, close harmony singing by the virtuosic Montreal choir to extended, often minimalistic rhythmical instrumental passages by his unique ensemble of keyboards, percussion, flute(s), clarinet(s), saxophone(s), violin, viola, double bass and his own electric guitar. Perhaps most effective are the movements that skilfully combine the two as Brady continues to redefine the designation “symphony.”

As we celebrate a myriad of centennials this season it would behoove us to keep in mind some of the senior living composers who continue to create. Henri Dutilleux is a case in point at the age of 97. The latest release of his music, Correspondances (DG 479 1180), includes the world premiere recording of the title piece featuring Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan. Although there are no performer bios included in the booklet, according to the blurb on the back of the CD Hannigan is “today’s foremost interpreter of contemporary vocal music.” She has performed the work with both the Toronto and the Montreal symphonies. Although originally written for Dawn Upshaw, Dutilleux was so impressed with Hannigan’s performance that he rewrote the ending especially for her. Also included are the cello concerto Tout un Monde Lointain with Anssi Karttunen and The Shadows of Time, a work based on The Diary of Anne Frank. The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France andconductor Esa-Pekka Salonen recorded this disc in the presence of the composer. Dutilleux is no stranger to Toronto audiences and the TSO’s 1998 recording of Symphony No.2, Metaboles and Timbres, Espace, Mouvement under Jukka-Pekka Saraste is still available (Finlandia 3984 2525324-2). Both discs are highly recommended.

If the DG disc can be faulted for having no performer bios, the next disc goes to the opposite extreme. The latest release on Orange Mountain Music (OMM 0086), a label devoted to the music of Philip Glass, features the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra under Anne Manson’s direction. In this instance the booklet includes two pages about the conductor, two pages about the guest piano soloist (Glass’s collaborator Michael Riesman), a page about the orchestra and full credits for the recording done at Glenn Gould Studio, but not one word about the composer or the music. I understand that a label which features Glass’ music exclusively might not need to include his biography on every release, but I was very surprised that there were no program notes about the pieces, Symphony No.3 and The Hours. The symphony, for string orchestra, surprised me as not being typical of the composer’s minimalist style, at least not until the third movement. The first two movements are reminiscent of English string symphonies of the early 20th century, although this wouldn’t really be mistaken for one, with only the final two more recognizable as Glass. The Hours is a suite arranged by Riesman from Glass’s original music for the 2002 film of the same name. It is lush and warm and beautifully balanced, exactly what we have come to expect from the cinematic Glass with his repetitive wash of diatonic unison melodies. Listening to the suite enticed me to revisit the marvellous film with a stellar cast including Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf. I now look forward to re-reading Michael Cunningham’s book on which it was based. By the way, the DVD of the movie includes an interesting bonus track with Glass discussing the music.

Brief notes: It’s hard to keep up with all the excellent new releases by Montreal’s ATMA label. I was very pleased to find that one of their latest features a work that I fell in love with in my formative years and have not had occasion to revisit recently, the Sextet for piano and wind quintetby Francis Poulenc. It gets a stirring performance by David Jalbert and the woodwind quintet Pentaèdre on Francis Poulenc – Chamber Music (ACD2 2646). The disc also includes fine renditions of the sonatas for flute and piano and clarinet and piano, the Elégie for horn and piano and the Trio for piano, oboe and bassoon. A very welcome addition to the catalogue.

Rye Whiskey is the latest offering from the eclectic local quasi old-time music quintet The Boxcar Boys (www.theboxcarboys.ca). Theunusual instrumentation of the group — clarinet, accordion, violin, trombone and sousaphone, supplemented by mandolin on some tracks — works surprisingly well in a wide range of music that spans original compositions in the form of waltzes, stomps and tangos to the standards Freight Train and You Are My Sunshine, and traditional tunes like the title track. The music is mostly instrumental and happily so. The occasional vocals are tentative at best, and while I think this may be part of the point — reminiscent of scratchy, distant sounding early 20th century folk recordings — in contrast to the high sound quality of the instrumentals they seem incongruent. Overall though, this disc is a wonderful swinging romp through a variety of hills and dales, swamps and deltas.

Toronto-based flamenco guitarist Jorge Miguel (www.jorgemiguel.com) has undertaken a monthly residency at the Lula Lounge (next instalment April 17) in support of his latest release Guitarra Flamenca (Andaluz Music AM1012). The playing is crisp and nuanced with lively, if minimal, support from percussionists Luis Orbegoso and Daniel Stone — often with just complex hand clapping — and bassist Justin Gray. Highlights include the opener Tortilla de Buleria, the rousing Rumba Tangos with vocals by the percussionists and the somewhat introspective Romance del Amargo, the only non-original composition on the disc. Written by Federico Garcia Lorca and Ricardo Pachon, it works very well in Miguel’s arrangement. In all this is a very satisfying release, one that makes it hard to keep your feet still.

The final disc I will mention is one that would not normally find its way into our pages due to its mainstream pop sensibility, but Beatle Ballads (www.martinandfrank.com) is quite surprising in its accomplishment. Singer/guitarist Martin Gladstone, well known on the Toronto scene for a number of decades now, and his younger colleagues Frank Caruso (piano and direction) and Brenton Chan (cello), have managed to capture the essence of 17 of the most poignant Beatles songs in their solo voice and instrumental trio arrangements. Purists will no doubt prefer to stick with the originals, but as a tribute album this features a great selection of well-loved tunes, lovingly performed. Highlights will no doubt vary with your own particular favourite Beatle songs, but even this jaded old critic (not known to have a fondness for the Fab Four) can’t resist such gems as Here Comes the Sun, Michelle, Julia and While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

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

—David Olds, DISCoveries Editor
discoveries@thewholenote.com